Airbrushed Hawaiian Shirt

I'm just getting back to those male cards we were talking about last week. Today I'm using Karen Lockhart's Hawaiian Shirt image. It's one of those images that once you actually stamp it, the detail comes to life. If you look closely, you can see that I colored in surfboards, tropical flowers and palm trees with Copic markers. What a fun image for guy cards. I tried and tried to get Eric to wear Hawaiian shirts back in the day but no luck....he's just not a Hawaiian shirt kinda guy. I always liked the casual look of a fella sporting a fun Hawaiian shirt, Khaki shorts and strappy sandals....but not my guy, he's a KU tshirt, Nike shorts and tennis shoes man. Oh well!


For the main image, I airbrushed it with two Copic colors (which do not show up well in my photos today for some reason). I picked two colors that I used to color the main image and airbrushed while leaving the Spellbinder's Nestabilities Die Template still over the cut image. I didn't mask my stamped image, I was just careful to not go over it much with the airbrush.

I also decided to stick my airbrushed image back into my long Nestabilities die and make an outline with a Copic Multiliner. These are FANTASTIC little markers. I use them all the time to make horizon lines, little squiggles around flowers, etc. They come in lots of tip thicknesses and the barrel is constructed of a nice metal which gives them a nice weight while working with them.
I assembled my card and added an AMuse sentiment to a narrow oval which was cut and embossed and then layered onto a larger scallop narrow oval. I love adding sentiments to cards that are generic in nature. I can use this card for my Father's Day stash and if it doesn't get used, I can move it over to my male birthday card stash. I keep the inside of the card blank to keep it's intended use flexible. Now see where my finger is pointing to? I thought that area was a little unbalanced after I finished my card. What to do, what to do?
I thought another sentiment might be fitting but couldn't find anything suitable. Then I found the tiny little *Father* sentiment from Papertrey's Mixed Messages. I stamped it on a little strip of cardstock and it was the perfect touch.
Here's my finished card. It feels so good to finally have some nice guy images to use!! And don't be afraid to use ribbon and little scallops on male cards. The secret to keeping the card looking *buff* is to keep it tailored enough that it doesn't turn into a fru-fru card. By keeping the ribbon flat and NOT adding tied bows and keeping the scallops small, I think that both elements work well on this card. Patterned paper that is suitable for males works well too. I use a lot of Crate Paper because it has wonderful male colors, stripes and has a nice distressed look. Hope you enjoy!!

Other Supplies: Copic Sketch markers, Copic Multiliner Pen, Copic Airbrush System, Spellbinder's Die Templates....available at Ellen's online store.