Folk Art Inspiration | Masculine Cards with Emily

Hi there! Emily Midgett from Sixth Street Sundries back again today with another guest post featuring the Lene Lok Folk Art Collection (for my first post, click here). Today, I’ve decided to showcase how perfectly these dies work for masculine or gender-neutral cards. Combining a simple stamping trick with some ink blending creates that perfectly simple, no frills card that’s great to give that guy in your life. Let’s get started! For my first project, I wanted to emphasize how beautifully the details of these intricate dies die cut from masking paper. I started by die cutting the Rosemal Flowers die from the Folk Art collection using masking paper. I carefully peeled the backing off and adhered it to approximately the center of my white, A2 card front, burnishing it with my bone folder to ensure that my mask remained in place while I did some ink blending. I then blended Peacock Feathers and Mermaid Lagoon Distress Oxide inks on the card front. I peeled the mask away… and it was like magic. Masking is such a simple, but supremely effective, technique to utilize with these gorgeous intricate dies!

Next, I wanted to add a little extra “something” to the card front, so I decided to press my Versamark pad onto the entire card front and cover it with clear embossing powder. I heated it, then repeated the process again until I had a nice thick, glossy layer of embossing powder. You do run the risk of cracking when trying to maneuver your card front onto a card base, but you can always heat it up again to remove the crack! Such a neat glassy effect, and the lack of sparkles and flowers make this perfectly gender neutral.

For my second project, I wanted to make a decidedly masculine card. I think that the Nordic Tree die looks quite sturdy and masculine, with very few flourishes or hearts, so I wanted to make that the focal point of my masculine project. I essentially repeated the process from the previous card, die cutting the Nordic Tree die from masking paper and adhering it to the card front, then using Hickory Smoke and Black Soot Distress Oxide inks to blend a nice, gray-to-black ombre down the front. Lifting that masking paper off is so much fun. It makes me giddy to see that crisp white pattern revealed!

Next, I added a greeting. I thought this would be perfect for Father’s Day, so I added a crisp white embossed sentiment at the bottom of the blended panel. I trimmed some of the edges off and mounted it on a white card base to add some contrast to the edges of the project.

Well, I hope you’ve enjoyed this foray into the world of masculine cards today! I am all about flowers and pinks and purples, so it was definitely a fun challenge to create something a bit simpler and less frilly (and decidedly less sparkly haha!).

Spellbinders Supplies:

• S4-884 Rosemal Flowers
• S4-883 Nordic Tree
• PE-100 Spellbinders Platinum 6 Die Cutting Machine

Other Supplies:

Distress Oxide Inks- Peacock Feathers, Salty Ocean, Hickory Smoke, Black Soot; Masking paper; Clear and White embossing powder; Versamark; Papertrey Ink’s Keep It Simple Father. Thanks for visiting! I will be back again soon with another guest post featuring the beautiful Lene Lok Folk Art Collection!