Birthday cards

Clearly, I still need to work out a few lighting issues with my photos, but this will give you an idea of what I've been doing.

The inspiration for this card was a set of scrapbooking tags I received as a gift from my friend April. The "Happy Birthday" stamp by Hampton Art fit nicely inside the rectangle tag. In my stash was this great geometric print, double-sided cardstock by American Crafts ... a real find at 10 cents a sheet! (Paper freaks always check the clearance section.) I used the reverse side of the cardstock, a rich plum, for the top section of the card and bordered the edge with a black marker. I lined the inside of the card with white.

Designing masculine cards has always been a bit of a challenge for me. The word "masculine" evokes images of darker colors, metals, and rough-hewn textures ... not really my style, per se. This brown plaid card from My Mind's Eye seemed to be a good starting point. I had a set of leather frames from Making Memories and decided to play up the red in the plaid to match the inside of the card. I stamped and embossed "Birthday Wishes" (by Hero Arts) onto a slightly larger rectangle of sand-colored cardstock, bordering the edge with my trusty black Zig marker. A strip of cardstock in a coordinating stripe completes the look.