Thursday, August 9, 2018

IO Challenge- It's a Guy Thing (Masculine Cards)


Greetings friends.  I know that sometimes it is hard to think of masculine card ideas.  Hopefully, today's challenge will provide you with lots of inspiration.

For my first card, I chose to use my Beetle 3 stamp.  I have been really wanting to color him, so this was the perfect chance.  I stamped him onto 140lb watercolor paper with black Versafine ink and then colored him with some Zig Clean Color Brush markers and a waterbrush.  Here is a closeup:


The background paper is woodgrain watercolor paper from Hero Arts that I colored with distress stains.  I made the background quite some time ago, and I forgot to write down the exact colors of Stains I used.  I used an assortment of grey (predominantly), blue, and brown.

The Artful Soul font is a bit feminine, but it was the sentiment I wanted for this card.  I'm sure some of you have artful men in your lives.  If not, any other sentiment could be substituted.

For my second card, I once again used my beetle stamp and paired it with the coordinating Mini Beetle 3 stamp.  I wanted both sizes because I knew I would be using them together to make some collages.  I had to take the picture from the side so that my metallic paint would show up.  Yes, you can use metallic paint for masculine cards!


To make the card, I stamped my beetles and an assortment of Seth Apter stamps onto regular black cardstock and then embossed everything in gold.  Then I colored the images with some Twinkling H2O paint, which shows up great even on dark cardstock.  Remember, because I didn't use watercolor paper, it is important to not use too much water.  Otherwise, the paper will really warp or tear.

Speaking of Seth Apter....  his images are absolutely perfect for collage or masculine projects.  I used his artwork again on the last card.

Card 3 is a Halloween card I thought would be perfect for a guy.  Okay, I already have plans to use it for my brother.  I wouldn't be a proper sister if I didn't taunt him at any chance:


To make the card, I sponged the bottom of some white cardstock with brown PanPastel chalk and the top with grey PanPastels.  Next, I stamped my dots from Seth's Grunge Grids set with Versamark ink and then sponged them with the same grey chalk, which made them appear darker than the background grey.  I then embossed the Black Cats and Scaredy Cat sentiment in black so they would really pop on the card.

Impression Obsession Items Used in the Card:

Card 1 (Artful Soul Beetle)
Beetle 3 E13647
Artful Soul C20394

Card 2 (Metallic Beetle Collage)
Mini Beetle 3 B13644
Planner Moments 3187-LG
Planner Basics 3196-LG

Card 3 (Scaredy Cat)
Grunge Grids 3209-LG
Black Cats E7983
Scaredy Cat C3527


Need more Christmas inspiration?  Be sure to visit the other designers:



3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good cards! Yes! Making cards for men is hard. Thanks for the ideas.

Geri S said...

Love these cards (and bugs) - great ideas - Thanks!

TLady said...

Hi Laura!
I'm contacting you through your blog, as for SOME REASON I can't make my e-mails go through to you! I am one of your Memory Box Winners for the recent Blog Blitz! I sent you an e-mail, but I'm not sure if it went through. It was wanting me to verify myself. UGH! I tried..... Let me know if you got my e-mail, if you would? THANK YOU for your help!
Becky Green ;)