Creating cards for guys isn't as easy as it is for my female friends or even for the kids. It's even worse when you've missed someone's birthday. Admittedly, I don't miss many. I keep a birthday calendar on the bulletin board over my desk and each month can easily see the events for which I want to create a card. When Papertrey Ink released "Blue Skies," I grabbed it right away with a card like this in mind. I've had it for a couple of years, but this year I needed a belated greeting for my brother-in-law (of all people!)
The first (or was it the first two or three?) attempts at this card ended up in the circular file, but I learned a lot in the attempts. In the end, finding patterned paper from the My Favorite Things "Watercolor Wash" pad was the key to success. I die cut clouds inside the stitched circle, then backed it with Hawaiian Shores cardstock which I overlaid with smaller cloud dies. The plane was stamped with Hawaiian Shores and then die cut and bumped out with some foam tape.
The next card came together in no time, which made up for the first one. When Papertrey had their January sale of patterned papers, I picked up one called "3 Piece Suit," clearly designed for masculine cards.
I cut a narrow piece from the patterned paper and adhered it to a gray card after stamping the sentiment from one of my all time favorite sets: "Stylish Sentiments: Birthday." I found the perfect embellishment in my sticker collection. Within the week, I needed two more masculine birthday cards. One for an older gentleman, and one for my niece's husband. I'll let you guess which one goes to him! Same design; different papers.
For this one, I couldn't find an embellishment in my stash, so die cut multiple starts with Simon Says "Large Holiday Shapes."
Once I found the right patterned paper, this card came together quickly as well. (I have to admit, though, the paper search took awhile.) I finally found it in one of the loose packs of papers in my stash, so I'm not sure where it came from.
Several months ago, I picked up some pack of birthday stickers with the idea of using them in my Project Life pages. These balloons were just the right colors, so onto a card they went!
I'll be returning to this design again. Quick and easy---especially when you need a card quickly.
