Saturday, August 22, 2009

Boy Card ~ MAKEOVER!

I am an extremely blessed mother of two lovely children: one boy and one girl... I've had the boy longer, so you'd think I'd be used to his "kind".... BUT, not really. I am, after all, a girl, myself. Therefore, I have to confess that I have a hard time making "boy" cards. Masculine isn't that easy, either... but "boy" is REALLY tough. Here's a card I made about three or so years ago, when Stampin' Up! first introduced the In Color concept:

BEFORE


It's okay. Nothing super dynamic, but the sad thing is that I was TRYING to be masculine/boy in my "happy birthday" message. Now THAT's really sad. When I first made the card, I didn't have the flower image at all: vroom, I thought I was all manish in my efforts {not} ! But I added the flower because the composition was wonky and I couldn't stand that Marigold color, all lonely and uncomplimented... So, the flower went down and then I made about TWENTY of these! (Ugh!) I am confessing, that only recently, due to this blog, I always made cards in batches of 10 or 20! As a S/U! demo, I loved to have extras on hand to give to customers and just advertise the craft, but these days, most of my craftiest crafty friends read my blog anywhooo, so I'm not working on multiples nearly as much... ANYWAY, I still have a bunch of these and I HATE looking at them! I feel like this card is "confused!" So today, when "the boy" needed a card for another 11yr. boy child: I decided to give this a MAKEOVER!

AFTER




WAHOOOOOOOO! I've got a few of these left from the "pre-makeover" stage, but they will definitely get an overhaul, too! (Thank goodness for tape that isn't TOOOO permanent!)

ALL SUPPLIES : Stampin' Up! (except for "EXTREME BOY" stamp, by Studio G)

Thanks for visiting today!

11 comments:

Rosemary said...

Love your makeover, girlie. You really nailed it in the boy-cool category! By the way, I have two boys and still can't make boy/masculine cards!!! So, I understand your frustration!

Dana Gustafson said...

It's like the What Not to Wear of boy cards... ha ha ha. So glad you stood this 'ol card up in front of the 3 way mirror and gave him a makeover! Now he's like, totally cool dude! And it is SOOOO hard to make something old new again so bonus points baby! You nailed it!

tg said...

Well done Elise! I think the make over went great! Boy and men cards are so hard for me too. No pretty ribbons, flowers, glitters ... you know, all our stand bys.

Vanessa said...

Wow, I wish I could do cool masculine cards like these!! Thank you for your sweet comment on my blog!!

Hugs,
Vanessa

liszha said...

Oh, I hate making masculine/boyish cards. I just can't do it but this one...............wowwie!
Thanks for stopping by on my blog and your sweet words.
Are you a SU girl. I wish we had it in the Netherlands. I love their stuff.
I must go to the States once with an empty suitcase or 2.
Hugs,
Lisette

Dotty Jo said...

This is great, well done with the makeover. I find maculine cards are really hard, so I usually go with some humour and a little character of some sort. You card has such a great look and is really balanced - well done you! Jo x

Karen said...

Well, as a Mama of a boy, I would say you crossed the finish line with the flag waving with this one! Vroom is right and I think any boy would love it! And bonus points for reworking an old(er) card!! :>

Anonymous said...

Dear E,
I really like your re-do of the card. All the new S.U. extreme stamps out right now would go well. I just got Extreme Guitar player.
Give me a call when life gets calmer and keep up the good creativity!
Fifi la Rouge(aka Linda B.)
p.s. Germany has Stampin' Up so it should be in Holland soon. Wunderbar!

Tracey said...

Hi Elise,

Love the makeover!!! It is hard to give a card a makeover but you really did a great job. Love it!!

Courtney Baker said...

Ha ha - I love it. Before and after pictures are my favorite. It's a great thing that you don't use mono-multi that stuff STICKS!

Mara Campbell said...

I love the makeover!! I struggle with boy/masculine cards, too. Everytime I have to make a card for my FIL, I cringe, LOL!! Thanks for the inspiration!