Making Manly Plans

Most of us crafters are women and so generally we tend to lean towards the feminine side when it comes to our projects. That's totally normal of course, but, we are all daughters and with Father’s day fast approaching, I decided to make this week’s projects a little more masculine to change things up. It’s fun, but definitely not easy! At least for me, I had to resist so hard not to add a doily or a bit of lace to these projects! Let's dig into my May kits from the Hipt Kit Club and make some manly plans!
I have 5 sons, so I’m no stranger to scrapbooking boy pages, but even still, a touch of pink or a line of ribbon are often found in my projects about my boys. There is a knack however to keeping it masculine and manly, even if you add a bit of lace and frill. The first tip is to keep the lace and frill to a bare minimum ;)

To keep your projects manly and feminine-free try these tips:

1. Use blacks or navys.  Any darker colour will do, like hunter greens and burgandys. Lighter, brighter blues, greens and oranges can be masculine but they have a boyish feel, and the jewel tones always feel more manly.
2. You can’t go wrong with stripes. To keep you on the straight and narrow don't hold back on stripes. Men usually don’t like a lot of fuss and frill so stripes are perfect for men and boys.
3. Keep the design linear. For the same reason as stripes, using lines (the straighter the better) keeps the feel of the project strong and masculin.
4. Use dapper patterns. There’s nothing like a houndstooth, check or plaid to tell the world that this project is for a man!
5. Keep embellishments to a minimum. The cleaner the designs the better when you want it to look masculine.

All this doesn’t mean that you can’t have a bit of playfulness on your projects. It’s quite welcome, actually, so the design doesn’t end up boring and dull and looking more like a funeral than Father’s day. Whatever whimsy you use, go light, and ground it all with the masculine touches mentioned above. My planner spread is covered in flowers but the black washi, stripes and minimal, linear design gives it the masculine feel fit for Father’s day week.

 

This dashboard is another example of using the tips above. There is a little more embellishment, but I kept the colour palette simple, and used lots of black accent which balances out the whimsy of the polka dots.

This last project is a little more feminine with its flower’s and pinks but the black and white stripes allows it to blend nicely into my masculine spread, making the whole thing feel a bit more like me, it is my planner after all ;)

Last week, I posted a layered planner clip on the hip Kit Club facebook page and after questions on how to make it I gave a tutorial on periscope and here is the video:

 

 

Happy Planning!