Mandatory Manly Stampin' Stuff

Summer in my family means mandatory manly stampin' as my brother and his two sons Scott Jr. and Stuart celebrate their birthdays in July and August.  Thank goodness I picked up a copy of the Stamp It! Cards vol. 8 issue as one of the cards featured on page 67 inspired me to introduce myself to some of the other images in Hero Arts CL478 Going set.  I wanted this set just for the VW Beetle image and I've completely ignored the other stamps until now :)

I followed Becky Lillibridge's design pretty closely except I used the truck instead of the motorcycle image, used a sentiment from Hero Arts CG275 Birthday (4) and added a birthday "balloon".  My brother Scott owns a very "manly" blue truck so I think he'll appreciate this.
Other Materials Used:  Stampin' Up cs, Ranger faded jeans distress ink, VersaFine toffee ink, Hero Arts S5507 Envelope Pattern, Making Memories brads, Hemp, Cricut George and Basic Shapes cart (balloon die cut)

My nephew Scott Jr. is an ex-Marine currently working as a civilian in Kuwait. He's got some vacation time coming so I'll be able to give him his card in person next month:

This time I embossed the sentiment and used a Cuttlebug embossing folder to make the background.  I really like this color combination for a masculine card - the embossed piece is Papertrey ink's ocean tides cs.

Two manly cards down, one to go!  Thought I'd share my favorite pic of the two boys:

They are close in age and have been sooooo competitive all their lives.  Here they look genuinely happy to be in one another's company!  As they've gotten older their presence at family gatherings is no longer a given and I miss them....

Thanks for stopping by!  Your comments truly make my day!