Authentique Rugged Masculine Birthday Card

Hello, Friends!  I hope you are having a happy and creative week this week!  I’m still working away at my list of August birthday cards.  This Authentique Rugged Masculine Birthday Card is for our middle son.  He loves to read, loves the color blue, is a natty dresser and is shocked to find himself well established in his 3rd decade here on earth.  I was thinking of all these things while creating this fun vintage card.

This is an older collection from Authentique, but you can still find it online at Country Craft Creations.  I love the blue and brown color palette and the wonderful plaids and paisleys in this collection.  Putting this 5″ x 7″ top fold card together was a breeze!

To add a little dimension to the card, I fussy cut the book binding from the 12×12 paper pad.  Then I gently pushed the sides together which rounded out the spine.  Don’t push too hard, or you’ll end up folding the paper!  Next, I glued just the outside edges down so that the binding would keep its shape.  It sounds complicated, but it’s actually pretty easy to do.

The focal image is fussy cut from one of the 3″ x 4″ images on the cut apart page.  Pop this up on waste chipboard to add even more dimension.  The turn tab is a simple Spellbinder’s Large Circle die cut from patterned paper.  I love adding round shapes to a card design as it seems to really break up all those square corners!  The vintage button is from a jar that I picked up at a local flea market.  Brads are from Tim Holtz Dapper Collection.

Authentique Rugged Masculine Birthday Card: Alcohol Ink and Metal Embellishments

Do you ever alter metal embellishments with Alcohol Ink?  I used Mushroom and Cloudy Blue to color this Tim Holtz Quote Charm.  It also was applied to the vintage button.  It’s a quick way to customize metal embellishments.  Just apply a drop or two directly from the bottle and watch the magic take place before your very eyes!

Authentique Rugged Masculine Birthday Card: A Peek Inside

A flap feature and pocket dress up the card interior.  I also added some Tim Holtz Paper Dolls to amp up the vintage vibe of the card.  I love the visual impact they make!

Turn the flap and you’ll find a wonderful quote from the 3×4 Rugged Life Cards. (retired) A scrap of designer paper serves as a pocket.  I tucked two more Life Cards into the pocket. Each has a newborn photo of our son: one with Dad and one with Mom.

Since my trusty 1 3/8″ circle punch gave up the ghost a while back, I’ve been using my Spellbinder’s Circle dies to cut the thumb hole on my pockets.  I’ve decided I like it so well, I’m not going to replace the punch!  Here’s the gift card holder I tucked into the pocket.  Both Dale and I wrote personal notes to our son inside.

So, that’s the first of 2 masculine birthday cards.  I’ll share the next one with you once I get it made.

I hope I shared some tips, tricks and ideas that you can use in your own crafty adventures.  If so, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section below.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

Authentique Rugged Masculine Birthday Card Supply List

• 5″ x 7″ kraft cardstock base made with 12″ x 18″ cardstock
• Authentique Rugged Collection
• Rugged Life Cards 
• Sticker Sheet for Rugged
• Ivory/Brown/Copper 1/2″ Plaid Ribbon
• Natural Burlap String
• Tim Holtz Dapper Brads
• Idea-Ology Tim Holtz Quote Tokens
• Tim Holtz Paper Dolls
• Spellbinder’s Large Circle Nestabilities Dies