Clean and Simple Manly Birthday Card

Today's card was inspired by sketch #325 @ Try Stampin' On Tuesday and will be entered @ Cards in Envy for "You're the Man", @ STAMPlorations for CAS "Anything Goes -Masculine Colors" and @ Craft Rocket Challenge  "For the Men/Boys". This will also be one of the cards that will be made at my library's card making class in the month of August.

First step was cutting the patterned paper from the Glitter Mat Stack according to the sketch and then using Frog Tape to gently hold the stencil in place at the top of the card so that I could use the distress tool with some blue ink.

This card is made to fit in a legal size envelope and measures roughly 3.75" x  9.25". The stamp set is from Unity Stamp Company and was one I received as part of the Stamp of the Week club a few months ago.

After stamping the cake in Momento Tuxedo Black ink on scrap white cardstock, I colored it with Prismacolor Watercolor Pencils and the blender pen. Then I covered the whole cake with clear sparkle from the Wink of Stella pen and fussy cut it out.

The blue banner was hand trimmed and sanded to give it a softer, more weathered look. I used my ATG gun to adhere the patterned papers and the blue banner, but I used mini pop dots to adhere the cake.

Keeping it clean and simple, I stamped the sentiment in that same black ink underneath the focal image, at the bottom of the card.

The inside sentiment is from an old wood mounted Stampin' Up birthday stamp set that I have in my collection.

I don't always do a lot of cards that I could consider as Clean and Simple, but I do think this one fits the bill and I am very happy with the way it turned out! Until next time~