It's the men's turn! Fathers, sons, brothers, grandfathers, nephews, uncles, and brothers-in-law are getting some special attention this month. I am always in need of masculine cards, and am so frequently at a loss for ideas. It's hard for me when all I want to do is break out the flower stamps, and add ribbons and bows and doilies, LOL. But I have a special treat for you! I have the Sailing Home bundle from the new annual catalog that starts June 4th, so you get a sneaky peek! And I know Wendy has it too, so the next stop on the tour will have more ideas for this fabulous set! If you landed here from Debbie Henderson's blog, Debbie's Designs, weren't her projects awesome? I'm sure by now you know how to hop, so just follow all the links to take the short five-stop tour. So, when I said I got the Sailing Home bundle, that wasn't entirely true.... I got the entire SUITE! Everything except the High Seas 3D embossing folder, which wasn't on the preorder list, darn it! Anyhoooo, since my daddy was career Navy, and my hubby is also a Navy veteran, I knew I just had to get it. Here is my first card, a birthday card manly enough for any man. The blue seas were embossed with the Seaside folder (retiring!) on a 1-1/2" x 3-3/4" piece of Seaside Spray (New In Color!) cardstock. It was adhered to a 3-3/4" x 5" piece of Whisper White, and then on a 3-7/8" x 5-1/8" Night of Navy mat. I tied the new Night of Navy/Sahara Sand baker's twine in a square knot and adhered the ends on back, then popped the panel up on dimensionals on the Sahara Sand card base. The sail boats were stamped in Night of Navy, and a Blender Pen was used to spread the color around. I think it's awesome that the boats, ship's wheel (cut AND emboss!), and banner are all dies included in the Smooth Sailing Dies! My next card is a perfect thank you for any guy that has helped you in some way. No frilly flowers or bows on this card. Nuh uh. It uses what I think is my favorite (for now, anyway) set in the new catalog - Free As A Bird. It can be bought as a bundle with the Stitched Nested Labels Dies, which are uh-MAZE-ing! The bird was stamped in Soft Suede and the leafy branch in Mossy Meadow. After coloring the bird (Crumb Cake Dark & Light, Soft Suede Dark, Calypso Coral Light) and leaves (Mossy Meadow Light) the image was cut with one of the dies. A second piece was cut using the next smaller die from Wood Textures DSP, split and adhered to the back. Notice that beautiful Mossy Meadow Linen Thread? That's part of the Magnolia Lane Suite - another superb suite! I am happy to see that the Woodland embossing folder is carrying over. Here's a close up of the Stitched Nested Label, which is really more like tiny dots, and I LOVE them! Oh there is so much to love in the new catalog, starting with a whole new layout! I can't wait until everyone has their own catalog to pore over. Be sure you have lots of Post-It flags....you're gonna need them! Up next is the wonderful Wendy Weixler, with her Wickedly Wonderful Creations!