Truly Grateful for Stampin’ Up!

Stampin’ Up!’s Annual Convention started yesterday.  Thousands and thousands of energized stampers who all share the same passion for stamping and papercrafting have flocked to Salt Lake City, Utah for the experience of a lifetime.  What an amazing experience!  AND this is Stampin’ Up!’s 25th Anniversary, so everything has been taken up a notch.  Since this is my first Convention, I don’t have anything to compare it to, but I have to believe the others were exciting (but not like this one).

I was so honored to be asked to present in the greeting room last night.  I covered a specific topic over and over and over while 5,500 people mingled and listened to other presenters.  Each presenter was asked to focus on a particular topic.  What was my topic?  Well, I was asked to create a presentation that addresses “masculine cards.”  I was also asked to create a display board that shows 15 projects in this theme.  As you also know, masculine cards are not my expertise.  Although I am a guy, I don’t make cards that are FOR guys.  I do make cards with a “guy’s eye” (whatever that means), so it didn’t take too much work for me to sit back and decide what makes a project masculine.  I will start with this:  it has nothing to do with boats or cars or motorcycles or trees.  I’ll be sharing my thoughts about masculine cards over the next couple of weeks as I share the projects from my “project board.”

This is the first card I made for my project board:    Truly Grateful, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Stampin' Up!, Brian King

Tips, Tricks and Reminders:

  • Color scheme.  When making a masculine card, the color scheme is just as important (in my humble opinion) as the image on the card.  I really love this combination of colors:  Soft Suede, Island Indigo, Summer Starfruit and Very Vanilla.  It reads “Autumn” and “masculine” at the same time but also doesn’t stay clear of pops of color.  I added a little Summer Starfruit to the blank after running over it a bit with a Blender Pen to really pull out the Soft Suede.  I also added some depth to the Summer Startfruit piece by simply stamping images from Gorgeous Grunge in Summer Starfruit over top of it.   
  • Extending the wood plank.  This stamp set (available in the Holiday Catalog) is truly gorgeous and reads “Autumn” through and through.  The plank wasn’t long enough for the vision I had for it, so I stamped it twice, trimmed it a bit and pieced together two images.  The banner through the center of the card allowed me to extend the board a bit.  Yippee! I like when I get what I want.
  • Faux suede.  I created a faux suede band in the center of the card by cutting a piece of Soft Suede paper to the size I wanted and then rubbing the piece with my bone folder over and over and over, breaking the filaments inside the paper that hold the paper together.  Once the paper is properly broken down, I pulled the pieces apart (paper is made from two pieces of super-thin paper).  The inside of the paper has a roughness that looks like suede.

Stamp sets:  Truly Grateful, Teeny Tiny Wishes, Gorgeous Grunge  Inks:  Soft Suede, Summer Starfruit, Island Indigo  Papers:  Soft Suede, Island Indigo, Summer Starfruit, Very Vanilla  Accessories: 2-1/2″ Circle punch, Circles Collections Framelits, Word Window punch, Stampin’ Dimensionals 

I’ll be sharing more of my projects over the weeks to come.  I hope you’ll come back to see the rest.

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!

Brian

25 Comments

  1. Very Nice Brian!!! I am so glad you are having fun!! Can’t wait to hear all about it!!!

  2. As you know, I love your blog, Brian, and you’ve hit the nail on the head-it’s because you make cards with a guy’s eye! Whether they’re for men or women your cards have a ‘clean’ style which appeals to so many of us out here! I bet your talk went down very well! Have a great time! X

  3. Laurie Burns Gachewicz

    A roughness yet a softness, in the best possible way, just like suede itself!! Great colors and ideas Brian, resulting in flawless execution, as usual!! What an honor and how fun!! I can hardly wait to hear and see what’s next!!

  4. hi brian I was one of the thousands that were there last night. you did an excellent job! I loved your presentation. Thank you for sharing your talent with us.

  5. What a fabulously clever way to make faux suede!! Where do you get all of this ideas?? Love it and it’s so simple. I really liked this color combination, very CAS indeed. You have the ability to make really beautiful cards for both women and men. I, on the other hand, always struggle with giving my masculine cards the masculine touch. Thank you for sharing this one.

  6. Just lovin’ that card! you DO have the guy’s eye! The faux suede – totally cool! Congratulations on your huge success at the convention.

  7. Thank you for a beautiful card. Masculine cards are a huge challenge for many of us. Looking forward to seeing more.
    Have fun at Convention. I watched the opening session last night and loved all the gifts you received, especially the backpack bags.

  8. Brian, you did a FABULOUS job at your booth last night. I live all of the cards on your display board and can’t wait to read about the details for each one. I think the best too I learned from you last night was choosing a greeting for a guy. I really appreciated your “guy’s perspective”. I took pictures of you presenting and will email them to you once I download them. Can’t wait for convention today!

  9. Great card! Wish I could have been there, but I did watch the live stream. Shelli had me all teary eyed several times! Have a great time!

  10. Yay Brian! You presented a beautiful card for sure. Enjoy convention…we look forward to more inspiration.

  11. Brian, tried to get to see your presentation, but you were. You were by far the most popular… Couldn’t get near you! I’m sure you were a smash hit!

  12. You were AWESOME! I so enjoyed your presentation as well as your accompanying sense of humor. You did a terrific job and I’ll always be glad you saved my life, otherwise we never would have met. Enjoy this special experience!

  13. Brian! I was so entirely thrilled that I got to watch you make cards at convention! I felt like I was seeing an old friend! I was disappointed that I didn’t get to meet you, but I had to tell you, you did an excellent job! You are super super funny and I hope that I will get to shake your hand before convention is over. I am having a blast! Great job Brian!!

  14. Good Morning Brian- well once again I have learned another great technique from you- can’t wait to try the “suede” process! Gorgeous card- enjoy the convention today!

  15. Yay for Brian ! We can`t wait to see pictures ! Like your card . Thank you for reminding me of the Faux Suede technique . I haven`t used it in a year or so . I like to use it in the fall colors for that season . Really excited about seeing all of your display cards !

  16. Brian, congrats on presenting at Convention!! That is so cool! Wish I could have seen you in action as I know you were fabulous. Love the card!!

  17. You are awesome! I was thrilled to meet you at Convention!

  18. Of course, I just knew you would wow the crowds with your presentation. First, I want to thank you for giving us a heads up about how the seasonal catalog works. It was nice going into it with your tip yesterday. Second, I love your card! The stamp set you used here is my favorite in the catalog because I can see the myriad of possibilities with it. Third, thanks for posting while you are in a whirlwind frenzy of fun! Love ya, Nancy B

  19. Awesome card Brian, not just a guy card, it’s a great card for anyone.

  20. What a treat it must have been for everyone who saw your presentation! Were you nearly blinded by the flashing of all the cameras taking pics of your presentation board??? This card is great; can’t wait to see the others you presented. Looking forward to hearing more and more about the convention! You’re presenting at your 1st convention, and it just happens to be their 25th Anniversary — how awesome is that!!

  21. Sounds like it all went well! So happy for you. Just as well I
    wasn’t there since I appears I wouldn’t have been able to get close enough to see! Love this set and your color combo. Great card!

  22. You really have a keen eye for design, Brian. *Love* your designs! From the Convention pix that I saw, you really looked like a pro when you were presenting. Stampin’ Up! made a good choice when they asked you to be a presenter!

  23. Could not get close to your presentation..Drat!… so I’m very glad you are posting what you did… Thanks.

  24. Brian, You were absolutely fantastic at convention!!! Congrats to you!!!

  25. Brian, I love your card today (just ordered the set on Monday). I told so many people at convention about your wonderful blog, and that you have to “read” it, not just look at the pictures. Today was a great example why. The suede strip. I never would have noticed the suede from the photo, but after reading about it, I was dying to try it. Great ideas, as always. Keep up the great work, and congrats on your achievements!

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