"Manly" cards

Hello there and Happy Friday to you all!! Ok, so today I am sharing with you some "manly" cards I made last week. And when I say "manly", I'm not so sure if this first one classifies as being very manly other than maybe the colors. You think a guy would think the glitter, ribbon and scallop edge is a little too feminine? Maybe. And as I've mentioned before, manly cards are NOT my strong point. As you can see, this first one is kind of... Well, "different", I'm not too crazy about it, but I left it be, and it will have to do. I always show my husband my cards after I've made them. And I usually can tell by the way he looks at them whether he likes them or not. And although sometimes he's a little too honest and makes me cry or hurt my feelings, sometimes I know he's right. But then it never hurts to get other's opinions as well. And what may be not so attractive to one person, may be something another person LOVES. So it's all a matter of taste and preference. It's hard for me sometimes because I am ALWAYS worried about what other people will think about my work. If they'll like it, if they think it's ugly, if they're just saying they like it to be nice.. stuff like that. But lately I've had to just be true to myself and even if I create "flops every now and then (ok, maybe more often than not), I need to be brave and share what I have created with others. and just be confident in myself, and not worry about what others think or do things to try and please them. I know as I go I will (I hope) improve. But I guess we all go through these times of insecurity. But know that we're always changing and growing in our likes and dislikes- our styles.

So the next card here, my husband gave the "this one is my favorite" And for the first one I got a, "I don't know, it's kind of weird". Haha! Even though at the time I was pretty sure he wouldn't like it, because I wasn't even settled on whether I liked it. It still made me a little hurt and upset. I hate it when he doesn't like things I create, especially with my scrapbook pages, I'm really bad with those. I go long periods with out making them because I am so afraid of what others will think of it and I am always wanting them to look perfect and turn out just right. So I am trying to push myself more and thanks to all the encouragement I get from YOU (my blog readers) it helps me to be more brave. :) I am trying to be better at making more guy cards. I have a vast supply of girl/feminine cards on hand, but no guy ones. So I need to work hard on that. I just need to find my style in that area- and invest in some good stamps that will work for guys. And being that there a LOT of birthdays in our family, especially this time of year and most of which are guys/boys, I need to get a handle on it! Here it is fall and now the warm weather decides to grace us as if it decided summer wanted to stay- considering I feel like we hardly had one!! It's quite a refresher from having the weeks of gloomy rainy weather though. But I can't wait to rake the leaves with the boys (some are already falling), and jump in the big piles with them! :) while there is a little chill in the air. I loved that when I was a kid. My sister & I would spend hours and hours outside playing, we just loved every season. We always had so much fun! And I would like for my kids to have that kind of fun too! Well, I hope you all have a wonderful Friday and a blessed weekend!! This scheduled posting is kind of nice- I may have a post or two during the weekend as well. So keep an eye out! ;) Thanks for stopping by!

Happy birthday-blue/black:

• Cardstock: The khaki color, black and teal are SU, the other aqua is from that Basic Grey paper that was given to me.
• Stamps: Polka dots and paisley-SU, Happy birthday- Imaginisce, from their little Snag'em sets.
• Ink: Craft white-SU
• Tools & accessories: EK Success corner rounder, colored glitter-SU, rhinestones-SU, aqua satin ribbon-walmart, & dimensional adhesive.

Happy birthday-trees:

• Stamps: SU- tree set (I used at my mom's sorry, again don't remember the name of the set), the little circle & the "Happy"  is from Occasions collection-SU, & the "Birthday"-Imaginisce, from their little Snag'em sets.
• Cardstock: All SU- Close to cocoa, chocolate chip, & certainly celery (?).
• Ink: SU- Close to cocoa, certainly celery (?), & Color box chalk ink-dark brown.
• Tools & accessories: Brown satin ribbon, fiskars mini scallop scissors (?), & dimensional adhesive.