Looking for an easy masculine card to make? I made this card for my Uncle’s birthday today:

It was quick, easy and looks really cool in real life. I decided since my uncle isn’t used to receiving handmade cards (yes I know, I’m slack) that I’d keep the edges nice and straight and not do anything ‘too weird’ looking.

Quite simply I stamped the Marlboro Man, as I call him, onto some patterned paper that has that ‘Western Cowboy look” using Versamark ink then gold embossed the image. The edges of the patterned paper were swiped with a gold inkpad to give some interest and to make the dark patterned paper blend better with the gold image and the cardstock that it’s been layered on. The stamped paper was adhered to a piece of River Rock card (nice natural colour with a slight tinge so it doesn’t look too cardboardy. I wanted some sort of masculine embellishement and was about to go for the usual brass brads when I remembered that I had some new Jumbo Eyelets. These are so cool! I wasn’t totally sure about them when I bought them but figured I’d find somewhere to use them. I must say that after I set the first one I could see how they along with the Crop-a-dile become very very addictive – I started having thoughts about cool scrapbooking layouts and altered items I could use them on. Aaaaanyway, I digress…. to set the jumbo eyelet I simply punched a hole down the bottom of my card using the Crop-a-dile’s large hole punch, placed the jumbo eyelet in the hole then set it with the Crop-a-dile. Let me now make a confession that I didn’t even check to see if my Crop-a-dile was on the correct setting – I just went for it and it set it so beautifully! To tie in with the Western cowboy theme, I wrapped a length of twine through the eyelet and around the card to emulate some lassoing (is that a word????). This piece was then mounted with Stampin’ Dimensionals (double-sided foam tape) onto another piece of Western-style patterned paper which I had swiped around the edges with Chocolate Chip ink. The whole piece was then adhered to a folded piece of Chocolate Chip card. I added the sentiment last – for those of you who can’t read Greek (no doubt most of you!), it says “Many Years” which translates to Happy Birthday in English. This sentiment (by Buzz and Bloom) was stamped with Versamark ink onto Chocolate Chip card, gold embossed then the edges swiped with a Gold inkpad. Then I did something I’ve not done before (yeah, daring aren’t I? LOL), I mounted the sentiment back onto Chocolate Chip card again. Having swiped the sentiment edges with the gold, I found that mounting it onto the exact same cardstock worked really well as it gave depth and a clear outline while still blending in and not looking too overpowering. The sentiment was adhered onto the top piece of card just with adhesive, no foam tape. That’s it! Sounds like a lot but it wasn’t – I just rambled on a bit too much in the instructions.

If you’re looking for some more ideas for masculine cards then click here: Masculine Birthday Card and Masculine Card Ideas.
Here’s a list of products I used in case you’d like to recreate this card:

Card created by Angela Sargeant, all images (except the Greek sentiment) copyright to Stampin’ Up! 1990-2008.

Bronc Busters stamp set (cowboy on horse stamp)
Grecian Elements Unmounted stamps by Buzz and Bloom
Outlaw Double-sided Designer Series Paper (seriously cool paper, perfect perfect perfect for masculine cards and scrapbooking)
River Rock cardstock
Chocolate Chip cardstock
Chocolate Chip inkpad
Gold Ultimate Metallic Encore inkpad
Versamark inkpad
Jumbo Antique Brass Eyelet
Hemp Twine
Crop-a-dile (to set the eyelet)
Stampin’ Dimensionals
SNAIL Adhesive

It’s the husband’s birthday so I whipped up this quick vintage style card for him.

Lots of people find it difficult to make masculine cards so I have a post here on my blog that can give you some ideas on what to use to make a masculine card. The reason I found this card quick to make is because I knew I wanted some earthy colours so I went for Cranberry Crisp, Buckeroo Blue and Chocolate Chip. I also figured that using lots of hardware on a card would be good for a man’s card which gave me the idea of doing a row of brads. Finally the choice of stamps wasn’t too hard as most of my stamps are floral or feminine so this one which is called ‘Stamp of Authenticity’ by Stampin’ Up! was an obvious choice.

To make this card I took some Kraft cardstock and stamped the Canvas background stamp using Cranberry Crisp ink. I purposely didn’t try to get a perfect image to give it a bit of a ‘rough’ look. I then stamped the small circle “Proof” stamp five times down the right hand side of the Kraft card using Chocolate Chip ink, punched some small holes into the middle of each circle and inserted the Antique Brass brads.
The library card from Stamp of Authenticity was stamped using Buckeroo Blue ink onto Confetti Cream cardstock, cut it out and roughed up the edges with a distressing tool and then edged it with Chocolate Chip ink by dragging the inkpad around the edges of the cardstock. I then stamped the words ‘happy’ and ‘birthday’ from the Everyday Flexible Phrases stamp set using Cranberry Crisp ink and stamped the husband’s name using Chocolate Chip ink with the Classic Alphabet stamp set. The ‘Authentic’ stamp was stamped with Chocolate Chip ink onto Buckeroo Blue cardstock – you can’t see it in the scan very well but I went around the perimeter with a perforating tool to add texture and interest. This was then cut out (just a couple of millimeters past the perforating) and attached to the library card using an Antique Brass spiral clip and mounted onto the Kraft card using double-sided foam tape. The bottom of the Kraft card was stamped with “100 percent” and the ‘original barcode’ (both from the Stamp of Authenticity stamp set) using Chocolate Chip ink. The whole piece was then layered onto a folded piece of Cranberry Crisp cardstock.

Here’s a quick list of the products used:

Card designed by Angela Sargeant
All images copyright to Stampin’ Up! 2000-2007
All products available for purchase through Angela Sargeant on angelasargeant@gmail.com

Stamp of Authenticity stamp set
Canvas Background stamp
Everyday Flexible Phrases stamp set
Classic Alphabet stamp set
Cranberry Crisp cardstock
Cranberry Crisp inkpad
Chocolate Chip inkpad
Buckeroo Blue cardstock
Buckeroo Blue inkpad
Confetti Cream cardstock
Antique Brass Hodgepodge (brads and spiral clip)
Cutter Kit (Distressing Tool and Perforating Blade)
1/16″ Handheld Punch
SNAIL Adhesive
Stampin’ Dimensionals (double-sided foam tape)

Well I think I was successful in making a masculine birthday card and was very pleased with the results. If you have any questions on this card or cardmaking in general or would like to purchase any of these products then please feel free to e-mail me on angelasargeant@gmail.com

One of my downlines recently sent me a list of ideas that could be used to make masculine cards. I suppose it’s one of those themes that lots of cardmakers struggle with since we tend to make so many cards for other ladies or for children. I’ve reproduced this list here and edited and added my own ideas too. I hope that it’s helpful to someone out there. Please feel free to add to this list by leaving a comment.
IDEAS for MASCULINE CARDS

Images of clocks, clock faces or actual mini clock parts (try garage sales for old watches you can pull apart)

Images of cars, trucks or motorbikes, trains, aeroplanes, boats & ships – the older the better – or anything to do with these ie ships wheel (also try Set Sail stamp set by Stampin’ Up!)

Images of musical instruments, sheet music and musical notes

Images of architecture, famous building ie Eiffel Tower, Tower of Pisa

Images of travel, copies of passports, travel documents etc

Images of favourite sports and colours of favourite teams in the shape of ie a football

Copies of old maps, old newspapers, old magazines of favourite images (you can Google maps, print them then age them by sponging with brown ink or dipping in weak tea or coffee – alternatively you can buy cheap books from your local charity shop).

Images of lighthouses, the sea, fishing, or underwater images

Images of wine or beer – consider soaking the labels off bottles of beer,wine or spirits (I’ve used labels from beer and they work great! Try James Boag)

Images on serviettes – wine, grapes, vineyards (remember to use only the top layer of the serviette and adhere with Jac Paper or paint over the top with Mod Podge or gel medium)

Images of animals – lions, leopards, tigers, horses etc

Collect old postage stamps with masculine images

Collect old house keys – the older the better – paint them and add to cards (or try Artifacts stamp set by Stampin’ Up!)

Cheap packs of playing cards – add cards to the front of a card – ie royal flush

Search for flat screws, nails or washers that you can paint or distress

Textured cardstock, Rough surfaces like sandpaper, plaid or argyle patterns (try Flannel Plaid background stamp by Stampin’ Up! or Sentimental Journey scrapbooking papers also by Stampin’ Up!)

Copy old sepia postcards or old sepia photos and alter them

Copies of famous old paintings ie Da Vinci

Images of old shoes or boots

Images of trees, leaves, gardening tools, fruit & vegetables from botanical books – make copies at the local library (try Lovely As A Tree stamp set by Stampin’ Up!)

Old coins or images of old coins

Make your own masculine backgrounds by scrunching up some cardstock into a tight ball a few times and then smoothing open, ink over the wrinkles with a pale brown inkpad and sponge with a creamy coloured inkpad. I like Creamy Caramel and More Mustard with So Saffron by Stampin’ Up!

Weathered Background stamp by Stampin’ Up! is great for masculine backgrounds but works equally as well for feminine shabby chic. Just change the colour scheme to suit.

Distress edges of cardstock by running your fingernail around the edges. Leave as is or further distress by dragging your inkpad over the edges too.

Use an emery board for sanding over cardstock to give a distressed look.

Try Twill Tape (Stampin’ Up!) for a clean masculine look.