MASCULINE BIRTHDAY

I've been fascinated by cards I've seen on Pinterest that look like a man's suit or shirt and thought to attempt one myself for a dapper friend of mine who's having his birthday today. I really had no idea where I was going when I first started, other than that I wanted to have a pocket to slip a tag into that resembled a handkerchief.

I started with a black 5x7 piece of cardstock for a base to attach all of the other elements. It took me hours to make this and I really don't know how to describe the whole process, other than to say it was a complicated series of trials and errors! I found this black embossed paper in my stash that seemed like it would make a perfect jacket and I started with the collar by folding a strip of beige cardstock and attached it to the top of the black panel, overlapping it slightly above the panel and a bit off-center so that I would have space on the right side for a pocket. I added a piece of beige below for the rest of the shirt. Then I constructed a tie by folding a striped printed paper into roughly the shape of a tie with a Windsor knot and gluing it to the card base under the collar. The next step took the longest because I had to figure out just how to make the lapels. I attached the left side first, gluing it to the card base and trimming the edges. The right side was more complex because I had to construct a pocket by slitting a line across the jacket front and adding a pocket behind it before I attached it to the right side of the card and trimmed it. I cut a strip of paper and die cut some stitching on two edges before attaching it to the jacket front. The final step was to make a button from solid black cardstock and pull some thread through the buttonholes and attach.   

WHEW! As I said, it was a complicated procedure - similar to a tailoring class I once took! The "handkerchief" is a tag cut from a coordinating printed stock with a beige square attached and black heat embossed sentiment. Before slipping the tag into the pocket, I tied on a strip of black silk ribbon.

I'm really proud of this card, so if Alex doesn't make a big deal out of it, I'll be very disappointed!