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