MASCULINE BIRTHDAY CARD

My niece's husband, Matt, has a birthday this month, so I needed a masculine card.  If you're a card-maker, then you know that masculine cards are sometimes quite a challenge.  I always want to use sparkly gems, bows, and brushed glitter, but men aren't usually too keen on those embellishments.

While using Cricut Design Space recently, I came across this gorgeous Print then Cut lake/mountain image and decided that it would be perfect.  My niece's family lives in Michigan, and they seem to have some of the most beautiful parks and landscapes nearby.  Naturally, they enjoy spending time outdoors because there are so many gorgeous places to do so.  My cardstock colors are Misty Moonlight, Early, Espresso, White, and Vellum.  The hiking boots were also a Print then Cut image, and I print some extras that I used on the envelope and the signature layer inside the card.  The boots that are tied to the top right of center layer are double-sided.  I wanted to make sure that if they get flipped around, they will still look like hiking boots.  This was achieved by copying the image and then flipping it in Design Space so that the two cuts could be glued together--back to back.

You can see in the above photo that the Early Espresso layer was embossed with Stampin' Up!'s "Forever Plaid" embossing folder.  The boots were tied on with Linen Thread.

The birthday sentiment was stamped onto a scrap of Vellum cardstock and then heat-embossed.  After making sure the embossing was cool, I gave the sentiment a torn edge on the top and bottom.  I don't recall the name of the blue embellishments as they have been retired for quite some time.  I loved them so much and bought so many that I still have quite a collection.

If I didn't mention already, this card folded on the side.  You can see the hiking boots on the bottom right of the signature layer inside the card.  

Want another look at the card and envelope: