Dad - Perfect in Every Way

I just discovered the blog, Cards for Men. With a husband, a son, some son-in-laws, and five grandsons, I find it important to make masculine cards. Even though my own father and father-in-law have gone on to be with the Lord, I want to encourage others to honor their dads with recognition, whether it's on birthdays, Father's Day, or "just because." The sentiment I chose for this card is perfect for my husband! (I'm so lucky!)
This card is one that I'm sending tomorrow for the Muscle Challenge at Operation Write Home. It's also for the Cards for Men Challenge #9 - to use Texture:

I used a Cuttlebug embossing folder for Argyle background texture. The CTMH Pemberley paper has a diamond pattern that coordinates with the argyle. The corrugated star and arrow are also from CTMH and were inked to highlight the ridges or edges. The  chipboard oval was dotted with Outdoor Denim ink on a sponge and the edges were sponged with Desert Sand ink. The Perfect in every way is a phrase from some older, discontinued paper that I'd love to use up, so more masculine cards on the way!

MOJO Monday 238 You Are Not Forgotten

My husband and I spent Earth Day together in our large yard fighting the battle of new wild trees and weeds that attempt to take over this former farm land that used to be woods. Cutting back fast growing seedlings that love our foundation or want to crowd out landscaped areas seems antagonistic when compared to school kids who are out planting trees. I've planted more than my share but still have to protect them from interlopers.

The best part of the day was the time we spent together in this joint project. I recognize plants easily so I know what to keep and what to cut, but my hubby has the strength, so together is the best way to accomplish the "weeding." Since I've been making cards for our service men and women to send, I chose the sketch at Mojo Monday today and the challenge at Our Daily Bread Designs Shining the Light Challenge, Go Green,  to make another card for the Muscle Card Challenge at Operation Write Home due next Monday. I used the color green and I recycled the shiny, back cover of a Graphic45 paper pad (too attractive to remain a back cover).  Here's the sketch I used and my card.



The recycled material is the black and floral cardstock. It's a little thicker than other cardstock, but  I think it adds a little "pop" and even the orange splashes of color coordinate with the other greens. It is also the mat behind the tag. All of the squares are 1.25" and the image was a rectangle I stamped on white and punched out with a 2.5" circle punch. Both stamps used were from the Our Daily Bread Designs "Not Forgotten" set. I think the sentiment could be one that a serviceman could give to someone back home or to a fellow serviceman or woman serving elsewhere that they want to remind about love and friendship.

I hope that you, too, will pray for the men and women who serve your country, usually leaving family and friends behind while they do their duty. May God bless and keep them and their families.

Challenges:
Mojo Monday Challenge #238
Our Daily Bread Designs Shining the Light Challenge #105 - Go Green

5.5" x 4.25" Masculine Card Recipe:
Paper - Basic Grey (Lauderdale lime green); Close To My Heart (Sweet Leaf hexagons from Lucy); Graphic 45 (back cover of Tropical Travelogue)
Stamps - Our Daily Bread Designs "Not Forgotten"
Ink - CTMH New Englad Ivy, Memento Tuxedo Black
Other - brown jute, Spellbinders Nestabilities, corner rounder

Masculine Card for Shopping Our Stash Weekly

This card was made with my father-in-law in mind. He was a great guy who had been a college ball player, math and science teacher (when World War II put an end to his plans to become a doctor), ana chemist for a couple of large companies. But what he loved most was spending the day farming here where we live. This quote from George Washington fits him perfectly just like it does other dads here in the heart of America where I live.

This was for the challenge at Shopping Our Stash Weekly Challenge #47 - Masculine or boy colors. I definitely used my stash that had been waiting too long. Scraps of the paper that were from many years ago, a stamp set that had never been used yet, and twill I'd bought in abundance several years ago. I try to save "boy" paper because I have so many grandson to make cards for and to scrapbook.

I didn't have to distress the papers. They came that way. They look like the dirt you have everywhere when you live on a farm like we do. I used a sketch from Operation Write Home, although I'm not putting it in that particular challenge. I'm sending it at the end of the month for their Muscle Card challenge so that they have more masculine cards for service men and women to send to the dads or other men in their lives.

Model T Father's Day Card for Stampin' Sisterhood

My wonderful hubby is a chemist who wishes he was an automotive engineer instead. He loves to build cars-especially from scratch. It has taken him quite a few years to make a 1933 Ford. This summer he plans to start on a T-Bucket which resembles a Model T but is made from a pickup truck body. I recently got this stamp from Rubbernecker Stamps in honor of his project.

This month the challenge at Stampin' Sisterhood is to use the following sketch. I thought it would be perfect for a Father's Day card using "checkered flag" type paper, gears, and the Model T stamp. This card definitely fits the challenge this week at Our Creative Corner - Our Boys and Their Toys. 

I used the colors black and cream with a touch of "Barn Red," so I'm entering this card in Lisa Somerville's Blogger's Challenge to use black and white or cream with a touch of one more color. I had some acrylic squares that matched the Barn Red to use in place of brads.

I embossed the front of the card using a Cuttlebug "Clockworks" embossing folder. It's one of the larger ones for 5 x 7 cards. I also embossed the cream colored 3" circle. The embossing was lightly sponged with ink for a shabby look and to bring out the embossed details a little more. (Looks like Bill handled it after spending the day working on a car--dirty, dirty!) Instead of framing that circle with another black circle, I used one of the Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels. The sentiment is the shabbiest element. I simply stamped it the way it was and cut it out. It was from an older Father's Day stamp set that also had an old car - one I've stamped and given hubby several other times.

This card is 5.5" square, so I'm not entering it in the following challenges, but I wanted you to have the information. I've been encouraging people to visit Send a Smile for Kids to send Mother's Day cards. This week their challeng also includes Father's Day Cards. In addition, Operation Write Home both the mid-week challenge and the Muscle Card challenge are to make cards to send to our service men and women that they can send home to dads/husbands. Both challenges need these cards by April 30th. If you're interested, please visit their websites for more information.

Here's a photo of his car just before it was finished. The body was made by using an actual old car body, making a mold of it, and pouring a new fiberglass body in the mold. He also made the rest with lots of welding over several years - DEFINITELY HIS TOY.

 

Attitude is Everything for Operation Write Home

This is another card for Operation Write Home, Stars and Stamps Sketch Challenge #115. I used the following sketch.

This is another card I'll include in my shipment for their Muscle Card Challenge (cards they can send to dads or guys) due at the end of April.

My husband and I both were lucky to have dads who emphasized the importance of having a good attitude. I thought that the sentiment I chose fit the image of a car getting the flat tire changed. When I was young, it seemed maybe tires needed changing more often than they do now. I never saw my dad get upset. He just patiently set to work changing the flat. The worst time was when we were driving in the Yukon in July on the way to visit an uncle in Alaska. The gravel "highway" was deserted, deep in the woods. It was raining but large ravenous mosquitos were biting like they'd never seen a warm meal. Dad asked me to come out, hold the umbrella and wave a newspaper back and forth to scare away a few of the mosquitos. I sort of did a little dance to try to keep them off of me. I hope one of the service men or women has a memory that this card will trigger. I'm sure that many of them learned, too, that Attitude is Everything.


4.25" x 5.5" Masculine Card Recipe:
Paper - Basic Grey "Sweet Threads (plaid)," "Life of the Party (woodgrain);" cardstock
Stamp - Close To My Heart "My Game" sentiment
Ink - CTMH Cocoa
Other - Copic markers, CTMH black baker's twine, Milepost shapes (corrugated star, inked with cocoa); Cuttlebug embossing folder, free vintage image