Watercooler Wednesday Challenge #116 - Kath's Masculine "Anything Goes" Challenge

This week's Watercooler Wednesday challenge #WWC116 is a Masculine "Anything Goes" theme hosted by Kath.   

If you're like me, you're probably always on the lookout for ideas and samples of masculine cards.  This is  especially true with Father's Day looming in the months to come and so many male birthdays on my calendar.

So, my card for this challenge features one of the more masculine stamp sets from Stampin' Up! called "The Wilderness Awaits".  I'm sad to say this set is retiring the end of May 2017, and I wanted to give it a last hurrah!  What better way than to combine it with one of my favourite fancy fold techniques. 

Here's My Card:

This card, called a "Twist and Pop" is one of the more favourite fancy fold cards this year. I've found that making one of these cards is like pulling together a special story and they're such a challenge.  I love making these so much that I'm planning on featuring this card style in my upcoming "Father's Day" Masculine card class, so stay tuned for details. What fun! 

  

Supplies:

Stamp Sets: The Wilderness Awaits #139365*, Here's to Cheers #142101*, Badges and Banners #141610, Avant-Garden (SAB 2017 (R), Gorgeous Grunge #130517*, Stylized Birthday #141828
Card Stock:  Very Vanilla, Tip Top Taupe, Early Espresso
Ink:  Early Espresso, Tip Top Taupe, Crumb Cake 
Accessories:  Trimmer, Big Shot, Woodland Embossing Folder #139673, Brayer, Stitched Framelits - Ovals and Circles*(R),  Stitched Shapes Framelits #145372, Banner Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Large Oval Punch (R).
Note:  All Supplies Marked with (*) are retiring at the end of May 2017 or as long as supplies last. (R) refers to accessories that were previously retired.



For the inside top card panel, I repeated the Woodland Embossing folder layer but used the debossed side to add some interest. I cut a layer of Very Vanilla card stock with the Stitched Shapes Oval Framelits for the "Happy Birthday" sentiment. 

The sentiment was stamped with the Stylized Birthday single stamp. I'm a big fan of this large bold font and find it really works well on masculine cards. 

To finish off I stamped some of the Gorgeous Grunge splotches randomly in Tip Top Taupe on the sentiment and added some more Gold Metallic Star Embellishments. I cut a larger oval of Early Espresso card stock with last years retired Ovals Framelits and mounted this with Dimensionals.

 

Because the card stock is relatively heavy on this card and I want to hold the twist part inside until the card is fully opened, I've added a belly band to give it some stability.  I cut a piece of Very Vanilla with the smallest Stitched Shapes Oval and stamped the "for you" sentiment from the Wilderness Awaits stamp set, leaves from Avant-Garden and splotches from Gorgeous Grunge.  The two small metallic stars give it a bit of pizazz on the card front.  Note:  the Early Espresso oval was cut using the old original large oval punch. It worked perfectly for this layer. 

I really like the four panels inside of the Twist and Pop Card.  You can use them to tell a story with your stamps and sentiments or add photos..... pretty much anything you want to decorate and personalize the card.  The bottom panel was left plain except for the small leaf stamp in the bottom corner.

The Elk's image from the Wilderness Awaits stamp set was repeated for this panel and some splotches from Gorgeous Grunge were added.

This panel was stamped with the Badges and Banner stamp set and the image was cut out with the coordinating Banner Punch. 

This panel was stamped with the Here's to Cheer's stamp set  and Gorgeous Grunge.

This is a mirror image of the Elk from The Wilderness Awaits that was stamped on acetate and then transferred to the Very Vanilla panel.  It isn't as dark as I would have liked it, but the image came through pretty clear.  The "No. 1" is such a cute little stamp and is from the Badges and Banners.  It was cut out with a 1 1/4" circle punch.

Well that's it for today's card challenge.  I hope I've inspired you with today's card and you'll take the time to leave me a comment.  Let me know if you've ever tried this fancy fold before.  It can be tricky, but with practice and proper positioning it is a terrific card style.  I plan on making a lot of these Twist and Pop cards in the coming weeks.

If you haven't participated in our Watercooler Wednesday challenges before I hope you'll give it a try.  Our challenges are posted on Wednesdays and are open until the following Monday.  If you haven't already checked out the Design Team artists I hope you will, they've posted some amazing samples this week.

Happy Stamping!

Penny Tokens Stampin' Spot