A masculine 90th birthday card

Hi blogging friends,

Last January, I needed to make a 100th masculine birthday card but I chickened out and bought one.  Masculine cards are difficult at the best of times, but a 100th masculine fried my brain and I just couldn't think of anything that I could do for the occasion.  And of course I left it to the last minute to buy one that cost over $6.00 but was such a simple card that I wondered why I hadn't thought of it!  D'oh (as Homer Simpson would say)!!  I had to pay more than what I wanted too because most of the 100th birthday sentiments on the card insides that I checked out sounded more like a sympathy card rather than celebrating such a momentous occasion.  Things like:  'As you look back on cherished memories....."   I don't know - it just didn't fit my recipient as he was as sharp as a tack and worked well into his 90's and was still able to memorize and recite a whole page of technical jargon!   Guess card companies have the same problem as me as I am often stumped to know what to say and after 10 minutes of ruminating and asking DH (who usually just shrugs his shoulders and says "dunno"), I usually write something that sounds so dull and unimaginative like "Happy birthday" - not very original!

So, when faced with a 90th masculine birthday card to send to our cousin in Wales, I was determined to make my own.  And after much searching, I remembered a Scalloped Medallion Tutorial that I had seen over at Splitcoaststampers ages ago (but never got around to doing) which I thought would add a little pizazz to a fairly plain and simple card.  I had also seen Nancy Riley from her blog iStamp make a layered one which I really loved - see this card by Nancy which lists the same measurements for the punched squares of cardstock that I used.  And you can find the SCS tutorial at this link here.  Please note, if you are not a member of Splitcoaststampers, you will not be able to bring up the tutorial.

And this is the card that I ended up with:

I will say that you must be very, very accurate at cutting out the squares of the cardstock layers if you are doing a layered medallion like I did on my card as if you don't, they will not match up very well after punching them which can be very frustrating and they don't look right; it's like seeing a picture hanging crooked on a wall (I am one of those people who has to straighten the picture or it makes me crazy!)   Even a little bit out with your measurements DOES make a difference.  I popped my medallion is up on dimensionals.  It is hard to tell from the photo, but the dark teal layer has been punched with the scalloped border punch just like the duck egg blue layer - it just doesn't show up well.

In a perfect world, I would have had a number 90 in some Thickers (self-adhesive numbers/alphabet sets) on the medallion that matched the cardstock perfectly but none of my sets did, so I just used an old Penny Black sentiment stamp instead which luckily, was just the right size.  This sentiment was stamped with Colorbox Peacock pigment ink and heat-embossed with clear embossing powder.  I lightly inked around the sentiment panel with the same ink.

Just to add a little something to the card but was not over-the-top, I added the 3 green buttons underneath which is old shop stock I inherited from my family's haberdashery business and are over 30 years old.  I had to also keep in mind that the card was going overseas and needed to not be too bulky or it would get damaged or cost alot to post if I had to send it as a parcel in a padded box/bag.

I was actually quite happy with how it turned out in the end after a few mis-punched medallions that ended up in the bin because they didn't line up!  Simple and stylish and easy to make - now that I know how.  Our cousin was so pleased that the card was handmade especially for him, that he rang me here in Australia all way from Wales to say how much he appreciated it.   How awesome!! That sure made my day!! and so glad that I didn't buy a card instead!

Challenges:

I am entering my card in the following challenge -

The Sisterhood of Crafters - Stripes - use striped paper on your card/project.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fab weekend!

Jocelyn

Card Recipe:

Stamps:  Penny Black - 417E A Birthday Wish - released 1997 (retired)

Ink:  Colorbox Peacock pigment

Designer paper:  Little Yellow Bicycle - Vita Bella Collection - Green and Blue Stripes (2008)

Accessories:  Dimensionals, heat-gun, clear embossing powder, 3 x green buttons, green sewing thread, cardstock - dark teal, white, duck egg blue

Punches:  Fiskars scalloped border