I’m always on the lookout for stamp sets and dies that I can use on masculine or gender neutral projects. So it’s hardly surprising that I knew I’d have to get the Handsomely Suited suite. The Handsomely Suited Stamp Set and coordinating Suit & Tie Dies are amazing and I’ve had lots of fun with them. For the most part I’ve paired these with the Well Suited Designer Series Paper (DSP) which is part of the suite, or the In Good Taste DSP. Both contain patterns that are simply perfect for masculine products. But what could you do if you didn’t have the patterned paper, or wanted something a little more elegant? That’s what lead me to today’s project complete with dinner jacket, pleated dress shirt and bow-tie.

WHITE DRESS SHIRT

I started my project with an idea for a white dress shirt, but first I needed to make a card base. So using my Paper Trimmer I cut and scored a piece of Merry Merlot Card. Then I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder.

Next I cut a 2-1/2″ x 4-1/2″ piece of Shimmery White Card for my shirt front. Then with the short side at the top I scored down the piece every 1/8″ to create the look of pleats. Finally I turned the scored piece over so the raised lines on top, and then used Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) to fix it to the card base (lining up the top edges).

DINNER JACKET

Next I cut a 4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″ layer of Merry Merlot Card for the front of the dinner jacket. While I loved the colour I wanted to give it some extra detail and chose a small leaf outline image from the Sweet Strawberry Stamp Set.

I began by using VersaMark ink to stamp the leaf image randomly all over the Merry Merlot piece. Then I sprinkled the sticky ink with Clear Stampin’ Emboss Powder and tapped off the excess. After removing a few stray specks I melted the rest using my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

Once the embossed piece had cooled I then cut out the centre using the V-shaped die from the Suit & Tie Dies. With that done I used liquid glue to fix the jacket over the shirt layer on the card base.

Next I needed to create the collar for the jacket using more Merry Merlot Card. So I cut this using the another die from the Shirt & Tie Dies. Then I glued that onto the jacket front. Finally I set the leftover pieces of card aside as I knew I could use them later.

COLLAR AND TIE

Now I could see how the jacket fitted on the front of the card I was able to work on the shirt collar. Using another die from the Suit & Tie Dies set I cut the collar from Shimmery White Card and glued it into place.

By this point I was starting to think about a sentiment and decided my project would make a great celebration card. For that I turned to the Happy Thoughts Stamp Set and using coordinating Merry Merlot ink I stamped “Congratulations” onto a 3/4″ x 2-1/2″ piece of Shimmery White Card. However I wasn’t quite ready to add this to my project so I set aside the sentiment for the time being.

What I could do however was complete the inside of the card and decorate the envelope. So on a 4″ x 5-1/4″ layer of Shimmery White Card I stamped the spotty bow tie image from the Handsomely Suited Stamp Set. Then using liquid glue I fixed this layer inside the card base.

Next I stamped the bow-tie in the centre of the flap on a Whisper White Medium Envelope.

Finally, still using Merry Merlot ink, I stamped the bow tie onto a scrap of Merry Merlot Card. This bow tie was destined for the card front but only after I cut it out using the coordinating die from the Suit & Tie Dies. Once cut, I attached it with liquid glue.

Now the main parts of the shirt and jacket were in place it was easy to see what I still needed.

FINAL DETAILS

First I wanted buttons for the shirt so I took the remaining scraps of Merry Merlot Card and cut a piece that would fit the buttons die from the Shirt & Tie Dies. Then I pressed the card onto the surface of the VersaMark ink pad. I sprinkled the surface of the card with Clear Stampin’ Emboss Powder and tapped off the excess. Then I melted the rest using my Heat Tool Set on 2. Finally, before the embossing was completely cool I die cut it using the buttons die. Now I had some lovely shiny buttons and glued three of them in a line down the centre of the shirt.

Next I needed the two rectangular stitched dies from the set plus the remaining scraps of Merry Merlot Card. First I used the larger rectangle die to cut a strip about 1″ long then I glued this below the bottom of the jacket collar. Then using Stampin’ Dimensionals I attached the “Congratulations” sentiment to cover the top of the strip and the bottom of the collar.

I had one last piece to die cut from Merry Merlot Card and that was the tiny stitched rectangle. I wanted this to look like a pocket but I still needed a handkerchief. So to make it I took what was left of the scrap Merry Merlot Card and gently pulled it between my thumb and a Bone Folder. I repeated this process a number of times turning the card over each time to break the fibres. Eventually I could see the card separate into layers and I was able to carefully pull them apart to reveal a soft textured surface. With that done I cut two small triangles from the layers and glued them behind the small die-cut rectangle.

Finally with a little more liquid glue I fixed the rectangle to the jacket front and my fancy tuxedo card was complete.

There were a lot of steps to creating my tuxedo card but I definitely think it was worth the effort. What do you think?

MORE SUIT & TIE DIES

For more projects using the Suit & Tie Dies see these previous blog posts:

• Having fun designing a casual suit bag
• Braces (suspenders) and a tie, but no suit
• Playing with a shirt and tie theme
• Layering Ovals to the rescue

PRODUCT LIST

EMBOSSING POWDER UPDATE – Stampin’ Up! has retired its individual embossing powder item numbers and replaced them with two embossing powder collections. One collection is called Metallics and contains one 1/2oz (14g) pots each of gold, silver and copper. The second collection is called Basics and contains one 1/2oz (14g) pots each of black, clear and white.

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Handsomely Suited Stamp Set and coordinating Suit & Tie Dies in a bundle using a single item number. This meant I saved 10% off the cost of buying the two items separately. I also bought the Sweet Strawberry Stamp Set in a bundle with the coordinating Strawberry Builder Punch (not used today). I’ve included links to both bundles in case you want to explore either of these options.