Do you ever struggle with making cards for guys?  Finding ideas for male birthday cards or masculine cards isn’t always easy.  But I’ve got a simple layout that makes it much easier to make a handmade card for the men in your life.

The best part? You do NOT need a die cutting machine or a lot of special supplies. The star of this card is the Designer Series Paper.

I originally made this card around Father’s Day, but it works just as well for guy birthday cards, thank you cards, retirement cards, or almost any occasion. Just change the greeting and the paper, and you have a completely different card.

See the complete list of supplies at the end of this post.

Watch the Easy Guy Birthday Card Video

In this video, I show you how to make this simple guy card layout from start to finish. You’ll see how I cut the Designer Series Paper strips, create the banner ends, add the greeting, and finish the card with just a little metallic detail.

Let the Designer Series Paper Do the Work

One of the easiest ways to make guy cards is to start with the paper. Instead of trying to choose colours from scratch, let the Designer Series Paper give you the colour combination and theme.

For this card, I used the Waterside Retreat Designer Series Paper. It has great patterns and images that work beautifully for masculine cards, including wood grain, stripes, outdoor images, fish, seagulls, life preservers, and more.

I especially love that this paper includes both scenic images and simple patterns. That makes it easy to mix and match pieces for a quick card front.

A Simple Layout for Guy Cards

This card layout uses small strips of Designer Series Paper with banner ends. It is a great way to use patterned paper, and it is also a good layout when you need a card quickly.

I used Misty Moonlight for the card base and Mossy Meadow for the card front layer. Those colours came directly from the paper, which makes the whole card feel coordinated without a lot of extra work.

For this birthday version, I used the greeting from the Words of Beauty Stamp Set. You could easily change the greeting to Father’s Day, thank you, retirement, thinking of you, or almost anything else.

I also added a little detail by cutting one of the seagulls directly from the Designer Series Paper. That is such an easy way to create a matching embellishment without needing extra dies or tools.

Since I still had some paper left over, I lined the flap of the envelope with the same Designer Series Paper. It only takes an extra minute or two, but it makes the finished card look so much more special when it’s delivered.

Card Measurements

• Card Base: 5½” x 8½”, scored at 4¼”
• Card Front Layer: 5¼” x 4″
• Designer Series Paper Strips: three pieces 4¼” x 1¼”, cut at 2½”
• Metallic Strip: 4″ x 1″
• Greeting Layer: 4″ x ¾”

I’ve also created this version with the same Waterside Retreat Designer Series Paper but using the fish paper and cutting out a fish for the accent.  Love the fish paper on the flap of the envelope too. I used the BBQ Master Stamp Set for the greeting on the fish card.

This Layout Works with Other Papers Too

Although I designed this as a guy card, the exact same layout works beautifully with other styles of paper too.

Here is a version using a more floral paper, the Velvet Meadow Speciality Designer Series Paper. The layout is the same, but changing the Designer Series Paper gives the card a completely different feel. Notice the little cut out flower as the accent.

That is one of the reasons I love this design so much. Once you know the layout, you can use it again and again with different papers, colours, and greetings.

Another Masculine Card Idea

I also wanted to show you one more version using a retired tool-themed Designer Series Paper. This one is perfect for my dad and my husband, who both love working with tools.

Even though this paper is retired, I think it is a good reminder to look through the papers you already have. You may have something in your stash that would work perfectly with this same layout.

Whether you’re making a card for your husband, dad, son, brother, grandfather or a friend, this simple layout is easy to adapt using almost any Designer Series Paper. I hope it gives you a few more ideas for creating masculine cards with the papers you already have in your stash.

Need another masculine card, check out this recent post I made for another great guy card using Designer Series Paper:

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