Masculine cards don't have to be scary!!

Hello! I am half way through my first week of school and they haven't made me run for cover yet!! hee! hee! I managed to get my three projects prepared in time for my club meeting this past weekend! Nothing like working under pressure!! The day was so unusually beautiful and cool that we changed locations and went outdoors to a local park.  We ladies sat at a picnic table in a shelter house to get crafty while our children played together on the playground.  Fun for everyone!!  As a payment for their babysitting duties, I took my girls to the local ice cream shop after the meeting for some yummy treats!  I was a little bummed that they didn't have mango flavored Dole whip as the flavor of the week and consoled myself with a pineapple sundae! Oh, the sacrifices I make...  But enough of that!

I had something interesting pointed out to me at our club meeting.  I have never considered myself a great creator of masculine cards.  It is always so much more natural for me to go with whimsical or flowery when I make cards.  Because of this, I always have plenty of feminine and kids cards on hand, but have to make sure I actually have guy cards when the occasion arises.  This led me to the assumption that I am not good at the manly design.  I started off our club saying "I always struggle with guy cards..." and one of the ladies started to laugh. When I stopped, she said "You ALWAYS say that and then show us these great cards!" Hmmm... So now I am going to change my mindset on masculine.  I think it is so easy for many of us to say "I'm not good at..." when we really mean it's not our favorite style.  After all, I live in a home where the estrogen outnumbers the testosterone 3 to 1 (the dog and cat cancel each other out), so I tend to go girly.  But seriously, isn't masculine a lot simpler?  (I know... stay with me for a minute!) Find some manly paper, slap on a sentiment or image, and the embellishing is minimal. I usually do embossing on my cards anyway so really the only difference between the card below and a girly card is what I DIDN'T put on it!  This partially explains my blog title today.

The other explanation of my title lies in the paper.  I used Howlstooth and Scaringbone DSP for this handsome card!  Yes, Halloween colors on this paper!! But don't you just love the manly prints in this pack?!  They remind me of some blazers you might find in a second hand store!  I adhered the alternating vanilla and patterned strips onto black cardstock, then embossed them with the houndstooth folder.  The chevron folder added some texture to the basic gray strip, and the brad (from antique brads collection) was the perfect finishing touch.

So no more excuses! Repeat after me-"Masculine cards are NOT scary!" Now go make something manly!  Have a great rest of the week and happy crafting!

Card Recipe: Cardstock-Howlstooth & Scaringbone DSP, very vanilla, basic gray, basic black, tangerine tango, Ink-stazon black, Stamp Set-Word Play, Accessories-houndstooth & chevron folders, decorative label punch, antique brads