Jumbled Birthday

Chrome embossed black mat, screw-style brads, and a mixed-up birthday greeting combine to make this colorless card perfectly masculine.

Fun with Chevron

Another versatile greeting on a non-gender specific card. Could be used for get well, thinking of you or birthday. I used one line of atg adhesive to stick the strips to my Creative Memories cutting mat. Then I used the CM circle cutter to cut the circles out of the strips. I cut circles from the plain paper and trimmed slightly to make "buttons" that would fit inside the spaces. My 1/16" served as button holes. Hemp twine around the project added a bit of a rustic touch and some texture.

Black and Cream on Kraft

This card was so fun and easy, I made six. I felt like it could fit a variety of occasions. Sympathy, Get Well, Birthday, Thinking of You, etc.

Stacks of Presents

Masculine birthday cards are hard. But who doesn't love gifts? And stars are as much a fall back for guys as flowers for women. I got to utilize some hard-to-use papers. And the lightly patterned paper looks pretty cool when embossed.

Birthday Candle

I have had this card on my Pinterest board for awhile and saved to my phone for almost as long. It is so simple and yet the large candle makes a big statement. Combined with the matting in the same paper and it's a win. Double win when you realize it took longer to find a paper that works than it did to assemble the card. I really wanted to use polka dotted paper but I didn't have one with random dots...only uniform and I didn't think that would give the same look. So I opted for this fun piece. I cut the angle on the candle as well as the flame freehand, but I'm sure if that thought freaks you out, you could find one on a cricut cartridge. The gems add sparkle, a bit of depth and texture.

Ombre Butterflies

This card was made at the request of my daughter, who was attending a personal bridal shower for her friend. I had paint chips at my disposal from having painted the girl's bedrooms over Spring Break. I made two cards, not sure what greeting my daughter preferred. And I used the colors from every other sample, therefore one card has darker has a darker feel to it. I used a small amount of glue down the center of each butterfly so the wings could "lift up" a bit.

Hemp cord from Darice, weight #10. Butterfly punch by Martha Stewart. Pearls from Hobby Lobby.

Bookmark Technique

When I use strips of paper to give a bookmark look, I like to leave them loose at the bottom. I feel like this adds depth and really shows off the "bookmarky" feel.

On these cards, I paper pierced the tag simply by following centimeter marks on my ruler.

Large flowers from WalMart scrapbooking section. Burlap flowers from Hobby Lobby. Leaves cut from the Cricut. Sentiment stamp from Meijer.

Bright and Cheery, Take Two

More from my happy paper pads.  Flowers from Michael's dollar bins and Walmart sewing area. Leaves cut from my Cricut. Sentiment stamps from a dollar bin at Meijer scrapbook aisle. I use hot glue on these kinds of flowers to ensure that they stay put while traveling.

Bright and Cheery

I purchased two paper pads that sat on my desk for a very long time. I still don't feel like I've used them to their maximum potential. But I loved the cheery colors and the designs on the paper. Since I didn't have a specific occassion in mind to make these cards for, I decided the "for you" greeting would work on the front and then I could make it fit the occasion when I use them and add my inside sentiment. It could be "for you...to cheer you", "for you...on your birthday", "for you...just because", "for you...to get well", etc. It was a also a win because it utilized the remaining titles I cut and didn't use from my friend's special card (see previous post). Oh, and by the way, I forgot to mention in that previous post that I actually cut two sets of paper for that card because I wasn't sure which direction I wanted to pursue. So, that's why the middle photo below looks oddly familiar (but notice I didn't handstitch on it...another test run using paper piercing which I didn't like nearly as much as stitching).

Back to this post...the cards with the tags below show a really neat way to use a short scrap of ribbon when there isn't quite enough to tie. And I like to bump the ribbon up to show depth, so I use a small glue dot to hold the ribbon in place.

A Very Special Card (for a very special friend)

This photo certainly doesn't do this card justice. But if you can overlook that for a minute I will tell you about this special card. A few times a year, I have a card that I make for a really special person. Special because they know a lot about me and love me anyway. Special because these few people not only appreciate me, they appreciate my fervor for crafting. Special because they will pay attention to all the little details that I took extra time putting into a masterpiece just for them...to let them know how much I think of them. For these few cards, I make sure the papers and colors are exactly what I want...even to the point of cutting out four sets of the "for you" sentiment to see how each color looks. On this card, I punched and traded three sets of the butterflies back and forth several times before I decided which one evoked the exact emotion and feel I was going for. All of this takes time that may seem senseless to most. But because I know that this card will most likely be tucked away in a night stand and then brought out and looked at again and again over the course of the year, I want everything to be as close to perfect as possible. Because the recipient of this card is my best friend.

Study in Purple

Take a heart punch, embossing folder, ribbon and colored cardstock and you SHOULD have a recipe for a quick card. And that is exactly what I needed for a short notice Bridal Shower. But my quick cards always take longer than I think they should. This particular one posed a problem because I didn't have the right ribbon. When I finally settled on that and got everything fine tuned, I ended up putting too much glue on one of the hearts. It leaked and made a darkened shadow around the perimeter that didn't disappear when it dried. Dimensional flower sticker to the rescue!  This certainly didn't end up being my favorite or even like I envisioned, but it worked. And as my mother was fond of saying, "No one will know the difference a hundred years from now!" =)