February 2012 Card Group Projects - 3 Masculine Cards

Wait - 3 masculine cards?!  I hardly ever make male cards but once I'd made the first one I decided to keep the masculine theme going.  The ladies at card group were surprised LOL!

I made this flower card a little while ago, I love the popped up negative shape layer and I really wanted to make a masculine version using my PTI leaf dies.  The 3 largest dies in the set have such nice shapes, perfect for this technique.  The leaf dies are bigger than the flower dies so this card has a more CAS feel as there wasn't room for a mat layer.  CAS for masculine cards is good though - and I left off the butterfly LOL!  I started off by choosing patterned paper to go underneath the popped up layer - it's interesting how some papers look so much better than others for this, it's worth taking the time to select the right pattern!  The reverse of this paper is a large houndstooth design which looked awful behind the leaves!  I glued the paper to the card base, cut a square of Chocolate Chip CS and cut out the 3 leaf shapes.  I've popped up the Choc Chip panel and added the sentiment to finish the front.

I didn't want to discard the 3 positive leaf shapes so I used one of them for inside the card and another for the envelope.  I know it's hard to see in the photo but both these leaves were embossed with the Victoria embossing folder to add some texture.

I kept the 3rd leaf shape plain to use on our second card.  I spritzed the leaf with water, scrunched it up, unfolded it, scrunched it up again and then I ended up with a rugged textured leaf.  While the shape is wet it's really soft and pliable but once dry it becomes hard so keeps its texture and shape nicely.  While the leaf was drying I tore the patterned paper, applied mustard ink to the edge, glued that to the card front and added an artichoke strip.  I stamped a woodgrain stamp on the More Mustard Wonky Square panel with mustard ink, mounted that onto an Always Artichoke Wonky Square and stamped the sentiment in Early Espresso ink.  I attached the leaf to the Wonky Square panel with glue dots.

I saw this fab card made by Lisa on Pinterest and it just tickled me no end that a flower stamp had been used on a masculine card as part of a tree - very clever!  Of course, you know that meant that I had to buy the flower stamp LOL!  I used my tree trunk stamp, grass punch and cloud dies to make a little scene for my card and added a sentiment.  I inked the stamp with Pear Pizzazz ink and then added Old Olive ink around the edges with a sponge dauber.  I cut out the tree with a circle Nestie die, debated whether to leave the circle plain but in the end opted to fussy cut round the shape and I popped it up.  I sponged Baja Breeze ink around the clouds and the largest cloud is popped up.

Supplies for 3 leaves birthday wishes card:
Stamps: birthday wishes from SU! Wow Flowers set, inside sentiment from Hero Arts Friends are Treasures cling set
CS: PaperMania square white card blank, SU! Chocolate Chip & Whisper White
Patterned paper: Echo Park Green Damask
Ink: SU! Chocolate Chip, Adirondack Lettuce
Tools: PaperTrey Ink Leaf Prints Collection dies,  SU! Word Window & Modern label punches, Cuttlebug Victoria embossing folder
Embellishments & accessories:  3d foam tape


Supplies for textured leaf best wishes card:
Stamps:  Hero Arts Designer Woodgrain background stamp, Best Wishes from Hobby Art
CS: PaperMania cream square card blank, SU! More Mustard, Always Artichoke & Chocolate Chip
Patterned paper: SU! Haiku DSP pack
Ink: SU! More Mustard & Early Espresso
Tools:  Wonky Square Nestabilities dies, PaperTrey Ink Leaf Prints Collection die, Stamp-a-ma-jig
Embellishments & accessories: glue dots


Supplies for tree great day card:
Stamps: Hero Arts Small Solid Flower & Tree Trunk stamps, sentiment from Penny Black
CS: SU! Pear Pizzazz, Bashful Blue, Creamy Caramel & Whisper White
Ink: SU! Soft Suede, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive & Baja Breeze, Memento Tuxedo Black
Tools:  Circle Nestabilities die, Memory Box Puffy Clouds die, Martha Stewart Grass border punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig
Embellishments & accessories:  3d foam pads