Decisions, Decisions!

My friend Steve recently asked me to make a card for him to give to someone who would celebrating their 70th birthday.  Of course, I was delighted and took this request very seriously.  Decisions, Decisions… which stamp set to use?  Well, it is for a 70th birthday so of course the “Number of Years” stamp set was a given.

Making masculine cards is very easy, in theory.  Certain color combinations lend themselves to being masculine, especially if you add a neutral such as grey, black or brown, and avoid pinks and purples.  Simple geometric patterns (stripes, squares, circles, etc.) and avoid florals, lace and ribbons.  Easy so far, right?

This is the card I created: 

Ok, so this follows all my masculine rules, but… I felt like it just needed something more since it is such a milestone birthday.  Decisions, Decisions.  I decided on balloons, simple, gender neutral and very festive.  My color combination is gray, blue and white.  I wanted to use these colors but also add something with a little more pop.  I thought about adding green, or orange, or red, but….decisions, decisions!

I ultimately added some silver glimmer paper.  It added some pop, but without adding another color to my simple, masculine color combination.

What do you think?  Do you like the addition of the balloons?  I like the plain card, but I like the stepped up version even more.  Now leave me a comment and tell me which one you like best.

I’m really pleased with the way  ‘happy’ layered over the 70 turned out.  Do you like that too?

Let me share how I created this card:

A card base of Whisper White, then a layer of Pacific Point cardstock.  A piece of Neutrals DSP in silver & white diagonal stripes.  2 layers of circles in Pacific Point and Whisper White again, and the numbers die cut in Pacific Point using the Large Numbers Framelits dies.  The little flag banner is part of the Large Numbers Framelits dies and the ‘th’ is part of the “Number of Years” stamp set .

The Happy is from the Happy Birthday Thinlits.  I used my Paper Snips to cut the Happy apart from Birthday.  I cut another “Happy” from Thick Whisper White cardstock  and then glued both of those together.  This raised up the word so when I layered it over the numbers it appears to be floating over it.

The balloons were punched out using the Balloon Bouquet punch using Pacific Point DSP and Silver Glimmer Paper.  A simple piece of Bakers Twine was used for the balloon strings.

Here is the card with the coordinating envelope.

Let me tell what my friend Steve said when he got home and saw the card that I left for him.  “Nancy thank you for the card.  It is perfect 🙂  No doubt in my mind he will love it.  You have a gift Nancy, thank you for sharing it”

I am very flattered by his compliment!  I hope that you like this card as well.  Please leave me a comment; I’d love to hear what you have to say!

If you would like to make a card like this and need to order any of the supplies I used, please use my link to shop my online store.  Please use Host Code FBGK6C6F if your order is less than $150 (before shipping and tax).  If your order is $150 or more, do NOT use the host, but redeem the Stampin’ Rewards yourself.

While you’re shopping, don’t forget about the Year End Sales Event going on now.

This is your last chance to grab those Holiday Catalogs items you’ve been wanting before the retire on Jan. 2, 2018.  Some of those items are on sale, but all of them are only available while supplies last so don’t wait.  To see a list of what’s on sale, download the PDF file here, or just go to my online store. 

Stamparatus!

Before you go, have you seen the latest & greatest?  Stampin’ UP! is introducing a new stamp positioning tool that is set to take the stamping world by storm!  Because demand for this item is huge, Stampin’ Up! is offering a reservation system based on first in, first out.  (the first reservation window  of 27,000 units sold out in just 15 minutes!)  To find out more about the Stamparatus and  how you can get yours, click here.

Thanks for stopping by My Stampin Space and hanging out with me.  Don’t forget to leave me a comment.  And sign up for my mailing list if you haven’t already.  You’ll receive updates and announcements on all new products and promotions (like the new catalogs and Sale-A-Bration promotion coming on January 3, 2018!), in addition to exclusive projects and inspiration.