Masculine Cards with Style

One of my favorite design motifs for masculine cards is nautical. Well, let’s face it, nautical is perfect for all genders and ages really. But it is especially great for masculine cards as it’s gender neutral.

With Father’s Day fast approaching, I wanted to share a couple of designs that are perfect not only for Father’s Day, but several occasions for those men in our lives.

This first card is perfect for Father’s Day. The overall design is pretty simple and anything but boring. I used the Nautical Notions Die along with the Family Sentiments stamp set. Both of these products can be used for several occasions and are economically priced, making them a great investment.

I die cut the life preserver and the anchor from white card stock and added color using Copic Markers. This is a fantastic technique for those stand alone dies in your collection. It really elevates the die cuts and gives them a whole new look.

You can be as simple or as elaborate with the coloring as you like. Here, I’ve gone pretty detailed, but still very simple. Coloring both of these only took about 10-15 minutes. I was able to get that “shine” by leaving a small portion of the red colored areas white, and then just going over it once with a very light pink. The high contrast between the lightest color and the midtone color creates the illusion of a shiny fabric or material.

For the background, I created a tone-on-tone subtle pattern. I die cut several of the same anchor image and adhered them directly to the card base with liquid adhesive. The texture this creates enhances the design without distracting from the focal point and makes the coloring pop even more.

For the sentiment, I heat embossed “I love you more!” from Family Sentiments in white onto black card stock. I added a bit of twine around the life preserver and a few dew drops and sequins. Yeah, I added sequins. Why not? I think it adds a little something fun and still feels gender neutral.

For the next card, I made use of the remaining negative panel that I die cut the anchors from for the first. I knew in advance that I wanted to make use of the remains, so I made sure to die cut them in a deliberate pattern.

I wanted this card to be a little more colorful, so I ink blended a panel of Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor card stock with Distress Ink in Peacock Feathers and Spiced Marmalade to place under the die cut panel. To get that washy watercolored look, I added plenty of water and then let it air dry instead of patting off the excess with a paper towel.

I used the same anchor and life preserver dies. This time I did a little paper piecing and cut the life preserver once from red card stock, and again from white. I trimmed out the red areas and adhered them to the white one. I cut the anchor from Dove Grey card stock.

For the sentiments, I used the Basic Labels stamp set. This is another super versatile set with a good neutral font. Again, I heat embossed them in white and then ink blended over them with Peacock Feathers Distress Ink.

Next up is a tall & narrow money holder card that’s perfect for any celebration. I used a DIY stencil to sponge in clouds using Distress Oxide Ink in Peacock Feathers. I then used a mask to ink in the horizon/waterline with the same ink.

I decided to add dimension to my die cut again by coloring it with Copic makers. Picking out the different elements of the sailboat is really easy, but you can always use a photo for reference. I went with less detail in my coloring this time, using only 1-2 colors per element.

To give the sailboat a little more weight, I cut two more from white card stock and adhered each one on top of the other with liquid adhesive. The large “happy” sentiment from the Happy Trio Die was inked with Spiced Marmalade Distress Oxide Ink and again, stacked on top of 2 more die cuts.

The rest of the sentiments are from the Basic Labels stamp set and were stamped in Wplus9 Black Pure Color Dye Ink. Another pretty simple card, but again, far from boring.

I hope that today’s card have given you some inspiration! As always, thanks for stopping by.

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Featured Supplies

Some of the products used in this post were provided to me for free. I am not under any obligation to use or review these items unless otherwise noted. The following is a list of the featured supplies used in today’s project(s) along with links to purchase for convenience. Please note, this list contains affiliate links. Use of these links when shopping provides me with a small referral commission at no additional cost to you. Use is never expected, but always appreciated. Thank you for your support! ❤️

Wplus9 White Cardstock Shop at: WP9	Wplus9 Black Cardstock Shop at: WP9	Wplus9 PURE COLOR Black Dye Ink Shop at: WP9	Tsukineko Versamark EMBOSS INK PAD Shop at: SSS | EH
Precision Heat Embossing Tool Gun Hero Arts Shop at: SSS	3M Scotch DOUBLE-SIDED FOAM TAPE Shop at: SSS	Ranger Multi-Medium Matte Shop at: SSS	Quilled Creations PRECISION TIP Empty Applicator Bottle Shop at: SSS
Ranger MINI ROUND INK BLENDING TOOLS Shop at: SSS	WOW Super Fine Bright White Embossing Powder Shop at: SSS	Wplus9 Basic Labels Stamp Set Shop at: WP9	Wplus9 Gift Card Layers Die Shop at: WP9
Inkadinkado EMBOSSING MAGIC Powder Bag Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz 4.25 X 5.5 DISTRESS WATERCOLOR CARDSTOCK Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad SPICED MARMALADE Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink Pad PEACOCK FEATHERS Shop at: SSS | EH
Gemini Junior Shop at: SSS	Studio Katia Sparkling Cyrstals Mix Shop at: SSS	Studio Katia Clear Round Drops Mix 1 Shop at: SSS | EH	Studio Katia April Crystals Shop at: SSS
Family Sentiments Shop at: WP9	Pretty Pink Posh Marshmellow Cupped Sequins Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz Distress Sprayer Shop at: SSS | EH	Gina K Designs Connect Glue Shop at: SSS | EH | GKD
Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad Spiced Marmalade Shop at: SSS	Tim Holtz Distress Mini Ink Pad Peacock Feathers Shop at: SSS | EH	Grafix Dura-lar Clear Acetate Alternative Shop at: Blick	Nautical Notions Die Shop at: WP9
Happy Trio Die Shop at: WP9