Hi!  Welcome to the monthly Tour de Freaks, brought to you by the Control Freak Swappers!  This month our theme is WHAT’S UP DUDE…masculine cards!   You’ve probably just come from my friend, Debbie Henderson’s blog…love her projects, don’t you?  Just click on the link below to take you around the entire blog hop for some GREAT inspiration!

Country Road

I think most of us struggle with masculine cards, don’t you?  Give me a flower set and I will go to town creating…but more masculine sets take a little more thought process!  So, I purchased this stamp set, Country Road, specifically with masculine cards in mind!  I made this card for one of the New Catalog Swaps that I participated in.

Stampin’ Details:

• The base is 5-1/2 x 8-1/2 Early Espresso cardstock, scored at 4-1/4 and folded.
• On the 4 x 5-1/4 layer of Very Vanilla cardstock, a 1-1/2 x 5-1/4 strip of Merry Merlot cardstock was placed across the center.
• The country star was stamped with Early Espresso on the Merry Merlot cardstock towards the right side.
• The greeting from Country Road was stamped with Early Espresso Ink below the Merry Merlot strip.
• On the 2-3/4 x 3-3/4 piece of Crumb Cake cardstock, a piece of Wood Textures Designer Paper was angle cut to look like a “roof line” on the bottom.
• The horse weather vane was stamped with Early Espresso Ink above the “roof”
• The edges of the Crumb Cake piece were sponged with Early Espresso Ink and the piece popped up on the front with Stampin’ Dimensionals.
• A Gold Metallic Pearl was added to the center of the country star.

Here’s a closeup of the card:

My second card uses some lighter colors, but still has a masculine vibe to it.

• The base is 4-1/4 x 11 Balmy Blue cardstock, scored at 5-1/2 and folded to form the base card.
• A 3-7/8 x 5-1/8 layer of Poppy Parade cardstock was placed on top.
• On the 3-3/4 x 5 piece of Whisper White cardstock, the branch image was stamped diagonally across the bottom with Poppy Parade Ink.
• The speckle image from Timeless Textures was stamped randomly (diagonally) with Balmy Blue Ink in the background.
• The greeting was stamped with Early Espresso Ink.
• The Wagon Wheel was stamped with Early Espresso Ink on Crumb Cake cardstock.  Sponged with Crumb Cake Ink and hand cut and trimmed across the bottom, then added to the front.

Here’s a closeup…love these colors for a masculine card!

Hope you liked my masculine cards and can use them for inspiration!  OK…next up on the Control Freaks Blog Hop is another good friend, Melissa Davies!  I love her work, so I know you’ll enjoy her projects, too!

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Stampin' Up!'s SWEET BUGS BUNDLE showcases a sweet selection of garden critters helping to capture the joy of relaxing in the garden! Stamp the caterpillars, ladybugs, bees and others, then add mushrooms, flowers and garden touches to finish your creation. We've combined the SWEET BUGS BUNDLE and the CUTE AS A BUG 12x12 DESIGNER PAPER featuring even more images to cut out and use!  You'll get step-by-step tutorials for SIX projects...4 regular cards and, 2 ENHANCED fun fold cards...to get you creating!  See more details HERE

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Dress up these adorable sheep with Stampin' Up!'s WOOLLY FRIENDS BUNDLE that features two-step stamping and a coordinating punch. Enjoy them in a variety of colors and textures, plus use the flowers, grass, cowbell and bows to add accessories and a little nature scene surrounding them. The cheerful sentiments will help you spread a little cheer! We've combined the WOOLLY FRIENDS BUNDLE and the CUTE AS A BUG 12x12 DESIGNER PAPER for some extra fun!  You'll get step-by-step tutorials for SIX projects...4 regular cards and 2 slimline cards with decorated envelopes!  See more details HERE!