Masculine Cards
I like to make cards. Masculine cards are typically defined by being more geometric, patterned and less flowery. In the Altenew class, For The Boys, the instructor gave a lot of different ways to interpret masculine cards. Most of my stamps from Altenew are floral so this course made me move out of my comfort zone and made me think outside the box. I recently purchased the Warp Speed stencil from Altenew and figured this would a good time to use it. Read on for two cards I made using this stencil.
The process
When I get a new product, I try a few different coloring mediums on it to see how it will work. I first tried paint mist sprays. The warped speed stencil has really thin openings like rays which the shimmer mists didn’t do a great job getting through; there were thick and thin spots and the overall stencil design became lost. I then wondered about texture paste. I sprayed some of the Hero Arts metallic blue shimmer mist on my mat and added some Ranger Texture Paste and mixed them together and got a deep navy blue. I spread this onto the stencil which was over a piece of Neenah 80lb solar white cardstock. The result was a cool dimensional effect. I waited for the paste to dry and then repeated this process with Hero Arts Sea Foam mist spray. I rotated the stencil 900 to try and have the rays offset. This was not totally successful and some of the rays overlapped but it gave an interesting two tone effect.
One of the suggestions in the class was to use blended galaxy backgrounds. I thought the stencil and white texture paste would look cool over a galaxy background. To make the galaxy background, I used Bristol cardstock and blended Distress Oxides in: peacock feathers, dusty concord, picked raspberry and twisted citron. Once that was dry, I went over the card with black soot. I heat set the ink and then used white texture paste and the warped speed stencil to add some neat dimension on the card.
One of the suggestions in the class was to use blended galaxy backgrounds. I thought the stencil and white texture paste would look cool over a galaxy background. To make the galaxy background, I used Bristol cardstock and blended Distress Oxides in: peacock feathers, dusty concord, picked raspberry and twisted citron. Once that was dry, I went over the card with black soot. I heat set the ink and then used white texture paste and the warped speed stencil to add some neat dimension on the card.
Putting it together
For the blue/green paste card, I cut out circles from white and navy cardstock using Hero Arts infinity circle dies. On the white circle, I stamped and clear what embossed “For you” sentiment from Altenew Garden Hydrangea stamp set. I adhered the white circle onto the blue one and used foam squares to adhere the circles to the card front. The front panel was adhered to fun foam and then to a white A2 top folding card base. |  |
 This sentiment is from The Garden Hydrangea stamp set. The stars are from Creative Memories Make a Wish Punch |  The texture paste gives a lot of dimension. Even though I turned the stencil, there was still overlap. |
 | For the galaxy card, I used the Hero Arts infinity circle dies to cut out circles from white and black cardstock. On the white circle, I used black ink and then clear Embossing powder to make the sentiment from Altenew’s Persian Motif and Under the Cherry Blossom Tree Stamp sets to stand out. To the galaxy panel, I added white gel pen dots and spritzed Tseukineko Frost spray. I then adhered the two circles to the front panel with foam adhesive. The whole panel was attached to fun foam and then adhered to an A2 card base. |
 The galaxy background is muted from the Distress Oxide inks. Adding the white gel pen really helps the galaxy to pop. |  These sentiments are from Altenew Persian Motifs (Happy Birthday) and Under the Cherry Blossom Tree (to you). |
These two cards came out pretty cool. They are heavy cards with loads of dimension from the foam and texture paste. Let me know in the comments below which card you liked better and when you have stretched yourself on a card. Thank you for stopping by and I hope this card has inspired you to try something different.