Masculine thank-you cards

Last week I sent my most recent batch of cards to Operation Write Home. Since a lot of my cards are flowery and feminine, I made a special effort to include a few masculine thank-you cards. Here are the designs I created:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^® unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Background Sampler, Wonderful Words, Define Your LIfe
Card stock: Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Cherry Cobbler, Bashful Blue, Midnight Muse
Ink: Sahara Sand, Cherry Cobbler, Bashful Blue, Midnight Muse
Accessories: Simply Scored tool, rotary piercing tool (EK Success), large and small star punches, 3/4" circle punch, Dimensionals

I decided to go with a variation on the classic red, white and blue color combo with Sahara Sand as the neutral. For the card on the left, I used the striped stamp from the Background Sampler set as a mini background for the stars. For the card on the right I used that stamp as well as two others from the set to stamp on Cherry Cobbler, Bashful Blue and Midnight Muse card stock, using the coordinating ink color for each. Then I punched stars out of the stamped images and "scattered" the stars across the card front. On each card I stamped a sentiment and pierced lines of holes along the edges of the card front.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Wonderful Weaves, Just Perfect Alphabet
Paper: Naturals Ivory, Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, So Saffron card stock; Patterns Pack Designer Series Paper (DSP)
Ink: Cajun Craze, Always Artichoke, So Saffron, Early Espresso
Accessories: Vintage brads, 3/4" circle punch, Modern Label punch, Dimensionals

This was a pretty quick card to create, so I made three or four of this design. To make the letters I used the same technique as I did for the stars in the card above; I stamped the images from the Wonderful Weaves set on Cajun Craze, Always Espresso and So Saffron card stock then I punched circles out of the stamped images. (I love how they look just like patterned paper.) Then I used a darker ink to stamp the letters for "thank" in the circles. The "you" is stamped (unfortunately, a little bit off-kilter) directly on a layer of DSP on the card front. I embellished the card with just a few metallic brads.

Thanks for stopping by!