With so many great flowers and lace stamps and dies, sometimes I have a hard time finding a  Masculine birthday card in my stash.  So, when I was designing a card for my recent Stamping Bingo event, I decided to fix that problem!  I love this Balloon Adventures stamp set and especially that it fits the Balloon Bouquet punch.  But this card is all about the details, which lets you keep it interesting without bringing it over to the girly side.   Let me share with you some of the fun touches we added:

Little Touches Make All the Difference for a Masculine Birthday Card

So, I’m one to often grab my rhinestones or glimmer or ribbons, but guys don’t always appreciate ruffles and sparkle.  Which leads me to look at other options for adding interest to my masculine cards.  One of the first things I switch out is Baker’s Twine for ribbon.  I love that Stampin’ Up has started coming out with more solid color regular Baker’s Twine like this Emerald Envy option.  It gives you a great solid color that coordinates with the pattern paper and cardstock, but isn’t so frou frou that it will make your guy roll his eyes!

Plus it does a great job breaking up some of those repetitive patterns like on this Cupcakes & Carousels pack’s diamond pattern.  I just grabbed a piece and glued it to the back of my cardstock.  Then wrap it around the front of your paper three times and adhere the end of the twine to the back of the paper. I find SNAIL tape runner works great for this.

I also love replacing my rhinestones with the Metallic Enamel shapes. They are bright and fun, but instead are more shine than sparkle – which I know my guy appreciates!  The pack comes with hearts, two sizes of circles, and stars in both gold and silver, giving you lots of options.

Lastly, there is the old standbys of punches and die cuts!  I can’t tell you enough how much I reach for my Stitched Shapes framelits; with the dashes being pre-cut for me when the circle is die-cut, it is super easy. Then for the balloon, I mentioned before how the balloons in the stamp set fit the Balloon Bouquet punch.  Then you can make it even more interesting by stamping your image onto a patterned paper.  (This is from that same Cupcakes & Carousels pack).  It adds perfectly coordinated color while still blending in.

Want to make this card at home? Here are the project supplies:
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Need more general or masculine birthday card ideas?

I have a bunch posted here on the blog over the last few years, so click HERE to filter down and see just my birthday cards.

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