You can know a design theoretically, but there’s nothing like actually seeing it in your hands, with design paper and decorations! Especially if you make different versions, with different colors, themes, occasions and recipients.
So this week I’m sharing the pretty well-known shutter-card design, done in two different ways: one is masculine, the other feminine.
Enjoy! And if you want a third variation, check out my Christmas version!
Hi all!
Today I’m sharing another idea for a birthday card to send to a man in your life. As for its shape, it’s a so-called tri-shutter card. I cut this one with a special die (by Crealies), but you can cut these yourself as well, just check out my free video tutorial, which I’ll embed again at the end of this blog post for your convenience.
For decoration I used Oxford, a nicely colorful collection by Basic Grey with mostly masculine overtones. I also did some stamping: a circle-shaped Happy Birthday stamp on the front, and some smaller gift-wrapped presents on the other panels which I fussy-cut and then lifted with some dimensional tape. And last but not least a Kaisercraft birthday sentiment which I stamped in two colors on the center panel.
A tri-shutter card fits into a regular envelope
Kaisercraft sentiment stamp on the center panel, stamped in two colors
My video tutorial on how to make a tri-shutter card:
What’s fascinating about the Oxford collection by Basic Grey is that while at first glance it has a mostly masculine feel, when you take a closer look some of the sheets are of a more feminine persuasion as well!
So this time I used it to create a little project for myself, instead of a male friend or relative 🙂 . This micro folio is perfectly suited to carry your most current & precious pictures with you in your handbag. You could also turn it into a micro portfolio representing your most important projects – like I have. It’s small, flat, magnetized and offers room for at least 11 pictures!
It’s also very easy to make, as you can see in the video.
So enjoy, and let me know for which kind of photos you would love to create a micro folio!
Sometimes you don’t have grand words or elaborate messages to share, you just want to say something important to someone. Like Thank You, or some other word of encouragment.
Then an ATC type card might be a great tip for you crafters: they are easy to make, don’t take up lots of time and materials, and they still look awesome!
When you make these for the men in your life you’ll probably feel somewhat limited as to choice of colors and embellishments. Fortunately I found some papers that are not the standard ‘manly’ black, white & grey or navy blue. They are Pyrus and Oxford, both by Basic Grey, if you just throw in some screw brads you’re good to go! 🙂
Anyway, I’m gladly sharing the inspiration with you all today. First is a word of encouragement for a colleague of mine. Created with the Pyrus paper collection:
The second is a Thank You note for my uncle, with the Oxford collection, also by Basic Grey:
Enjoy the video & pics! And stay tuned for next week, when there’ll be an all new design mini album to share again! 🙂
One cannot have too many Happy Birthday cards in stock, can one? 🙂 For the two magnetized cards I’m sharing with you today, I worked with Basic Grey’s Oxford paper collection again, the first taste of which I got when I created my recent group card fold-out.
The first card is a gatefold, with clean lines and a warm color palette. I used a Hip Hip Hooray seal stamp on a piece of designpaper, then fussy-cut around it and backed it up with some cardstock for sturdiness.
To pop it up, I used dimensional tape on the Hooray seal.
I matted the back of the card as well, for a consistend look & feel. 
When you open the card, there’s a pocket in the middle that holds a tag. The tag shows the personalized birthday wishes, which I printed on the design paper before I matted. 
I punched the border of the pocket with an awesome punch by Martha Stewart, the punch-around-the-page Party edge punch. It shows different little presents and a cute little birthday hat. Though I bought this punch as an afterthought when it was on clearance, I have absolutely fallen in love with it since! 
The second card is a double card with a magnetized closure. It’s still masculine but some of the colors I chose are more vibrant than the first, although both are from the Oxford paper collection.
You can find a free tutorial for this type of card in my blog post on the City Lights card. You’ll only have to adjust the measurements of the card to your liking. My card below is 5⅛ x 5⅛ (13 x 13 cm). I stamped Happy Birthday onto the magnetized closure; this is a great stamp by Stampendous, I’ve used it before – on my City Lights card – and will use it again because I love it!
The inside of the card shows the personalized birthday message, which I printed on a piece of design paper.
To add a little bit of interest I popped up the birthday message with some dimensional tape.
The closure piece is attached to the card with two screw brads, which is one of my favorite embellishments to use on a card for a guy, for they really look like screws! 🙂 
Hope you enjoyed this post and got some inspiration from it – for not every card has to be filled with complex layering and a lot of embellishments to still be awesome, right. So go ahead and take advantage of your spring or summer holidays to make a stash of gorgeous, magnetized cards for your peeps! 🙂
I’m off to enjoy Pentecost, which in the Netherlands always has a second day, so tomorrow (Monday) I won’t have to go to work for a change, woohoo! 🙂
This coming week we’re saying goodbye to our – now former – boss, thanking him with a gift and of course an accompanying card with our well-wishes. I offered to create a card instead of one us running to the first available store for a relatively random Thank You card. Fortunately for me, my colleagues agreed! 🙂
Since there are seven of us the card had to offer enough real estate for seven personal messages. Also, since I offered this quite impulsively, I only had one night left to create it, so the design had to be relatively simple. And last but not least, our former boss is a man, so the card had to have a masculine feel.
So here’s what I came up with. This magnetic fold-out card is easy to make and offers room for seven personal messages. I used the Oxford paper collection by Basic Grey, which I feel is a mostly masculine paper line. Since I could not use any of the girly stuff I love so much (no roses, no butterflies, no bows and ribbons!) I let the paper speak for itself. The only embellishment I allowed was a magnetic closure with a ribbon pull – which yes, was a ribbon, but which I felt was okay since it was black…
Anyway, here’s the video – hope it inspires you! Oh, and this card would also make a great mini album insert by the way, so even more possibilities!
If you’d like a tutorial for this design, please let me know in the comment section below (click on the title of this post if you don’t see one) or leave me a Tweet!
Enjoy!