Masculine Monday - using Plane and Simple

Good Morning! I always try to provide a little masculine inspiration on Mondays and this week, yet again, I've been unable to resist the fabulous challenge on the Less is More site! Chrissie and Mandi always come up with ideas that I want to drop everything to have a go at - such as this week's suggestion: A one layer card with the sentiment as the focus.

Ever since I first saw the Plane and Simple stamp set in the new mini catalogue I've had an idea in my head about the compass. I wanted to team it with the sentiment from the retired set Live Your Dream - it's a quote by Henry David Thoreau 'Go confidentally in the direction of your dreams'. I liked the link between the compass and the word 'direction' and thought it would make a fantastic card for a grown-up child who's flying the nest, or for someone starting a new course or job. There was just one problem... I didn't have Live Your Dream!

So I rolled my sleeves up and started experimenting on the computer and here's the result:

I made the word 'confidently' slightly larger so that the compass would tuck neatly into the shape made by the words and I love the way it turned out. Score lines are a great way of drawing attention to something without adding layers.

I'm using the compass as my embellishment. It's stamped with Early Espresso ink, then cut out. I added a knot of linen thread for extra interest - I love this stuff and would use this on every card if I could!

Here's how to make this card:

• Faff about on the computer for a while creating a sentiment! (For those that are interested in these things, the font is Garamond Narrow. It's coloured in Pantone 462, to match Early Espresso, and Warm Red.) Alternatively use the stamp from Live Your Dreams - much easier!
• Print the sentiment and trim to the size you want your card to be. Mine ended up being 11cm x 21cm and I scored and folded this in half to create a card 11cm x 10.5cm.
• Add two score lines above and below the sentiment - I used the scoring blade on my Fiskars trimmer.
• Stamp the compass image from Plane and Simple using Early Espresso ink on Whisper White card stock. Cut it out using sharp paper snips (the top was started off with a circle punch). Wind linen thread through the top two or three times and finish with a knot. Attach to the card front with dimensionals.

Supplies
Stamps: Plane and Simple, Live Your Dreams (retired set) if you have it!
Ink: Early Espresso
Card stock: Whisper White
Other: Linen thread

Hope you've had a great weekend. We've had such a wonderful start to our Easter holidays thanks to the glorious heatwave we've been having. It's been wall-to-wall picnics, tennis, walks, den-building, gardening... but naturally I managed to fit a little crafting in too! One of my friends had a birthday last week and I made a coordinated gift set for her, which I'll show you tomorrow.

Thank you for popping in today - I very much appreciate your visits and comments.