If you have never tried designing a card with our Mosaic Moments Grid cards, now is the time to do so! Father’s Day is just around the corner so beginning to explore a few masculine type cards seems appropriate. Granted, I’ve added in a few non-specific cards and also a birthday card for the LEGO lover in your family too. I had grand plans to get more done, but I think we’ll have to revisit the subject another day for “the others”.

I’m going to incorporate a few patterned papers that are already geared for masculine interests and of course try to use several of our wonderful Mosaic Moments Dies to accomplish the final product.

Card #1

• Mosaic Moments Daybreak Die
• Kaisercraft Workshop papers
• Tim Holtz Idea-ology Kraft-stock Cool

This is, I would have to say, one of the quickest and easiest cards to pull together. Cutting the Daybreak die from the Tim Holtz Cool Kraft-stock is the beginning. Choosing a color from the variety of cool colors that would work with my chosen Workshop papers was next. The Kaisercraft pack of papers included a page of small quotes, greetings and sayings and I found one that not only matched one of my paper choices, but would fit nicely into the center area of the Die section. The inner rectangle section is filled with a denim blend and the outer border is a rusty metal that adds a texture feel to the card.

Replace the center sentiment with one of your choosing and of course any number of available papers that convey a masculine feel to the card you create.

Card #2

• Mosaic Moments 2.125” Strip Die or
• Mosaic Moments Bricks Die
• Primary cardstocks
• Happy sentiment die from the Greetery
• Birthday die from Papertrey Ink

This is one card that you can assemble several ahead of time to be ready to go when you need them. Cut each color with the strip die and randomly arrange the pieces. Some will need to be cut to fill in the end spots or you could cut additional with the 4×6 -1” grid die.

Both of the sentiments are cut three times to stack them for a higher profile on the card front. This is a card that is sure to please the younger guys in your life…and maybe a few of the older ones too. You could always adjust the colors to black, white, gray or khaki tans and greens for the older guy’s LEGO sets.

Card #3

• 2×2 Filmstrip Die
• Carta Bella Outdoor Adventures 6×6 paper pad
• Black cardstock
• Stamp Sentiment Love Tokens from Simon Says Stamp

For the images placed inside of the Filmstrip die I’ve used a few of the vintage posters on one of the papers. The three 2×2 squares use another page. The camping theme perfect for the Dad who loves to travel. The sentiment stamps make it a birthday card, but switch to another with a Father’s Day sentiment and you have a few options for Dad.

Card #4

• Fanciful Frames 4×6, 2×3 (L1)
• Alphabet 4 (L1)
• 1×4 Strips Die (L2)
• Wood Grain Embossing Folder Darice
• Acrylic White Paint,
• Walnut Stain, Vintage Photo, and Tea Dyed Distress Ink Tim Holtz
• Buffalo Print from Photo Play Camp Happy Bear
• Kraft and Black Cardstock

Now this card will take a little time to put together, but I think it’s a look worth the effort.

The distressed wood planking look began with the Kraft paper, white acrylic paint and walnut stain ink. I used a paintbrush to flick the white paint onto the paper and then repeat the flicking with a little water downed ink. I put a smudge of ink or paint on an acrylic stamp block and added a small amount of water to thin it out to be able to flick easily. Make sure you do this somewhere that the splatter that will occur, won’t ruin anything it hits! I let it dry, hit it with my heat gun to make sure they’d set and then ran it though in an embossing folder for the woodgrain impression.

Now I took my ink pad and lightly inked the raised portions of the embossed paper. Using the 1×4 Strip Die that will give me 6 – 1” strips to fill the card. I wanted to stagger the strips as in a wooden plank floor by trimming with 1” squares cut from a few of the strips. I also mixed up the order of the strips from the original cut as I rearranged them on the card.

With the Fanciful Frames Dies I’ve used the 2×3 and cut two in kraft to stack and one from the Buffalo Plaid to top the Kraft. I used a small disk tool to outline the frame section and get the black outline for a slightly larger base. I mounted it on the card with foam mounting tape.

I cut the “DAD” from the left over from the Kraft splattered letters and two layers in black with the Alphabet 4 Dies. Gluing them together slightly offset for a shadow effect.

I think this is a style for just about any guy especially one that loves to work in wood or spend time in the great outdoors fishing at the lake or a stay in a cabin in the woods.

Card #5

• 2×5 Triangle die – for mountains three shades of gray, one in white for mountain peaks
• Forest Trees Border Die Set use die cut and the tree outtakes to layer
• Fishy Border Die – the fish
• Wave Border Die – multiples in three colors
• Celestial 2×2 Set – in pink to peak from behind the mountain
• 4×6 – 2×2 Grid – one shade of gray

Cardstocks: gray shades, aqua shades, blush pink, white

 I’ve arranged the colors to progress from one tier to the next.

Not your typical card, and certainly a bit more artsy feel to this great outdoors card than the others, perfect for any occasion to celebrate with a look to appeal to any man. All you need to do is to take a different look at the dies you own and see what they might become!

I’m hoping that a few of these cards have sparked your own creative juices with possibilities for some masculine cards for the special guys in your life!

Andrea Fisher