I’ve been out of my craft room for a while. I went on a long holiday, a bucket list trip to Iceland, and then I think I suffered from vacation hangover. When I was traveling, I missed my crafting. I had tons of ideas. But when I got back, meh. I felt uninspired despite all the great new products I have to play with. So, I gave myself permission to create anything. I’ve been running low on masculine birthday cards. I started by coloring some scraps I had and then combined them with unfinished Paper Pumpkin kits. Coloring is a great way to destress and increase creativity. Here’s what I came up with.
Nautical Birthday
I used the On My Mind kit from July, combined with a scrap of printed vellum DSP that I colored in with Stampin’ Blends in Night of Navy. The nice thing about a masculine-style card is that minimal works best. There are limited colors. A bit of twine is the only embellishment beyond the punched pieces. A touch of gold in the sentiment banner adds just a touch of bling.
The hardest part of a card like this for me is stopping. So of course, I had to make a girly card with colors and layers and bling. Because that’s how the muse works. Once it fires, you have to follow it.
Hug for a Friend
For this card, I started by coloring in the last scrap I had of my self-made Hugs from Shelly DSP. I used Memon Mambo, Powder Pink, and Lemon Lime Twist. I miss Powder Pink and Lemon Lime Twist, and I’m sure any other color combo would have worked, but that was the combo that spoke to me. Then I started looking at other scraps I had and what might work. The DSP I picked is actually in Rose Red, not Melon Mambo, but I think it’s close enough. The tiny floral print complements the larger image of the stamp. There is also a strip of vellum in there just for contrast.
Next, I stamped a banner from the On My Mind kit, again it added a nice touch of gold and the stamp is from that kit as well. I used Melon Mambo ink. The banner was pretty long so I decided it needed some flowers. The stamps are from Tea Together which has matching dies. These are available in the current Annual Catalog. A Glitter Enamel Dot and some Rose Metallic Thread provided my mandatory sparkly accents.
I hope you’re able to spend some time relaxing and crafting. If I can ever help you with a question or project, don’t hesitate to contact me.