Well, the holidays are over and it’s time to start thinking about the next big holiday. Yes, Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. It’s a holiday where I dare say more cards are made by us cardmakers for men than virtually any other holiday and it can be a challenge. When I know who I’m making a card for, I like to make something geared for their hobby or interests which usually helps make it a little easier. My husband of 31 years loves to fish so I decided to pull out a reel-y cute stamp I have had in my stash for years. It always feels great to use your stash and I was happy to use already owned supplied for a card that perfectly fits my husband. I encourage you to check your stash to see what you can use again. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
For this card, I wanted some bright colors and CutCardStock’s Astrobright line fit exactly what I had in mind. Pink and red are not my husband’s favorite color combo so I turned to other colors to make a fairly untraditional Valentine’s Day card in colors I know he does like.
Astrobright Lunar Blue formed the bright blue A2 card base. I wanted to also create some texture for this card so I cut a background out of Astrobright Gamma Green. The pattern can be found in Cricut Design Space. It’s called Scale Pattern, Overlay #475F6. This pattern is square but it easily sized to 4″ x 5 1/4″. I placed a piece of Pop Tone Sweet Tooth cardstock behind the background and glued this to the card front. I used the same cardstock to print the sentiment on my computer since I didn’t have this exact sentiment in my stamp collection.
At this point, I stamped and colored the image of the bear fishing using Copic markers on Neenah Clasic Crest Solar White cardstock. Then I cut it out using an oval stitched die in my stash. To add additional interest and make it stand out more from the background, I cut a scalloped oval out of Stardream Metallic Iceberg.
Inside the card, I stamped a simple, I love you sentiment. I look forward to surprising him with it. I know he’ll enjoy it!
So do you struggle with masculine cards? I hope my project will help you look at your existing collection with an eye for something a little different that will be a great way to say, I love you in a way that will be most appreciated by the recipient.
