Masculine Monday - a male valentine

Good morning! I'm thinking of valentines this morning and is there anything harder to get right than a valentine's card for a male? You don't want to go for anything too gooey or frilly or pink... Well today's card is one option! It's inspired by this week's Less is More challenge, which requires one-layer cards featuring birds (right up my street - thanks ladies!) Come and see:

The bird is from a beautiful and very useful set, Notably Ornate. The thing I love about this particular bird is that it's a solid stamp, so you can do what you like with it really. At Christmas I turned it into a dove by filling in the tail; another time I used the 'kissing' technique on it; I've stamped two and cut them out so that they can hold a banner... oh the possibilities are endless. But anyway, today (Matthew!) he is a bluebird of lurve!

And look what he's carrying - it's a heart flower! I think this has to be one of my favourite motifs ever - a bird carrying something in its beak. I don't know whether you can see it very clearly but the heart is incredibly sparkly. I've punched it out of Glimmer paper from the new mini catalogue and it works brilliantly - you get a lovely sharp outline and of course there's no sticky finger trouble or glitter all over the house!

Supplies needed for this card:

Stamps: Notably Ornate, Teeny Tiny Wishes

Ink: Marina Mist, Real Red

Card stock: Naturals Ivory

Other: Markers, watercolour pencils, Glimmer Paper, Boho Blossoms punch, circle punches, stamp-a-majig

I'd be delighted to order any of these supplies for you and can have them delivered to your address in the UK. I am committed to providing excellent customer service and am always happy to help and advise. Just send me an email or give me a call on 01280 820593. 

Thinking about birds reminded me of a laugh we had over the Christmas holidays when we played a lot of family games. One of our favourites was Articulate - a game where you describe the word on the card, but without using the word. On one occasion we played boys versus girls and it really flagged up the difference in the way the genders communicate. For example: my oldest son says: "It's a flower!" "Tulip!"guesses my husband. "Yeah!" My daughter and I look bemused at this astonishing success. "Next one. It's a bird!" continues my son. "Thrush? Robin? Blackbird?"they suggest. "No!" my son says. "Blue tit? Swan? Magpie? Pass..." They give up and my son moves on to the next card. There's a pause before my son says: "It's another bird!" My daughter and I collapse into helpless giggles.

Thank you for dropping by today. I'll be back tomorrow with something a little more feminine and I hope you can join me.

Hugs,