Birthday Cards for Men

Many cardmakers find that making cards for men is more difficult than making "female" cards.  There are so many beautiful floral papers, lace trims and ribbons, fancy die cut shapes and other blingy things that appeal to women but don't really "work" for many men.

My husband has two brothers with January birthdays and the colors for their cards were inspired by the national-home-improvement-store-with-the-orange-logo gift cards that will be inside the cards (hint, hint...).  I  was feeling a bit lazy and a bit guilty about the number of Cricut cartridges I own that I haven't used so I went to the "Birthday Bash" cartridge to find a sentiment.

This is another one of the "cute" cartridges and it contains lots of whimsical animals celebrating birthdays.  I was just looking for a quick sentiment and settled on "Happy Happy Birthday" on page 41.

 I have taken to using the Cricut machines primarily for plug and play cutting of images - I rarely use any of the Cricut Design tools these days.  I have found that other software programs give me much more freedom to create what I want but if I just want to cut out something quickly, I can usually find a cut that will work in my (too large) collection of cartridges. 

This phrase was meant to be used on the flag so I had to think about the sizing.  I was making a regular A2 card so I used "fit to length" and set the dial for 4 1/4 inches.  I had to make it longer to compensate for the flag pole being part of the image on that key.  The machine calculated a size of 5 3/4 inches for the cut.

I cut two mat layers for the card.  The base layer is orange cardstock and the top layer is a lighter gray.  I recently bought this embossing folder with the hexagon pattern.  I thought it would be suitably "hardware-like" since the shapes reminded me of nuts and bolts.

Whenever you use an embossing folder, you "emboss" one side (raise up the pattern) and "deboss" the other (press the pattern down into the cardstock).  The look can be very different.  In this case the debossed side (on the left) looked more like hardware nuts to me so I chose to place that side up one the card.

One problem with the sentiment I chose was the lack of a shadow layer.  In the Silhouette software I can add a shadow or offset of any shape or group of shapes with a quick click.  Despite years of requests, this is not possible with the Cricut software.  If there is not a true shadow, you can cut the same image twice and glue the two cuts together slightly off center to give a "sun shadow" effect.

You can see the dark gray shadow layer on the orange word cuts here.  I wanted the card to be more rugged and grungy so I used some Pumice Stone Distress Ink to ink the sentiment edges and the embossed hexagon layer.

 Here is a closer view of the "shadow" layer and the inking.

I didn't want to pretty up the card with ribbon but I remembered that there was an interesting trim in my last Webster's Pages warehouse sale box (the one at the top of this card of trims).

I cut a short length of the trim to fit the card front and clipped one row to make a three row stripe.  This width fit in the hexagon pattern more neatly and odd numbers are always better, right?

I had saved the dot for the exclamation point but I decided to cut just one shiny "rivet" from the extra trim and use it to make a more noticeable dot.

I needed a pocket to hold the gift card inside so I cut a strip of the orange cardstock at 2 x 5 inches and punched one edge with a deep edge punch.

The punch I used is from the Martha Stewart line and it is called "Triple Chain."  I think it looks like a chain link fence.  I am not sure if this is in stores yet, I fell for the HSN sales pitch and bought it as part of a multi shipment plan (as if I needed any more punches...)!

I used Scor-Tape on the bottom and sides of the pocket to hold the card securely.  On the top edges of the punched area I used a glue pen to hold the corners flat.

I keep this cardboard credit card from a mailing on my craft island so it is handy to test sizing for any gift card holders I want to put inside my cards.

I inked up the edges of the pocket with the same Pumice Stone distress ink.

I don't usually make two of the same card but since the birthdays are less than a week apart and the same gift was going to be inside each card it seemed like a good plan to make duplicates.  One card has a little extra decoration inside to mark a "milestone" birthday.

I was motivated to try to use a Cricut cartridge that I hadn't tried before but, in hindsight, I think I might have preferred to make my own sentiment using a stencil font from my computer and cutting it with the Cameo to get a better match for the "look" of the national-home-improvement-store-with-the orange-logo...  yup, totally wishing I had done it that way now(!)

Do you find it difficult to make cards for men?  What are some of your tips and tricks for keeping the cards from getting too frilly?


Thank you all so much for the kind words and prayers for my Dad.  He has improved considerably and we are hoping for a full recovery.  Please be careful and try to avoid catching this flu.  There are a lot of people affected and the germs can last for more than a day on surfaces so be sure to wipe things down and use hand sanitizer!

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Real Flowers - printed and cut for a card

Monday was a "catch-up" day for me.  I was finally able to find the top of the pool table in my craft room "annex" (after our sons left home I spread out into the adjoining room - and filled it up too!).  I was sorting through piles of projects and I found something that I started a couple of months ago.  So I finished this card to share with you.

This photo of a rudbeckia (brown-eyed susan) from our back yard was the starting point.

I did some photo editing and heightened the contrast to make the flower stand out.  One of my favorite things to do with my flower photos is to turn them into digital elements that I can use for my digital scrapbooking.  I have accumulated quite a few flower images as PNG files that I can use for page layouts, cards and other projects.

I used the Creative Memories StoryBook Creator 4.0 software (on sale this week for only $41.40) to remove the background and create a clean image of the flower.  I realized that with my Silhouette machines I have the capability to take these flower images and cut them out perfectly.

I saved the PNG file to my desktop and then dragged it into the Silhouette Studio software.  (You do not need the designer version of the software to do this).  Then I used the trace function to create a cut line around the edge of the flower.  I filled a page with various sizes of the flower.  For some of the images, I created an offset to leave a white edge around the flower when it is cut.  

Once my flowers were cut out, they looked very realistic - because they are actual flower images.  I could also skip the printing and use the cut lines that I traced around the flowers to cut plain cardstock in the same shape. 

I chose three flowers in small, medium and large sizes, and cut some basic card mats for an A2 card.  The card base is Bazzill heavy textured cardstock, the brown layer is Core'dinations cardstock and the green design is from Momenta.  The yellow chevron ribbon is from May Arts and the sentiment is from Craftwork Cards (I rounded two corners to make it a little more interesting).

 I placed the ribbon across the front of the top layer and folded it over onto the adhesive on the back before I placed the green layer (3 3/4 x 5 inches) on the brown layer (4 x 5 1/4 inches).

I inked the edges of the layers with some Vintage Photo distress ink.  Here is the finished card base before I added the flowers and sentiment.

I chose this ribbon because the chevron pattern matches the design in the green dragonfly cardstock.  I used Scor-Tape to attached the sentiment to the ribbon and the cardstock.

To add dimension to the flowers, I used some foam dots.  I adhered the largest flower with Scor-Tape in the center and curled up the ends a bit.  For the medium flower I used one foam dot and for the smallest flower I stacked two foam dots.

I overlapped the flowers as I placed them on the card.  This photo shows the different levels.

I have also done a print and cut project with some daisies and I am working on other flowers that I have photographed.  I really enjoy taking my photos and finding new ways to use them.  You can make a totally personalized card and once you take the time to create the files you can use them over and over again.

I am linking up this project to Link Up Tuesday HERE.  The past few months have been such a busy time for our family.  I don't go to the message boards much anymore but I'd like to keep in contact with the blogging community - I may even start a link day here.

Every so often I am asked if I sell my photographs.  I haven't done that (yet) but I am considering creating and selling SVG files to print and cut my flower images.  Please let me know (by leaving a comment or by email) if you'd be interested in these or other SVG files.  I can't sell them as .studio files (see Kerri Bradford's recent blog posts) but SVG files can be cut by a number of machines, including the Silhouette machines if you have the designer edition of the software or another program such as Make the Cut.

Our weather has started to cool down a bit and fall will be here soon.  The schools here usually start after Labor Day but I know that in many parts of the country children are already back to school.  If you have school age children, I hope that they are off to a good start for this year.

I wonder what other projects I'll find as I continue to sort out my craft room!

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Happy Birthday to Taylor!

I met Taylor VanBruggen in 2010 at the Craft and Hobby Association show in Chicago.  Taylor is the "Taylor" in "Taylored Expressions" and today is her 30th birthday!  Her husband, Jon, sent out a secret email request for birthday cards and wishes to help mark this significant birthday.  Since Taylor is known for her fondness of sweets, he asked for cards that oozed sweetness!

I have enjoyed all of the stamps, dies and other items I have purchased from Taylored Expressions over the last couple of years and I used some of them to make this card.

One of my favorite stamp sets from Taylored Expressions is It's in the Bag - I think I like it so much because it has a companion die set so you can make teeny tiny shopping bags.

 I also like this set of banners and greetings called It's a Banner Day 1 - once again it has a coordinating die to cut the banner image.  (There are two other banner day sets with different styles of banners as well as an additional set of holiday sentiments for all three banners).

I cut out the tiny shopping bag from the green glitter cardstock from the DCWV Cotton Bloom stack that I used for my father-in-law's card (it matched the other colors perfectly - sometimes it is good to be slow to clean up your leftovers!).

The die cuts and scores in one pass so it is easy to crease along all of the marked lines to shape the bag.

I use Scor-Tape to hold the bags together - it is great on the glittered cardstock which can be prone to popping open with a weaker adhesive.

The tiny bags are very cute - they finish at 1 1/2 x 2 inches and are about 1/2 inch deep.

Last year I participated in the kit club that Taylor offers called Key Ingredients.  Each month I received a box with cardstock, patterned papers, ribbons and other embellishments to make cards.  It is wonderful to be able to pick up one of these boxes and have everything already coordinated for you.

I  remembered that the January 2011 kit had lots of sweet papers (from the Little Yellow Bicycle "Cupcake Love") so I pulled out that box and chose my card base (Bazzill Chablis) and the glittery lollipop cardstock for my top card layer (cut at 3 3/4 x 5 inches).  I used the same green glitter DCWV cardstock that I used for the shopping bag for the bottom mat layer (cut at 4 x 5 1/4 inches).

Next, I created the banner for the birthday greeting.   I stamped the dotted design with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink and then placed the clear template on top (if you look carefully you can see that is marked "this side  up" to help you get it placed properly).  I made pencil marks in the two little holes.

Then I placed the die on top of the image and lined up the holes in the die with the pencil marks.

Here is my stamped and cut banner.  I stamped the "Happy Birthday" in the center with Crushed Olive Distress Ink.

I needed some foam dots to raise the sentiment and make it show up a little better in the shadow of the tiny shopping bag.

Here is the finished sentiment on the card.

I stamped the little cupcake from the It's In the Bag stamp set with Worn Lipstick Distress Ink.  Then I colored the leaves and liner with Crushed Olive and Dusty Concord Distress Markers.  I colored the flower on top of the cupcake with a Poppy ProMarker.  Then I added Crystal Stickles to the frosting and a drop of Glossy Accents on the flower.

I left it to dry for a few hours and the Glossy Accents became clear and let the Poppy Promarker and Worn Lipstick ink show through.  I punched out the image with a 3/4 inch circle punch and then placed the circle on a 1 inch hexagon punched from DCWV glitter cardstock (hexagons are all the rage lately!).

I used a couple of pieces of half inch Scor-Tape to secure the bag to the card. 

Here is a shot of the various items I used for the cupcake image (except for the stamp and the Worn Lipstick ink).

I added a small piece of shimmery pink fabric to the bag.  I thought it would stay fluffy and not get crushed like tissue paper when the card is mailed.

I think this is a happy card  - and definitely sweet!

If you have a chance - pop over to the Taylored Expressions Facebook page (or if you are not on Facebook you also leave a Happy Birthday comment on Taylor's Blog.  Say hi from me!

I didn't get my card in the mail on time - I wanted to add something sweet to the package that I haven't had time to make...that's today's project!  The birthday celebration will last a little bit longer this way.  I remember I used to find the cutest belated birthday cards sometimes and then wait to send them so they would be truly belated!

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