Geeky Guy Valentines

It's always more difficult for me to make cards for men, and then when you have Valentine's Day with all the mushy, lovey-dovey stuff, it's even harder. So I am really happy to have an idea for my husband's valentine this year. 

Somewhere in the last few weeks I saw binary computer language on a card (if you know where this was, please let me know so I can give credit! ETA: THANK YOU Marlena for helping me remember, and finding the source! It's by Terri Davenport on p. 35 of the recent Paper Crafts magazine.) Doing a Google search, I found a binary to text translator site. Simply type in your sentiment, and it converts it to all those 1's and 0's. Fun! My husband is both a technology geek and a computer geek, so I thought this would be the perfect way for me to communicate with him on Valentine's Day. It's like sending a secret message! I hope he'll be impressed. 

I made a couple versions. All inspired by this super-fine card by the super-talented Amber Kemp-Gerstel who is at CASE Study this month.

This one says "My Dearest Valentine," and then of course you can read the "i love you" on your own without a binary translator : ) The white panel is mounted on a black card base for a little extra drama. I liked the shape of the binary code on the top. It mimics the top of a heart, and serves to direct the eye to the sentiment, so I kept that look on the other cards.

Next up is a panel mounted on some stamped plaid. There is a lot of pink on this one, but since it's in the background, it's on a dirty pink cardstock, and it's plaid, I figured it could work for a masculine valentine. Plus I added a more masculine, punny sentiment in computer font. I enjoy making square cards when I can hand-deliver them, so I don't have to worry about what the postage should be.

This last valentine might be my favorite.The binary code is acting like a funnel, with the hearts dripping out and puddling on the sentiment. I just used two colors of ink, but was able to get some more dimension with generational stamping. I ended up adding the strip of white on the bottom because I though it looked a little more interesting that way, rather than centered as usual.

Here you can see where I got further inspiration from. This is Amber's guest design card. Love how she has the hearts falling off the umbrella and pooling on the floor.

Here they all are together.

I still liked the "secret message in binary code" concept, so I decided to tackle this week's Runway Inspired Challenge. If you haven't already, you should check it out. Julie Ebersole is guesting, and Pamela created the most amazing card. Seriously, go see : )

Teen boy birthday cards are the most challenging for me, so I'm happy to have another one on hand. For this one-layer card, I copied a binary "happy birthday, DUDE" sentiment a couple times. I claim artistic license, because I had to add a few more 0's and 1's at the end to fill the space (shhhh). In the inspiration photo I noticed some blue in the bottom left of the dress, so I felt comfortable putting the sentiment there. This was also inspired by Angie Tieman ... I love that she used "dude" on her  most recent card.

Adding these all to the Simon Says Stamp challenge to use black, white and a splash of color.
 

Thanks for looking!

-Kelly

Supplies used (i love you): 

stamps: PSX lower case alpha for the heart, Autumn Leaves Sweetheart

Supplies used (we're programmed for each other ): 

stamps: PSX lower case alpha for the heart, Martha Stewart backgrounds

ink: Hero Arts Neon Pink and Neon Purple
other:  black pen 

Supplies used (programmed to love you): 

stamps: PSX lower case alpha for the heart

impression plates: PTI Simple Stripes

Supplies used (Happy Birthday, Dude): 

stamps: PSX lower case alpha for the asterisk, KI Memories Love, Elsie alpha, Papertrey Ink Fillable Frames

other: Spectrum Noir markers