WWC243 - Heidi's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Masculine challenges can be such fun.  I have some birthday "boys" coming up for whom I always make outdoorsy cards.  This is where the "Let it Ride" stamp set comes in handy.  Strangely enough, I also used the gorgeous Pressed Petals Designer Series paper and the Stitched Nested Labels dies added some dramatic detail.

Isn't that a fun card?  I used a base of Heavy Very Vanilla for a change.  It really complimented the layer of Soft Suede and the lovely piece of Designer Paper.  That burlap pattern is one of the "back" sides of the Pressed Petals DSP, and is perfect for the masculine feel I for which I was striving.  Instead of adding the stamped layers to the top, I actually cut out a "window" using the medium sized Stitched Label die, to expose the Soft Suede underneath.  Then I used a much smaller Stitched Label die to cut out a piece of Very Vanilla and stamped the horses onto that.  By mounting the stamped piece to the left, I had sufficient room to stamp the trees from the set onto the Soft Suede.

At the bottom of the card you can see I cut only portions of a piece of Soft Suede and a piece of Very Vanilla using the Stitched Label dies.  After stamping the "Happy Birthday" using Old Olive, I mounted the Very Vanilla to the far right of the die-cut Soft Suede before attaching the whole to the bottom of the card.  I think it balances the card nicely.  The horseshoes?  There's a story.  Remember the Home Sweet Home thinlit dies?  Well one of those dies is a round-topped window so I used that to cut two scraps of the retired Galvanized Metallic paper and then, after cutting off the window cross-pieces and bottom, I had horseshoes.  A few nail-holes added with my black pen finished the job.

For the inside I added two die-cuts of that great burlap paper and then added a special fold as a surprise.  It's an easy fun fold but will give added pleasure to the receiver of this card.  The remaining images and sentiments from the Let it Ride set fit onto the squares perfectly and look great, don't they?

I hope you'll check out the wonderful creations by the Watercooler Artists over at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.

I've entered my card into the following challenges:

2 Crafty Critter Crazies Challenge #31 - Anything Goes with a Critter

Crafty Animals Challenge #31 - Anything Goes

Crafty Creations Challenge #400 - Anything Goes

The Card Concept Challenge #121 - Adventure Awaits (I was inspired by a combination of the colours and the textures in the inspiration photo.  When I think of horses, I always think of adventures).