Masculine Anniverary Card

Hello everyone! I am so honored to be one of the new writers at ScrapStreet. This is my first blog post! Yippee!! It's a special day - not just because I get to share my creation with you for the first time (although I'm pretty excited about this.) It's special because eight years ago today I got a chance to share my life with my husband in front of God and more than 200 of our closest friends. Yes, my new friends, it's our eight-year anniversary. Sometimes I can't believe it's been eight years. Two kids and several gray hairs later, John and I are still as committed to each other as we were on that beautiful (last day of) summer afternoon.

I am sharing with you a card I made for John. It's a masculine anniversary card. I have to confess, I struggle with masculine cards, just like many card makers. I am a girly girl who likes pink, pretty flowers, shiny ribbon, delicate lace and lots of bling!! As I was making this card, I was thinking about what colors and embellishments to use. Then, it donned on me. Masculine cards are really not that different from non-masculine cards (a.k.a. feminine cards.)

The formula is pretty much the same. You still want to balance your image, take advantage of white space, use colors and patterns that complement each other, etc ... You can still keep your style, just change some of the elements. Use neutral colors and stick to images and embellishments that are more "masculine." If you like to use ribbon, use twine or hemp instead. If gems are your thing, substitute them for buttons. Instead of flowers, use leaves.

For John's card, I chose a very neutral palette. I added just a touch of red (because it is supposed to be romantic after all!) I created the image on my Silhouette die cutting machine. I used numbers (our anniversary date and number of years married) as the focal image. Numbers seemed appropriate for this card. They are neutral and my hubby is a computer nerd. (John, if you're reading this, I love you, honey, but you're a little nerdy.) I created the sentiment on the computer. Instead of flowers and flourishes, I stuck to a few simple hearts. Buttons and hemp twine give this card the finishing touches.

I really like the final product, and I know my husband will enjoy it, too. Although, in all honesty, I could draw a couple stick figures with a pencil on some wrinkled scrap paper and he would still love it, but I wouldn't do that to him. He's worth the extra special effort. :-)