Happy Birthday | AALL & Create/Simon Says Stamp/My Favorite Things

Hi crafty friends!  Today I am sharing a colorful birthday card featuring products from AALL & Create, My Favorite Things, Hero Arts, and Simon Says Stamp.  The My Favorite Things die is an older one, but a much loved one.

The supplies used:

     AALL & Create – Clown Around Stamp

     Simon Says Stamp – Scripty Birthday Background Stamp

     My Favorite Things – Happy Birthday Circle Frame

     Hero Arts Baloon Bunch Die Set

     Spellbinders – Precision Layering A2 A Die Set

     X-Press It Blending Cardstock

     Spellbinders – Breeze Cardstock

     Heavyweight White Cardstock (any brand)

     Copic Alcohol Markers – RV17, RV06, RV13, YR07, YR04, YR01, Y38,

          Y18, Y13, G12, G05, G16, B16, B14, B02, E11, E01, E000, C02, C00

          R29, R24, R20, 100 (Black)

     Simon Says Stamp – Ink Pads – Carnation, Peachy, Lemonade, Spring, Marine

     Lawn Fawn – Jet Black Ink Pad

     Winsor & Newton White Designers Gouache

     Ranger Ink – Glossy Accents

Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     Scor-Tape Double Sided Adhesive

     My Sweet Petunia - MISTI Stamping Tool

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

I die cut a piece of Spellbinders Breeze cardstock using the second largest die in the Spellbinders Precision Layering A2 A die set which cuts the panel to be approximately 4” x 5-1/4.  I placed the blue cardstock panel into my MISTI stamping tool and using the Simon Says Stamp Scripty Birthday Background stamp, I stamped the background using Simon Says Stamp’s inks in the colors Carnation, Peachy, Lemonade, Spring, and Marine in a gradient down the surface of the panel.  Using an ink blending tool, I lightly blended the Marine ink around the outer edges of the inked panel for interest.  I mixed a couple drops of water with Winsor and Newton White Designers Gouache and applied spatter across the panel using a small paint brush.

Creating the Focal Point

Using the My Favorite Things Happy Birthday Circle Frame die, I die cut it four times from white cardstock (saving the negative circle portion from one of the die cuts).  I used Bearly Art Precision Glue to glue three of the die cuts together and placed them under an acrylic block until the glue dried.  For the fourth layer, I used Copic alcohol marker 100 (black) to carefully color only the words from the die cut then glued it to the rest of the stack and set aside to dry.  I lightly blended Simon Says Stamp Marine ink onto the one negative circle I saved from the die cutting – this will serve as a background for the clown image that gets created in the next step.

I stamped one of the clown images from the ALL & Create Clown Around stamp set onto a scrap piece of X-Press It Blending Cardstock using Lawn Fawn Jet Black Ink.  After the ink dried, I began coloring it using Copic alcohol markers in the following colors:

     Hair:  YR07, YR04, YR01

     Flesh:  E11, E01, E000

     Eyes:  G16, G05 (white gel pen accents), C02, C00

     Nose:  R29, R24, R20

     Shoes:  RV17, RV06, RV13, YR07, YR04, YR01

     Hat:  B16, B14, B02, RV17, RV06, RV13

     Trousers:  B16, B14, B02 (gold gel pen buttons)

     Shirt:  G16, G05, G12, Y38, Y18, Y13

Once the Copic coloring was completed, I fussy cut the clown image with a pair of fine tip scissors and used Copic's 100 (black) marker to go around the edges of the die cut to hide any white paper from showing.

My last touch for the focal point was to pull a scrap of red and silver from my scrap bin to die cut the single balloon and string from the Hero Arts Balloon Bunch die set.

Assembling the Card Front

I started by utilizing Scor-Tape to adhere the background panel to the white A2 card base.  I glued the balloon where I thought it looked best and added liquid glue to the back side of the happy birthday, stacked die cut and placed it onto the center of the lower portion of the card front followed by gluing the ink blended circle into the center of the stacked die cuts.  I glued a few scraps of white cardstock behind the center portion of the clown to bring him level to the sentiment circle die cuts and glued the clown to the center of the sentiment circle.  Lastly, I applied a thin layer of Glossy Accents to the balloon to give it shine.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out today’s blog post, I really appreciate it.  Until next time, happy crafting!

Beautiful Birthday | Pinkfresh Studio

Hi crafty friends!  Today I am sharing a card featuring some fabulous products from Pinkfresh Studio – both recently released and a tad older.  My beautiful niece gifted me with a pad of Strathmore Toned Tan Paper during Christmas and that paper was the inspiration for what ended up being a delightful tone-on-tone birthday card.

The supplies used:

Pinkfresh Studio – Amazing Things Stamps/Stencils/Dies

     Pinkfresh Studio –Bloomscape Stamp/Stencils

     Pinkfresh Studio – On My Mind Stamp Stamps/Dies

     Spellbinders – Precision Layering A2 A Die Set

     Pinkfresh Studio – Nested Elongated Ovals Dies

     Kraft Cardstock

     Tonic – Craft Perfect Pearled Gold Vellum Paper

     Strathmore Toned Tan Sketch Paper

Spellbinders - Cinnamon Color Wheel Cardstock

     Anna Griffin – Champagne Matte Foil Cardstock

     Simon Says Stamp – Earl Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Charcoal Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Nutmeg Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Paprika Ink Pad

     Simon Says Stamp – Allspice Ink Pad

     Altenew Mini Blending Brushes

     Ranger – Anti-Static Pouch

     Ranger/Tim Holtz – Distress Embossing Ink

     Ranger – Princess Gold Embossing Powder

     Scor-Tape Double Sided Adhesive

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     WOW! Dual Speed Heat Tool

     My Sweet Petunia - MISTI Stamping Tool

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

I cut a piece of Strathmore Toned Tan paper to measure 4.5” x 5.75” and used Simon Says Stamp Earl ink to stamp Pinkfresh Studio’s Bloomscape cling floral stamp onto the Toned Tan paper with the assistance of my MISTI stamping tool.  I chose to create a tone-on-tone floral background colorway, so I started my ink blending utilizing the coordinating Pinkfresh Studio Bloomscape stencils and some ink pads from Simon Says Stamp in the colors:  Earl, Charcoal, Nutmeg, Paprika, and Allspice.  Using Altenew’s Mini Blending Brushes, I added greys to the leaf-related stencil areas and the brown-tones were blended into the floral aspects of the stencils except for the flower centers and I added Lisa Horton’s Night Sky Cloud 9 ink to those.  Once the gold pigment ink dried, I used the Spellbinders Precision Layering A2 A dies to die cut the inky, floral background panel using the second to largest die in the set and die cut Anna Griffin Champagne Matte Foil Cardstock using the largest die in the set.  I adhered the floral background panel to the center of the champagne metallic cardstock using strips of Scor-Tape.

Creating the Focal Point

Using the Pinkfresh Studio Amazing Things stamp set, I placed the large floral stamp and a piece of the Strathmore Toned Tan paper into my MISTI tool, prepped the paper with Ranger’s Anti-Static Pouch to help alleviate stray pieces of embossing powder sticking where I didn’t want them to, and stamped the image onto the Toned Tan paper using Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz’s Distress Embossing Ink.  Once stamped, I applied a coating of Ranger Princess Gold embossing powder to the inked image, tapped off the excess, and melted the embossing powder using my WOW! Dual Speed Heat Tool. 

For ink blending the image, I used the Pinkfresh Studio Amazing Things stencil set.  For the leaves (stencils 1 and 2), I chose Simon Says Stamp’s Earl and Charcoal inks to add color and shading.  There are three stencils for the flowers, so I used Simon Says Stamp’s Nutmeg, Paprika, and Allspice inks for the floral aspects of the image.  I ink blended the Nutmeg on stencil 3, Paprika on stencil 4, and Allspice on stencil 5. 

Once the image was completely colored, I used the Pinkfresh Studio Amazing Things die to die cut the flower image and die cut plain, kraft cardstock three additional times to add dimension to the focal image.  After die cutting, I used Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue to adhere the inked image and two of the plain, kraft cardstock layers together.  Using the Pinkfresh Studio Nested Elongated Ovals die set, I die cut a piece of Tonic Craft Perfect Pearled Gold vellum using the largest die in the set.  I glued the floral stacked layers to the center of the vellum oval and glued the final/third plain, kraft cardstock image that matches the floral image to the back side of the vellum.  This will add some lift and separation for the floral image from the floral background.

Creating the Sentiment

For the sentiment, I used the Pinkfresh Studio On My Mind clear stamp and die set and chose the “Wishing You a Beautiful Birthday” greeting.  I placed the sentiment stamp and a piece of Spellbinders Cinnamon cardstock into the MISTI tool, prepped the cardstock with Ranger’s Anti-Static Pouch and stamped the image onto the cardstock using Ranger Ink/Tim Holtz’s Distress Embossing Ink.  Once stamped, I applied a coating of Ranger Princess Gold embossing powder to the inked sentiment, tapped off the excess, and melted the embossing powder using my WOW! Dual Speed Heat Tool.

Assembling the Card Front

To add the focal point the card front, I added liquid glue to the back side of the bottom layer of kraft cardstock that was previously glued to the vellum layer of the focal point and carefully positioned in onto the center of the card.  Once the glue dried, I added a few pieces of scrap cardstock the two outer edges of the sentiment to give them stability and glued the sentiment to the bottom center of the card front.  Lastly, I adhered the completed card front to a side-folding, A2 size, kraft cardstock card base.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out today’s blog post, I really appreciate it.  Until next time, happy crafting!

2025 Holiday Card Series #11 | JOY

Hi crafty friends!  For today’s card, I decided to watercolor a background panel and literally add some joy for a focal point!  Let’s get busy…

The supplies used:

Penny Black – Immense Joy Die

     Spellbinders – Simon’s Snow Globe Die Set

     Spellbinders – Precision Layering A2 A Die Set

     Ampersand Hardbord Panel – 9” x 12”

     Paul Rubens Hot Pressed Watercolor Cardstock

     Cardstock Warehouse – Stardream Silver Cardstock

     Simon Says Stamp – Snow White Pawsitively Velvet Cardstock

Gina K. Designs - Onyx Black Cardstock

     Vellum Cardstock

     Matte Silver Cardstock

     Aquarello Artistico Extra White Watercolor Paper

     Altenew – Moonstone Glitter Cardstock

     Copic Alcohol Marker – Y11

     Duck Brand Clean Release Painter’s Tape

     Schmincke Watercolor Paints – Tundra Blue, Deep Sea Blue, Tundra Violet

     Iuile Watercolors – Silver

     Winsor & Newton White Designers Gouache

     Ranger / Tim Holtz – Distress Rock Candy Glitter

     Pink & Main – White Iridescent Sequins

     Scrapbook Adhesives Thin 3D Foam Squares

     Scor-Tape Double Sided Adhesive

     Altenew – Instant Dimension Foam Tape, ¼” x 1/16”

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     WOW! Dual Speed Heat Tool

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

To begin today’s card, I trimmed a piece of watercolor cardstock to measure 5-1/2” x 7-1/2”. Next, I used painter’s tape to adhere the watercolor cardstock to a hardboard.  Using a ¾” oval paint brush, I applied a heavy wash of water to the watercolor paper and while it was still wet began painting a layer of the Tundra Blue watercolor paint.  After rinsing my brush in clean water, I immediately began adding small “puddles” of the Deep Sea Blue and Tundra Violet watercolor paint in random dots across the watercolor cardstock.  Using a spray bottle, I misted a generous amount of water across the entire panel then picked it up and tilted it to one side to get the watercolors moving and began drying it with my WOW! Heat tool until completely dry.  Once dry, I used a #2 round brush and silver Iuile watercolor paint and began adding spatter to the watercolored panel.  I applied heat to the panel to dry the silver spatter and repeated the spattering process with Winsor & Newton white gouache.  After the panel was completely dry, I used the second to largest die from Spellbinders Precision Layering A2 A die set to die cut the watercolor panel and the largest die to die cut a piece of Gina K. Designs Onyx Black cardstock.

Creating the Focal Images

Using the Penny Black Immense Joy die, I die cut four JOY words from Cardstock Warehouse Stardream Silver cardstock.  I used Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue to adhere all four of the JOY words together and placed a large acrylic block on top and set them aside to allow the stacked words to dry. 

I wanted to place a small snow globe scene in the center of the “O” in JOY, so I selected the Spellbinders Simon’s Snow Globe die set and die cut the back row of houses and group of three trees dies from Simon Says Stamp Snow White Pawsitively Velvet cardstock, the little light posts die from a scrap of matte silver metallic cardstock, the front snow bank from Altenew’s Moonstone Glitter Cardstock, the back drop circle die from vellum cardstock, the large house’s roof die was die cut from the Cardstock Warehouse Stardream cardstock (same cardstock as the word JOY), and lastly the large house was die cut from Aquarello Artistico Extra White Watercolor Paper.  I used Copic alcohol marker Y11 to carefully add a yellow tint to the windows of the large house die and added glue to random places on the trees followed by a nice layer of Distress Rock Candy glitter to make them sparkle.

Once the die cutting was completed, I began using liquid glue to adhere all the layers together for the snow globe scene then placed the scene behind the “O” and used a pencil to trace around the “O” and fussy cut around the trace line and glued the scene to the back side of the “O”.  I did add a few small pieces of Scrapbook Adhesives thin foam squares behind the trees and the large house so they were more level in the scene. 

Finishing the Design

To complete the card, I added Scor-Tape to the back side of the watercolor panel and adhered it to the black cardstock panel.  Next, I glued the background panels to the front of an A2 size, top folding card base.  For the focal image, I added Altenew Instant Dimension Foam Tape to the back side of the “J” and “Y”, then added thin 3D foam squares behind the snow village and “O”.  Lastly, I glued a few Pink & Main White Iridescent sequins to the card front for that extra something special.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out today’s blog post, I really appreciate it. Until next time, happy crafting!