Tonight is my last-minute addition to my card class schedule: “For the Men in your Life” is the name of the class and it features all kinds of cards that would be appropriate to present to the men in your life (hence the name! LOL!). I wanted to get this in before Father’s Day, but not everyone has a father, but usually has someone they need a card for: a close friend, a neighbor, a son, a brother, a husband, etc.

Two of the cards pictured above feature stamps or stamp sets from the current new Summer Mini Catalog. I love the “Sail Away” stamp that I used for the Cherry Cobbler/Night of Navy/Sahara Sand card on the right (also pictured singly below for more detail). I used a Signo Gel Pen to lightly color in my sails. The paper is the new Nautical Expedition DSP that is in this catalog as well (also available as a download with MDS). If I could have found the new Baker’s Twine that I ordered a few weeks back, I might have used that as my embellishment, but … I settled for a doubled-up linen thread instead. I’ll probably find that twine as soon as I post this! LOL! I decided to use one of my Build-a-Brads embellishments on this card too — I punched out a small ship wheel from an extra piece of the Cherry Cobbler DSP from the Nautical Expedition paper pack and adhered that to the Build-a-brad. I love this little detail! The Night of Navy layer is embossed using the Big Shot and the Square Lattice folder too.

The green card on the right (and pictured below) also features a stamp set from the mini. It’s called “Best Dad Ever” and I love the options with this. It has sentiments that could be stamped, but I opted to use a sentiment from the “Full of Life” stamp set instead — the credit for that goes to another demonstrator who pictured a similar card in different colors on Stampin’ Connection, the demonstrator website that is chock-full of ideas to share and expound upon!! My colors are Chocolate Chip and Wild Wasabi, with a strip of paper from the Woodland Walk DSP that I believe is retiring at the end of this stamping year.

I was stuck on this next card (pictured below) a bit. I stamped and colored my tree with the blender pen and my Wild Wasabi/Soft Suede ink, and then couldn’t decide on a sketch to use. The image almost took up too much of my standard-sized, 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ card, so I finally decided to mount it on a larger So Saffron card base. The measurements for this one is 9 1/4″ x 6 1/4″, scored at 4 5/8″. I then added another mat using a second piece of paper from the Woodland Walk DSP. The wide chocolate chip stitched ribbon was a good finishing touch, since I couldn’t decide on a sentiment for the outside of the card. This way my customers can choose the occasion for the card if they opt not to use it for Father’s Day this weekend.

The last card used a template and instructions from Jackie Topa. It’s a fun shirt card and wasn’t that difficult to make! I love navy suits, so I made my card Bashful Blue and Night of Navy — the DSP is retired but still left over in my stash. Since I’m also a sucker for polka dots and/or stripes, my “shirt” is a Bashful Blue DSP. I used some Bashful Blue Satin Ribbon (I can’t remember … is that retiring?!) for the “handkerchief” and the “tie”. All I can say is that it’s a good thing that I’m not a guy, ’cause I can’t tie a tie for nothin’!! I think tie-tying might be a gift! Now that I think about it, not all guys can tie one either! LOL! This tie, however, was extremely easy following Jackie Topa’s directions!

Here are two more views below. I “made” my buttons using the mini punches and some Marina Mist card stock below the clear mini buttons. My entire card, by the way, is on a Marina Mist base.

If you live in northeastern Massachusetts or Southern New Hampshire, by all means, come to the class tonight! The cost is $12 for 3 cards, with the optional shirt card and additional $3. The time is 7 pm tonight, and I don’t think the cards will take that long to make. You can go to my website and click on the event you’d like to attend to follow the steps to RSVP.

See you all soon!

Jeannie