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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Simple Turkey Card

 I was at Joann's recently and a saw a new line of embossing folders.  They are designed by Basic Grey and made by Sizzix.  There were quite a few sets available and each one was packaged with a small die.  I had a 50% off coupon burning a hole in my pocket so I decided to try these out.  The set I chose included the Diamonds and Snow Cap A2 embossing folders and a cute die that says HO3 ("Ho" to the 3rd power or "Ho,Ho,Ho"!).

I tried the Diamond embossing folder on a piece of heavy Bazzill cardstock.  The impression was very deep and sharp.  The look is very different on the two sides of the cardstock.. The side with the diamond lines embossed (above)  looks like an ice cream cone or waffle.

The side with the diamond lines debossed looks more like a quilt

So I had this piece of lovely embossed cardstock just looking for a home and decided to pull together a very quick and simple card.  I used an A2 card base in yellow textured cardstock and added an orange layer cut at 5 1/4 by 4 inches and then added my embossed layer which was originally cut at 5 by 3 3/4 inches.  Heavy embossing can actually make a piece of paper or cardstock "shrink" a bit so the layer might look a little smaller.

Whenever you are adhering a heavily embossed layer to a card it is a good idea to use a strong adhesive and place it close to the edge on all four sides (with some extra in the center for good measure).

I just made some ATCs (artist trading cards) for a swap and I had a few extra pieces left on my table.  These were also done in three layers - a green 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 base, an orange 2 1/4 by 3 1/4 layer and a top layer of printed texture patterned paper at 2 by 3 inches.  (I'll show you the ATCs that I made another day). 

The colors were very autumnal.  I looked at the seasonal embellishment sets that are new this month at Creative Charms and I could see that the turkey from the Thanksgiving Multi-Dimensional Chipboard Stickers would be a great fit in both color and size.

The turkey is layered with lots of detail and glitter.  The thickness of the chipboard makes it very substantial and it is a perfect focal point.  I like the card as it is but I might consider adding a stamp that says "gobble, gobble" (or something along those lines!).

That's all there is to this card - lots of simple layers, some deep embossing and a great embellishment.  You can use the same simple plan for many cards.  A Cricut cut and layered image for the center area would take a bit longer to make so if you are in a hurry, try a premade embllishment.  The advantage to using the Cricut for creating the center image would be the ability to customize the size to fit perfectly.

There were quite a few different sets of embossing folders - I think I'll have to add a few more of this type to my never ending collection! 

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"Thanks" card with Scor-Bug

I have been getting all sorts of exciting mail lately. I ordered the eleven new Cuttlebug embossing folders and they arrived yesterday. Today, UPS delivered the "Don Juan" cartridge I ordered using my Cricut Rewards points - I can't wait to give it a "test drive!" When I got the mail this afternoon I had yet another package, and it it was the Scor-Bug, a nifty little gadget from the Scor-Pal company.



Here is the Scor-Bug closed, It has a handy little chain that you can use to attach it to a tote or purse.



When you slide the knob forward a wheel with sharp tipped little pegs is revealed. You run the Scor-Bug over a piece of card stock on the Scor-Pal, following along one of the grooves. There is a very natural feel to the Bug in your hand and the finger grip is built in.



First I scored the front of my card at 1/2 inch from the long edge of the folded card.



Then I lined up the center fold of the card with the five inch mark on my Scor-Pal and ran the bug along the line 1/2 inch away.



I then placed the unfolded card along the edge of the Scor-Pal and ran the Scor-Bug down each long side of the piece of cardstock one/half inch from the edge.



On the top side, the Scor-Bug creates evenly spaced dots, debossed into the surface of the cardstock.



On the bottom of the cardstock, the tool creates a series of bumps that give the effect of stitching (without the work of actually stitching!).



These dotted lines formed a new center area of my card - the measurement (after removing one-half inch from each side) is 4.5 inches x 3.25 inches. I cut a piece of pretty paper to 3 inches x 4.25 inches and stuck in in the center position.



Then I added the word "Thanks" which I cut from blue glitter card stock with my Cuttlebug using the die from the "With Gratitude" A2 combo set. I deliberately placed my "Thanks" die cut a bit off center to add some interest.



This is an extremely simple card but the Scor-Bug lines just give a little extra pizazz! I want to try more complicated and intricate patterns very soon. I would not recommend trying this on thin patterned paper but it works great on heavy cardstock (I was using Bazzill card stock in this example). If you'd like more information about the Scor-Bug, here is a LINK to the Scor-Pal site page where it is fully described,



I happen to need some thank you cards right now to thank my "Walking Goddess" friends for birthday gifts. On Monday, we had a "girl's night out" to celebrate the four birthdays that fall in July. I am very lucky to have such a fantastic group of friends. I just had to share a picture of the fabulous birthday cake that Debbie made from scratch(!) with whipped cream, raspberries and drizzled chocolate. Check out those crazy twisted candles on top!


(Jen and I are holding a Basic Cards class on Thursday at 1:00 p.m. Eastern - there are still a few slots available if you are reading this in the morning and would like to attend. Follow the directions on the LMSYHTDT blog to request a space in the class).

Brown Bag ATCs

The theme for my Cricut Message Board ATC group this month was "brown paper bag" with this stipulation, "entire ATC must be utilizing brown paper in some way shape or form..."

This was a theme that gave me a hard time - I kept thinking of things like making tiny brown bags and putting something inside of each but I wasn't ready to commit to making 14 tiny bags(!) So I thought about it for a while and realized that "brown paper bag" was making me think of "plain brown wrapper." When I was younger (back in the day when TV ads for personal hygiene products and drugs for "performance problems" were unheard of), some products were advertised as items that would be sent through the mail in a "plain brown wrapper" - presumably to spare the purchaser from any embarrassment.

I recently bought a rubber stamp that I thought looked a bit like lingerie lace so I decided that I would use this for my ATCs. I imagined that racy black lingerie might have been something sent in a "plain brown wrapper."



I cut up an actual brown bag from the grocery store for the cards. For the fronts, I cut the pieces at ATC size (2.5 x 3.5 inches) and then, using my stamp positioner (shown in the photo above), I stamped the pieces of brown paper with Versamark ink and heat embossed the design with glossy black embossing powder. By using the stamp positioner I was able to stamp each ATC with the same portion of the stamp to make them as identical as possible.



Above you can see all 14 ATCs. I added a red gem to my "naughty" lace for a bit of sparkle.



For the backs of the ATCS, I printed the usual information in dark brown. I cut pieces of the brown paper bag at 8.5 x 11 inches and just ran it through my computer printer - it printed perfectly. There were nine backs on each page and I trimmed them to the proper size after printing.



Above is a closer view of the ATC backs. Since the paper bags are thick but still rather flexible, I adhered the fronts and backs to pieces of brown cardstock cut to ATC size to make them sturdier.

This was an interesting theme and fun to do once I finally had an idea. The other ATCs are in the mail on their way to me and I am looking forward to seeing all the interpretations of this theme. I did have a sneak peek at them on KER's blog (Karen is our organizer). If you would like to see all of the ATCs for this theme, here is a LINK to part one and a LINK to part two (she did two posts to allow for larger photos with fewer ATCs in each photo for a better view).

I really like the way the embossing worked on the brown bags and I think I will try this again for some cards.


Just a note about the Design Studio classes - we are having our second two Getting Started sessions this Wednesday and Thursday and will be adding some new classes soon. I was away last weekend and will have family visiting next weekend, but we will try to fit in a class or two next week. JenC and I appreciate all of the feedback and support and we have lots of exciting plans for additional topics...

Some Card Economics

I have been working on several framed pieces lately - I posted a couple of them last week (the 50th birthday collage and baby Abigail name frame). For another project I needed some paper long enough for an 8 x 20 inch frame. I did not want a "seam" between sheets of 12 x 12 paper in the background since I wanted a solid white or cream background (if you are using a busy patterned paper it is easier to disguise the seam).



I purchased this large tablet of art paper when it was on sale for $9.99. (I took the photo with it sitting on the sofa in my craft room so you could see how BIG it is!). I figured this would last me for a lot of framed pieces.



The paper measures 19 x 24 inches and is nice and heavy - 100 lb. weight. There are 20 sheets in the tablet. I cut my 8 x 20 background piece and had the 4 x 8 remainder piece from that strip - so I decided to play with it! I cut it in half for two 4 x 4 inch squares.



I ran it through my cuttlebug using the folder from the "Everyday Greetings"A2 combo set. I positioned it at the top of the folder. The paper embossed beautifully and I decided to make a card with it.



Above you can see the back of the card topper. I added a strip of green cardstock that was also four inches wide and I used my Martha Stewart double scallop edge punch on one side of the cardstock. I put these two together by applying adhesive to the green cardstock and aligning the embossed piece on top of the cardstock . (I learned the hard way a while ago that if you use a tape runner or tape gun on the back of an embossed piece you can "erase" some of the embossing!)



I added ribbon to join the two sections. I have found that my new ATG is fantastic for adhering ribbon.



I like to use ribbon that is 3/8 or 1/2 inch wide and the 1/4 inch tape is easy to apply along the back of the ribbon and allows me to adhere it evenly and securely.



I added another bit of ribbon and a "skittle" to the ribbon stripe.



This card is ready for a sentiment - I am not sure what I will be using it for so I have not added a sentiment yet.



Today I went shopping (I couldn't resist the 50% coupons for President's Day) and I found this set of clear stamps with small sentiments that will fit the lower right corner of the embossed section nicely.



Above you can see the "audition" of the "follow your dreams" stamp on the card front.



Here is a closer view of some of the tiny sayings. If you are a stamper, you probably have a selection of suitable stamps on hand - I have not accumulated a lot of stamps (yet) so I was very happy to get this set for $5 - half price.

Then, I got to thinking.....

Even though I intended to use the paper for large framed pieces - the card front looks so pretty with the embossing...how many of these could I make from one tablet? (here comes the math!)

One sheet of 19 x 24 inch paper can be cut into six 19 x 4 inch strips. Each strip can have three 5 1/4 sections cut from it. So I can cut 18, 4 x 5 1/4 inch pieces which will fit perfectly on an A2 card front with a 1/8 inch border around the edge. Each sheet will also yield six 3 1/4 x 4 inch pieces which can be used in combination with another piece of cardstock for card fronts similar to the one I made here.

One tablet gives me 360 full size card fronts and 120 smaller sections - even if I ignore the smaller pieces, the cost per embossed full card front would be less than 3 cents! (and if the tablet was not on sale, the cost would still be less than 6 cents). Of course there are other components to making the card but, with a careful cutting and embossing session, I can have the focal point for so many beautiful cards for pennies.

I think I am going to be busy!

A few notes -Yesterday, shortly after I posted that no one had successfully guessed the number of cartridges on the 50th Birthday celebration piece, Susan commented with the correct answer - 11. The cartridges used were Christmas, Camp Out, Going Places, Locker Talk, Mickey and Friends, My Community, My World, New Arrival, Plantin Schoolbook, Pooh and Friends, and Wedding.

Tomorrow I will have a cut file for you - I hope that you don't mind these digressions into other paper craft projects - this blog is constantly evolving and reflects whatever I have been doing!