Help..Male card ideas!

[Funkyhand]

Hi everyone
I make cards pretty much all the time as I sell them on my website etc..do any of you have good ideas for male cards? It is always a thorn in my side to try to create cards for men/boys that don't have a boat theme or any other old fashioned style male theme! My cards are supposed to be funky! but getting ideas that appeal are getting harder. Anyone out there found some interesting embelishments or stamps that would fit. I create my own backing papers so that isn't an issue its just toppers that stump me!! I am grateful for ideas as I am starting to pull my hair out!!! :eek::eek:
Anice

[Peter]

Abstract art tends to work for me - Kandinsky, Mondrian, etc. Keeps it neutral without being too macho.....................seen enough babes in bikinis to last a lifetime!:cool:

[Seahorse]

Hmm, maybe look at fashion.Alot of guys wear tops wih logos on them, not naughty sayings but old fashion advertisements of carribean clubs, or bars in NY etc, maybe the same things can be done to cards.

[Funkyhand]

Thanks Seahorse, thats an idea I might be able to work with.
Anice x

[Peter]

.....................so the male opinion doesn't count then..........?:rolleyes:

[Funkyhand]

Oh Peterart... I didn't mean to hurt your feelings!
Thank you for your idea as well..
I forgot to include you in my thanks.. will you forgive me??? :eek:

Anice x

[HollyR]

Yes... I often wonder why male cards can be so difficult?!!

I have never made them to sell - only for freinds and rellys - so I tend to go down the comedy route or include somehting that is of interest to them. For instance... I made a Valentine's card the year beofre last featuring a pic of Obelisk (sp?) from the Asterisk (sp?) stories as my boyf looks like him(!!) and a funny comment written underneath in decorative lettering. He absolutely loved it.....In fact, he still has it on the wall beside his desk to this day! Awww bless :p

In the past for more generic cards I've used birthday cake candles in blue, green etc, left-over nuts and bolts etc from finished DIY projects, wallpaper samples, skeleton leaves - all sorts!

...Sorry... don't think I'm actually being much help here, am I! Will be quiet now! ;)

Good luck :)

[swirlyarts]

I buy bags of used stamps from Oxfam, soak off the paper and hey preto, you have a huge range of things that you can adapt to different cards. For example my father in law doesn't like the royal family so I used a stamp of Fergie/Andrew with a humourous quote underneath and he loved it. The packs that include overseas stamps are he best as you get a larger variety.
To get ideas I use the lakeland catalogue - it has great embellishments too if you want to buy but I use it mainly for ideas.
Hope this helps
Lynsey

[Funkyhand]

Thanks very much for your ideas they are great. Sometimes you can just be too close to projects and need someone else to make suggestions to get the ideas flowing again, you've done just that thanks very much
Anice x

[Peter]

Belated forgiveness Anice. I forgot I'd had a male menopausal moment!:p

[bigbird842]

Hi
What does the recipient like doing in his spare time. I am always looking for die cutters for male themes as they are always hard to come by. Check out my website for ideas. I've got gardening tools die cuts and peel offs, motorbikes, pirate ships, cars, archery, bowling, golf and peel offs with mobile phones and computers.
Hope this helps
Teresa

[Funkyhand]

Thanks Theresa I will take a look I am always looking for new ideas for cards.

The problem I have is that I am designing cards for on my website to sell, so there isn't any one particular in mind just males in general! Not easy, but then men never are!!
Anice x :rolleyes:

[bigbird842]

Hi
I have a wide range of sports and male interest die cut shapes and peel off stickers on my web site. Die cuts include Fish, Football, Racing cars, Sports motorbikes, Pirate ships, Gardening, Golf, Tractors, and many more. I also have a large assortment of stickers and embellishments.
Teresa

[karenandshantay]

You can get alot of different designs with decoupage, have you thought of that?

[Funkyhand]

I have to say that decoupage is really not my cup of tea. I know you can sometimes get funky looking collections but most of the ones available are a bit on the 'old fashioned' side for my tastes..I know I am making cards for other people but.. if I don't like the cards then people who buy from my site wont either. My customers tend to want designs that are not that traditional.
Thanks for the suggestion though. :D
Anice x

[OaktreeCraft]

Hy
I have some Football Shirts ( Actual 2006/7 season sponsors, not these multicoloured universal i love footbal ones you see ) on my Ebay and Ebid stores that may be of some use ?

[Suchaco]

Hi craft creations have some great decoupage for men and they are not all old fashioned and some of them are quite funny. Also magic motifs have now got a couple of motif sets for men as well

[Funkyhand]

Thanks Su
I will go over and have a look
Anice x :):)

[bigbird842]

Hi
Do you use die cut shapes at all. I have a wide range of male themed shapes including, motorbikes, cars, gardening, trains, caravans, golf, football, trophy, award and more. You could dress bitty bodies in different football strips.
Hope this helps
Teresa

[stallfinder]

I always struggle to think of ideas for men's card particularly late-teens/20's. I've done a few sports cars and football/sport themed ones plus gardening and DIY. I need to do a few Father's Day ones so will look at some of the ideas from this thread - thanks.
Gail.

[craftyjan]

i make lots of oragami shirts which you can make out of funky paper as my hubbys a fisherman make a lot of that theme ive just brought a brilliant papernation stamp which i am playing with they do all different sporting themes and other and look modern

[sillyoldbear]

Hi

I don't make cards but think that cards for returning troops is a good idea. What do you think?

[Tip Top]

This is an old thread from 2006 and I'm sure Anice has plenty of inspiration these days - she designs backing papers!!!:D:D

[craftfairy]

You could try this one:

http://pic90.picturetrail.com/VOL2144/10048433/18103594/319728251.jpg

It's a card that can be sent to a man or woman.

Yvonne

[Chris W]

The most popular card I sell for men is a picture of a howling wolf, it is from a range by a company called Tree Free.

[LadyLora]

I have a real problem thinking up ideas for men's cards too! :frusty:
Iv made some with golf club bag on, trainers, and the good old boat card! Have yet to make ones with a football, or other sports.
I did make a couple of cards for little boys though - one was a simple dinosaur shape with stripes and i stuck on googly eyes- very simple but very effective!
I did find a template on the internet for a card in the shape of a guitar which i intend to make for my hubby- perhaps other musical instruments?
Hope this helps- if you can think of any other ideas id love to hear them!! :)

[Fluffy Squirrel]

For men's cards I have a 'themes' which I tend to use most of the time -

Sport (football, rugby, golf, fishing)

Transport (cars, motorbikes, boats)

General Interest (gardening, shed, greenhouse)


I also have a range of 'unisex' cards depicting wolves, red indian and I'm just working on a range of gothic and pagan cards.

HTH xxx

[dolts007]

Hi

being a fella and thinking about the things I like, some of the not so obvious card designs that may appeal are:-

Anything to do with computer gaming (xbox 360, ps3, wii)

Birding, feathered kind of course

DIY

Photography

Gardening

Wine/Beer

Music - Rock/Classical etc

Cars/Bikes/Buses/Trains/Boats/Hot Air Balloon

Sport

(Some I'm sure are obvious choices, but maybe one or two may spark inspiration)

(I sell my photos as greeting cards and the ones that are bought for men are bikes/planes/buses/trains/Hot air ballon and bird cards.)

Hope this helps a bit

Rob

[Fluffy Squirrel]

Thanks for those ideas Rob... certainly got the old grey matter working now ;)

[nitab]

I made some male ones recently, firstly by doing folded squares from male papers and putting relevent theme in centre square, like sport theme ie rugby balls, another had techno computers and mobile phones and another i used shirt and tie die cuts,
i also made some envelopes from male papers and joined to a concertina, they were quite effective and if all else fails
a shaped card, football player, rugby, musical instruments cut on the faithful craftrobo, yes it's a cheat but certainly helps.

[Tattydiane]

I to struggle with mens cards its ok if they have a hobby but if they dont well and truely stuck

[sparkysdad]

posted this in another "similar" thread, but the old cigarrette/tea collector cards can be good.. often easy to find on e-bay for a few pennies, some had some lovely artwork on, and while you do get sport and cars a lot,, there's all sorts.

Also car boot sales, and fairs etc can turn up loads..

If you have (or have access to) a scanner and a program like photoshop, try very old books too!! We bought a victorian "book" called The art Journal - it was published as magazines, then bound in a nice cover. As the cover was disintegrating, we got the whole thing for £2 at a car boot. There are literally hundreds of old prints and engravings in there, I scan them, use photoshop to tint and colour them, and then print them out on photo paper - it can give them a whole new lease of life..

Uploaded some pics I have used.. they "happen" to be period images used quite traditionally, but there are all sorts - for example some primitive elizabethan wood block style ones that would look quite funky retouched and used on a modern card

[sparkysdad]

Following on from the previous, remember when using published images, that recent work will be under copyright - according to the official website images and applied arts and photography are only copyright for 25 years, anonymous works for 50 years, so older books and such are usually fair game for sourcing images for use!

[Rosinamaystamp]

Go to stampinup.com look in their online catologue they have a few good for men and boys my favourites are Loads of Love and Unfrogetable the Unfrogetable is retired but still available. You will have to go on their demo locater and wait for them to email your nearest demonstrator though.

[Bartex]

Perhaps, some military or cowboy motiffs could look nice on cards for men. They can be funny, too. A funny looking and a little angry general giving orders, etc. A horse with a grin. A detective with a magnifying glass. Some cats or dogs looking like gentlemen in their high hats...

[Bartex]

Perhaps, this image can help a little, too. They call it a Shirt & Tie Card (http://www.createyourcrafts.com/projects/projects/shirttiecard.htm#shirttiecard.htm):pc:
(http://www.createyourcrafts.com/projects/projects/shirttiecard.htm#shirttiecard.htm)