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Why are masculine cards so hard to make. My mom asked me to make some blank masculine cards and get well cards. I am having a very difficult time finding and making masculine cards. I am kind of disappointed with SU for their lack of masculine stamps. They have so many flowers, but hardly anything for men. What about for older guys or those that don't fish, hunt, sail, camp, etc.??
It broadens your choices considerably if you can think outside the box a bit! Pocket Silhouettes, Upsy Daisy, Friends 24-7, Embrace Life, Central Park, Thoughts and Prayers, Best Wishes and More and Simply Said are all "flowery" sets that can be used effectively to make masculine cards. Rustic Rooster (hostess), Font of You, Hoppy for You, the Something Fishy jumbo wheel, Wild About You, Kindred Spirits, Trendy Trees, Bird on a Branch, Eastern Influences, Park Avenue Patterns, and Enjoy Every Moment are other less-obvious choices that could also work well for a masculine card. It's all in the choice of colors, textures and embellishments! :mrgreen:
__________________ Rachel Proud SU! demo and Sci-Fi Geek!
My Stampin' Up! blog "I'm a time traveler -- I point and laugh at archaeologists." 10th Doctor, "Silence in the Library"
I just use fun stamps for masculine cards. I use House Mouse, a fun cartoony of cars for men - and woman. I think men like a chuckle just as much as a woman. I guess I'm just a cute stamper...... and I figure what is good for the good for the goose is good for the gander!! My dad always said he loved those * RATS * - house mouse!! I used Penny Black creatures for him.
I have a really cute set of cars from Sparkle and Sprinkle I think it was - ordered a full plate of them for a great price one line - and they arrived quickly with fabuous customer service....... Look around!! I don't find much in the way of masucline stamps with SU either.
I have several Snoopy stamps and I think they always work well. Some of the less elaborate hardware is always good on masculine cards, and think twine or hemp instead of ribbon. They're definitely not easy, though. For the IC today, if I hadn't been sticking to the book cover that I chose and used a pink balloon - a red or blue balloon would have made it a great masculine card.
I find masculine cards are easier in a way. You don't have to think about pretty, frilly stuff like flowers, scallops, fancy bows, etc. and you can use strong colors and neutrals. I use punched shapes more than stamps (except for the sentiment and often not even then) and look for stripes, dots, etc in patterned paper.
Most guys don't give a rip about the fussy details anyway. DH gets the flimsy colored envelopes from Staples-he's cheap so that makes him even happier!
For me they're hard because my usual ways of adding a wow factor--heat embossing, Stickles, ribbon, dew drops--make cards more feminine. The previous suggestion of hemp and twine instead of ribbon is good. Also Kraft or other flecked cardstock, with distressed edges. No flowers! No ribbon! No matter what colors you use, most guys are going to think those are girly. I like to use leaf stamps on guy cards, and SU has had some great sets of those.
tractorchick03:
I feel your pain! My dad doesn't hunt or fish, isn't outdoorsy. It has been tough to create cards for him. Adding to row4d's suggestions:
Happiness is a Journey, Puns from the Past, Owl Together Now. I also have used patriotic stamps and the set with "complimentary peanuts" I can't remember the names of the sets. But he always appreciates anything I send, just because I made it. Dads are like that :p .
Even harder than adult men, I think, are teen boys! Of which I have one.:rolleyes:
Neither my DH nor my dad have obvious hobbies (fishing/sailing/gold/soccer/etc) and I often fall back on either generic nature type images (trees and leaves, for example or wildlife images like African big game animals - lions etc) or, particularly for DH, things like grapes, olives or coffee-related stuff as he is a bit of a wine buff and foodie. Vintage can go over well (things like cars and trains but with a vintage twist to them).
Kraft is a great base for masculine cards and I find hemp, twine and hardware like jumbo eyelets in antiqued metal finishes are useful for adding extras without feeling you're tending towards the feminine.
If you're not tied to SU! why not look around a bit and see if there's anything from other companies out there that appeals to you? Try a search for "masculine" in the gallery and see if there's anything there that sparks your interest, maybe? Not everybody puts it in their keywords but quite a few do so you might turn up some interesting stuff.
Since they don't have specific hobbies or interests that you can use for the basis of your cards, you could use more generic themes with masculine colors for the backgrounds.
Here's a quick and easy masculine card from my gallery with a nature theme and a monochromatic color scheme. I used a Cuttlebug distressed stripes embossing folder for the background and a tree stamp from TAC. Just change the saying on the tag to what ever theme you need for any time of the year: Gallery at Splitcoaststampers
I use plaids or stripes, vintage stamps, landscape stamps, boats, metal accents or natural fibers. I think of it is a nice break from flowers!
Mary Beth
I do a lot of male cards! In fact I pretty much make more male than female cards. And I find I have guy themes on many of my girly cards...(whats up with that? I have flower stamps but still use the other stuff!!!)
I have everything on my blog but a few things in the gallery.
Guy themes I use -
Transportation (cars,trains, planes, bicycles, motorbikes, keys)
Sports - (colors, teams, mascots, School, University, Professional)
Alcohol - beer, beer, beer... etc.
Technology - computers, ipods, Cell phones,
Music - (groups, genre, juke boxes, Elvis)
TV, Movies...
Job/hobby - mechanic, carpenter, collector, gardening etc.
Or if in doubt make a Large Initial (either with a Cricut or cut it by hand - I have done that in the past by printing a letter on the reverse of my cardstock the size I want it ;) ) or a Large age.
Most of my cards I make specifically for someone like my nephew who is an avid Manchester Utd Supporter (and we still didn't kick him out of the family) I will try to do cards either with that color theme (red, black, white) and maybe pick a different overall theme.
If you aren't confident in layout then use either a challenge etc.
I think patterned paper ads a lot to a masculine card, economical addition.
When I'm stumped, I enter in this gallery the stamp sets I have and check the
cards for inspiration; so much easier, then trial and error in experimenting
__________________ Carolyn
my avatar: (such desparation), Dear God, if you can't make me thin; make my
friends fat"
GinaK just released a new stamp set called Special Fathers, perfect for masculine cards. The images include a grandfather clock, an ornate wall clock, a lighthouse and beach scene with a father quote. It also includes all the sentiments you'll ever need for any male member of your family. It's perfect for those men who don't do sports and/or are not really outdoorsy and who love ornate things.
__________________ ~Nina (product designer for Penny Black, Spellbinders and Want2Scrap)
"O taste and see that the LORD is good..." ~Psalm 34:8 Etsy * Facebook * My Blog
Last edited by momtoggk; 05-30-2009 at 01:48 PM..
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GinaK just released a new stamp set called Special Fathers, perfect for masculine cards. The images include a grandfather clock, an ornate wall clock, a lighthouse and beach scene with a father quote. It also includes all the sentiments you'll ever need for any male member of your family. It's perfect for those men who don't do sports and/or are not really outdoorsy and who love ornate things.
LOVE these! They are really perfect for masculine cards. Definitely on my list to get someday!:-D
I actually enjoy making masculine cards! I'm not so frilly or girly, so the colors and images of masculine themes are easy for me.
Here are some: Gallery at Splitcoaststampers
__________________ "Life is much too important to be taken seriously." Oscar Wilde Proud to be a member of Mo's Digital Pencil Challenge DT! My BlogMy Gallery
As Sharon mentioned, I find the lack of embellishments difficult for masculine cards. I like sparkle, ribbon, bling... just doesn't work on a guy card. So I tend to use my crimper to add texture, and in a pinch I will use a brad as long as the colours are strong.
I get tired of trees on cards... so I have ventured away from some of those sets. I have Backwoods right now and am struggling with it.
I also find it difficult to make guy cards. I just flat-out refuse to make guy cards if someone asks me to make some for them to give out.
For my dad, I go ahead and make them girlie; he'll forgive me I'm sure. He likes gardening, so I have flowers on cards for him. He also has a bird, so I also put birds on his cards.
For my brother I have to resort to drawing. Either that or I just stamp a bunch of circles.
For my nephew I stamp the same dang cars over and over again (refuse to buy any other car stamps - sick of them!!). He likes cars. When I can't stand those few stamps anymore, I take a break and draw him a new car. Then I go back to those car stamps 'cause stamping is sooo much easier than drawing. I'm trying to branch out to animals for my nephew too. His sister gets such superiour cards from me (in my opinion) that I don't want him to feel um... cheated?
For my father-in-law I stamp or draw dogs or taxis. He likes those.
If I wasn't so miserly, I'd go and buy all the guy cards I need and only make girlie cards.
My husband only gets girlie cards from me, 'cause that's when my work shines and he prefers those cards over my horribly lame guy cards. I'd always used to make a girlie card for someone else and he'd want to keep it. I would try to make a masculine version of the same card for him, but he never wanted the masculine version 'cause those would always suck in comparison. So I gave up and now he gets only feminine cards from me - all-out feminine too, with ribbon, brads, polka dots, scallops, flowers, pinks and pastels, stickles, you name it!!
edited to add:
In an emergency, I will take a big alphabet set and just fill up the whole card front with just the sentiment and maybe some circles or squares.
I also find it hard to make masculine cards. I think it's because men are kind of boring. I mean with guys "what you see is what you get". Whereas women have so many layers to their personalities it's just easier to find something that is one of their interests.
__________________ Debbie
I am extraordinarily patient, provided I get my own way in the end. - Margaret Thatcher
I actually enjoy making masculine cards! I'm not so frilly or girly, so the colors and images of masculine themes are easy for me.
Here are some: Gallery at Splitcoaststampers
Wow I can't believe all of the feedback and suggestions that I have received. Thanks to all of you talented ladies out there. Can't wait to read the rest of the suggestions!
Usually when I make a masculine card, I just skip using an image stamp all together. I'll use some die cut shapes like stars, circles, squares, etc. to make some sort of arrangement, then just stamp the sentiment.
My favorite trick to make things look more masculine is to avoid round shapes. I don't know why it works for me (and I've seen great guy cards with ovals/circles/etc) but for me, keeping straight lines, bolder/darker colors and adding metal all seems to help.
Flourishes had a great challenge a while back to make "his n hers" cards. I enjoyed seeing how the same card could look more masculine by only changing a few elements. Here's the link - definitely worth checking out the samples. http://flourishesnewsletter.blogspot...challenge
__________________ Anjou My Gallery * My Blog - Dreaming in Color "Don't be afraid of the space between your dreams and reality. If you can dream it, you can make it so." - Belva Davis
OnyxXpressions offers a nice variety of images suitable for male cards. Just recently, this new series of four card sets were introduced that are suitable for both Father's Day and Birthdays.
The samples in the WhatsNew Gallery show lots of examples of suitable male-oriented cards.
