#Party – Gee That Sounds Swell Birthday Card – Mixed Media Masculine Card

Hey there, I’m back with yet another August birthday card – I told you August is insane but hey I get to make lots of things so I can’t complain really, just so long as I stay organised and methodical, and not go off on any crazy tangents, it should all work out.

The Finished Card

This card is actually due today!!! But it doesn’t need to be posted so Phew!  It’s a “masculine” card for a family member, and I am always in two minds when it comes to masculine cards, as part of me thinks – is it really necessary to make something more “manly” than my usual cards, and at the same time it seems to cause some people a lot of problems – but that can also be said for gifts for men too – right?  Needless to say I am not making a gift, I have already purchased something lol.  So my thoughts are that “masculine” cards are not hard to make but I also question just how necessary it is to make the distinction?

The Start of the Card

The good news is that I already had part of an idea in mind after I saw this paper by Authentique called Dapper and knew I had to use one of the little 3 x 4 cards on my card so I had bought it a while back and tucked it away in my stash until I was ready to make the card. I had the card idea sketched out on a post-it note which I am not revealing here lol but suffice it to say it was a very, very basic plan and only included an idea for one other element that I wanted for the card.  I also wanted a sentiment to go with the words on the journal card, so that it made sense, and I was stuck on “time to party” so that overall the card would read “time to party – gee that sounds swell”. I went through my stamp collection as I was convinced that I had a stamp set that contains that very sentiment – and I did.  It was in the Stamptember release from Honey Bee last year, so I stamped it out, decided to heat emboss it and put it on a small card to hang off the main card front, but after doing all of that, I decided I didn’t like how it looked with the other elements.

Construction

The actual card base is made from a piece of Neenah folded in half to give a 5.5 x 8.5 tall card.  I also cut a front panel with the same dimensions and used some Grunge pattern paper with an orange/blue background for the decoration, tearing it randomly down two sides to give a distressed edge, before attacking the other two sides with a paper distresser and then inking the edges with Black Soot archival ink.  The next step was to apply some background texture using a stencil and I used one from Antonis Tzanidakis / Stamperia called Dual Bios and used a sponge to apply embossing ink through parts of the stencil, before covering it with Seth Apter Vintage Beeswax embossing powder from Emerald Creek.  I really love the look of this embossing powder!  I then went around the torn edges of the card with some Finnabair Metallique paint in Raven Black, allowing it to run down the page.  At this point, I would usually apply some paint splatters but for some reason I forgot and did it later.

Elements

Meanwhile, I left all this paint to dry, and worked on the other elements, namely the clock diecut, the frame for the journal card, and what I eventually decided to add to the clock – #PARTY. I used Tim Holtz Stacked Postage dies to cut a frame in which to mount the journal card, then I heat embossed it with one of my favourite black embossing powders – Black Glint by Wow! – before attaching it to the journal card.  I also gave the journal card a layer of gloss gel for protection.  Then I diecut the clock using the Tim Holtz Timekeeper Bigz die (this is like an updated, less distressed version of an older die called Weathered Clock, which I also have, so you could also use that one) and I used the same embossing powder on the clock.  I decided to diecut #PARTY from Tim Holtz Society Alphabet Bigz die and spray it with Distress Stain in Brushed Pewter and I realised that with the right positioning, I could fit PARTY inside the clock centre! I love it when a plan comes together!

Decoration

I played around with the elements to make sure everything would fit, and then took a photo for reference, before starting to glue everything in place.  The clock went at the top, with the PARTY word in the centre, and the hashtag on the side, then the framed journal card was positioned below at an angle.  At this point I realised I forgot to add the splatters that I had intended, so I quickly cut masks to cover the clock and the frame as I didn’t want them “splattered”.  All that remained was to attach the card front to the base and it was finished.

What I Love / Final Thoughts

I really like how this card turned out, and all the materials I used.  Sometimes a birthday card doesn’t have to say “Happy Birthday” on the card, and I like making cards this way.  I really loved the Vintage Beeswax embossing powder and the Dual Bios stencil, this stencil design was definitely one I needed in my collection as I had nothing else like it and it was just what I needed for this card.  I loved how the background paper turned out as it was just a cheap pattern paper I bought on a whim but turned out to be perfect for this card.  I really love the little vintage/retro style journal cards and I really should get more of it before it disappears forever as it’s not new.

I’m entering this project in the Country View Crafts August Challenge – the theme is TEXTURE. You can visit their blog here. 

PROJECT RECIPE:
Clear Gesso
Antonis Tzanidakis Stencil
Liquid Acrylics – yellow
Tuxedo Black Memento Marker
Distress Archival Ink – Black Soot
Black and White paint splatters
Metallique paint – Raven Black
Neenah cardstock for card base
Seth Apter Vintage Beeswax Embossing Powder
Tim Holtz Society Bigz, Timekeeper, Stacked Postage Dies
Distress Stain – Brushed Pewter
Wow Embossing Ink
Sponge applicator
Soft Gloss Gel
Authentique Dapper paper