Birthdays and Birdies

I had a chance to play with some Unity stamps and some new papers over the weekend. This first one’s for this week’s Hip Hop Sketch Challenge. I made a feminine birthday card using images from the It’s Your Day kit. This is one of my favorite birthday sets. I love that cake image!

I colored the cake in shades of pink with Copic markers. The flames are highlighted with some Yellow Stickles. The cardfront is covered with two panels of paper from KaiserCraft’s Hey Birdie line. The 6x6 stacks are perfect for cardmaking and include lots of texture and fun detail, like glossy, foil and flocked sheets. They also have some die cut pieces that can be used as accents.

I used a piece of two-toned pink ribbon to hide the seam between the two papers. The "big wishes" sentiment is stamped on the bottom panel. I wish I'd stamped the more delicate-looking "celebrate" image instead, but too late . . . A trio of pink crystals completes the card.

Materials Used:
from i {heart} papers: Unity Stamp Co. It’s Your Day kit, Memento Tuxedo Black ink, Couture Cardstock white Copic blending cardstock, Copic markers (RV000, RV00, R81, R83, R85, Y11, Y17), Ranger Yellow Stickles, KaiserCraft Hey Birdie paper pad, May Arts textured two-toned rose/pink ribbon, Spellbinders oval Nestabilities dies, Zva Creative pink crystals

other: Blushing Bride cardstock (Stampin’ Up!)

The second card is for this week’s Unity Addicts Challenge to make your own background paper with something other than stamps. I used a technique I hadn’t used in a long time and made a background with shaving cream and several shades of blue reinkers. I planned to use the new Togetherness Icons kit and thought that I could make a sky-like background panel. I think it sort of worked out.

After the shaving cream panel had dried, I added a strip of Sassafras Lass Indie Girl designer paper to the cardfront. This may be one of my new favorite paper lines—I love the patterns and colors. I used one of my Labels 9 dies to cut a decorative edge for the strip. I stamped two of the kit’s birds on scraps of teal cardstock in a deeper teal ink and cut them out, then added them to the patterned paper strip. The kit’s “togetherness” sentiment is stamped on a yellow strip and matted on a teal panel, then attached to the cardfront. I ran a strip of green twill across the top of the card, securing it above the end of the patterned paper strip to complete the card.

Materials Used:
from i {heart} papers: Unity Stamp Co. Togetherness Icons kit, Sassafras Lass Indie Girl Wee Bundle, Spellbinders Labels 9 die, Alexx Kesh green herringbone twill

other: Baja Breeze, Cool Caribbean, and Bermuda Bay reinkers, Bermuda Bay Classic ink, Barely Banana cardstock (Stampin’ Up!); Hawaiian Shores cardstock (Papertrey Ink)