Happy Birthday - Masculine Card for a Mate

Several days ago I made a card for Peter M, my husband's good mate and ex- coworker since decades ago, whose birthday is coming soon.   Peter (my husband)  told me that Peter M's having his birthday away with his siblings coming from NZ and Brisbane, so I guess I'll have to give the card to him after he comes back.

Peter and Peter are always goofy when they get together.  Although they haven't seen each other for many years with Peter being an expat all over the world, they still bound and remain good mates.
I've never seen my husband so chatty with another person other than me, so you can just imagine what sort of person Peter M is.  Besides being pleasant'y chatty too, he's always a joy to talk to, and is absolutely lovable.   When my Peter was looking for a new job after we moved back to Oz last year, Peter M had always tried to call and catch up with him at least once a week.  I could see that he tried to cheer my Peter up since job-seeking at this time of the economy was not entirely like a summer breeze.   He found a new job later in April so the stress was taken out a great deal.  Not a perfect job, but not bad either.

Now, there's something I haven't mentioned.  Peter M lost his partner early this year, and the terrible sickness had taken her away and along with his cheerful spirit too.  He couldn't eat or sleep well, he looked terrible at that time,  and had since lost a lot of weight.  We love Peter dearly, and therefore always invited him over for coffee or dinner quite often.  And I guess from January to April was the special time when both Peters needed a great deal of morale support from each other, and they gave each other that.  They talked about anything and everything, from the goals in life to that drilling tool on special at Aldi's.  They would go bike riding with other mates for a whole day and then had dinner altogether.   I'm happy to say that Peter M has at least cheered up quite a bit from then, and although not fully recovered from the loss, he has at least put himself together.

Peter M and I would go out too.  We have been to IKEA and Costco, and chatted along and laughed a lot.  We talked about life, work, and the future too.  To me he's a dear friend as well, and he demonstrates what friendship is all about.  He supports my husband spiritually whilst he himself needs it at the most difficult time of his life.  You can't ask more than that from a friend.

And here's Happy Birthday, Peter!

I use Hello Honey cardstock for the base, and Moonlight Designer Series Paper Pack.  I got the paper pack from clearance a couple of months ago and it's a steal.  Got lots of simple geomatric patterns, perfect for masculine styled cards.

The stamp set is from Sale-bration early this year.

PS: For men's birthday I never think it's a good idea to put bows or ribbons on.  It's just too feminine.  Unless he specifically likes those things.  To me a men's greeting card should always be simple and cool.  They don't want flowers or butterflies so don't put them on just because we like them.

I use the following Stampin' Up materials for this card: