Masculine Color Trends Challenge

We’ve been hearing all the buzz about the big masculine paper crafting challenge. Oh how difficult it is to craft for those men in our lives.  We thought it was the perfect time to embark a Masculine Color Trends Challenge. Please roll up your sleeves and create with us because this will be a learning experience for all of us to join forces to tackle on this challenge…together!

Please make sure you review the rules below.

The photograph(s) in the challenge inspiration board are by Flying House Studios and from our very own designer, Tina Fussell!

Skipping Stones Design (SSD) is a stamp company whose mission is to help paper crafters share the gift of laughter one stamp at a time. SSD started in 2005 and has a variety of stamps in their online store to attract all paper crafters. Their stamps are photopolymer high quality clear stamps and priced just right. On their blog, SSD challenges crafters with a sketch every week.

This challenge requires you to create a masculine paper craft project using the color challenge. Creating paper craft projects for men, young and old, is often considered a big challenge for most designers. We welcome you to think outside of the flower box, rhinestones, and luxurious ribbons to your stash of brads, eyelets, wood grain, and various patterned paper collections that will make those guys in your life *LOVE* your handmade creations! We can’t wait to see what you create.

The main colors are featured in the challenge inspiration board above. Keep the colors of your project as close to the colors in the challenge image. Remember, colors can be incorporated into your project in more ways than cardstock. If you would like to use a neutral of white/cream and black/brown, please feel free to add it!

Upload a photo of your project to your blog or online gallery, such as Splitcoaststampers or Flickr, then copy the direct link to your project to the embedded link widget below or on one of the design team’s blogs. If you do not have a direct link to your blog/gallery posting that features the challenge, your link may be deleted. If it is deleted, no biggie, just come back and re-link the correct link! Only links left in the link widget will be considered for challenge submissions.

NOTE: **If you are having difficulties with our link widget, please click the question mark link to get help from their blog. They offer useful step-by-step instructions.

IE v6 Browser Users: The link widget is not compatible with IE version 6. Please feel free to download Firefox for free here. You can also update your IE browser here. Sorry for any inconvenience in the cross-browser issues, but we hope you give Firefox a try!

We also have a Flickr Group available to share your projects. Please add your projects to Embellish Magazine Flickr group.

If you want to use the graphic above, feel free to, but make sure you right-click and choose the “Save Image As” choice to save it to your computer, then upload to your blog!

After the challenge ends, the design team will select top designers who created hot projects to highlight. The designers will be highlighted in a blog posting. You can find all blog postings related to challenge winners in the category menu in the footer below, called “Embellish What’s Hot.”

Additionally, there will be a designer who will be featured and will Grunge from Skipping Stones Design. The winner must contact Embellish within 48 hours of the announcement. We reserve the right to select a new winner if the designer makes no contact.

The designers are showcasing some rough and tough designs ton inspire you on how to create masculine paper craft projects.  For additional information and photos, please click on the images to visit their blogs.

Ashley created a birthday card using the Grunge stamp set. She stamped the wood grain and diamond metal toolbox patterns. She also heat embossed the sentiment and embellished the card with star die cuts.

Charlene created this masculine birthday card using the Grunge stamp set. She stamped the wood grain and embellished with buttons. A star was used as a focal point to set the tone for this birthday tough guy!

Cristina designed this tough birthday card using the Grunge stamp set as well. She stamped the metal toolbox pattern on a tag and finished it off with an eyelet. Guys love that hardware!

Mariana made this nostalgic card for the #1 DAD using the Grunge stamp set. She stamped the metal toolbox pattern on gray cardstock, which makes it so realistic. She also added some hardware and nostalgic elements to personalize it.

Sarah used the Grunge stamp set to design this tough guy birthday card. She stamped the metal toolbox pattern and also the sentiment on the tag. Sarah showcases how you can layer a card for a guy and still pull it off!

Tina designed this clean and simple card using the Grunge stamp set. She stamped the patterns on cardstock strips and divided the stamped sentiments. This is a very quick and easy way to create a card for a guy and ship it off in the mail!

Click the image above for additional rules. There are new rules, so please visit the link. Your entry may be deleted if your submission is also a part of a lot of other challenges.

Challenge ends Thursday, March 31, 2011 at 11:59 pm EST