Hello Fellow Stampers ~
We're starting the final week of 2020 - I cannot quite believe it!! What a year it has been!! Both on a personal level; and for DDS Studios. We've struggled through, and we're still here!! 😊😊😊 That's a good thing!! As we are exploring new ways of doing things here at DDS Studios, I hope to start 2021 with a fresh outlook.
We are busily clearing the decks this week of the "old" (so hard we're calling that beautiful "August - January 2020 Holiday Mini" "OLD" -- sheesh!); and organizing in all of the Brand New - the 2021 January - June Spring Mini catalog. Did you get yours yet? If you need one, contact me ASAP! And I'll be sure to get one into your hands!
Today I'm showcasing the card I designed for my Husband's Christmas Eve birthday ~ always a neat trick to try to separate Christmas from the Birthday celebrations; but I'm learning to pull it off!!!
The other "trick" is creating that perfect masculine birthday card without too much froo-froo!!
This design was inspired by the tissue paper I found to wrap his birthday gifts in! Seemed the perfect color combination to me!
Design Colorology . . .
This is a fabulous color combination for a masculine-inspired card design. I really like the subtleness and how the colors go so well together. I will point out that Gray Granite has a Taupeish/brown undertone, and so using something like Sahara Sand in its place would also work.
I'm using a combination of our Moose Punch, Pine Woods Dies, and the Itty Bitty Birthdays stamp set to create this card.
Keep in mind, that we are losing both our fabulous Moose Punch and the Pine Woods Dies on January 4th. Don't miss out on these spectacular tools! I LOVE them!!
The card base is cut from White, 8-1/2" x 5-1/2", scored at 4-1/4".
The background is cut from Basic Gray and embossed with the Absolutely Argyle 3D Emboss Folder. VERY masculine!
Then I created "offset" layers down the center of the card - Night of Navy, Gray Granite, Silver Foil, and a lovely Gray plaid piece from the Plaid Tidings DSP.
The measurements are as follows:
Night of Navy - 2-1/2" x 5-3/8"
Gray Granite - 2-3/8" x 5-3/8"
Silver Foil - 2-1/4" x 5-3/8"
Plaid DSP - 2-1/8" x 5-3/8"
By "offset", I means that you should align all these layers on their left edge and allow the right side to have that "peek" of color.
From there I cut two of the tree trio from the die set - one in Night of Navy, one in Basic Black as a "shadow". They are layered together and then to the front of the card (no dimensionals). I also cut the larger "detail" tree die cut out of Night of Navy, and laid it so it looks more "forward" of the "background" trees.
Then the moose is punched from Basic Black and popped with dimensionals over all of that.
I finished off by stamping this fabulous "masculine" looking font sentiment from Itty Bitty Birthdays in Night of Navy, and punched with the Classic Label Punch. This punch is a GREAT masculine punch. It is also popped with the mini-dimensionals.
And I finished off the card with 3 of the beautiful Iridescent Pearls - sadly these are also retiring!! They were my favorite embellishment from this catalog -- don't miss out on stocking your stash!!
The inside was finished using the trees from the Merry Moose stamp set, and this fabulous sentiment from Itty Bitty Birthdays. This is a MUST HAVE stamp set for your basic collection! It is so versatile and useful!
Overall, it is a fabulous card; not too hard to throw together! And yes, he loved it 😉😉
Be sure to snag retiring products soon!!
Hope everyone is having a quiet week and getting into those craft rooms for some creative time!!
I Love to hear from you. Leave your questions or comments below!!
Hugs, . . .
