Botanical Sketch Birthday Card

Today I needed to create a birthday card for my sister-in-law's 65th birthday. I was in the mood for a little painting and I thought the Botanical Sketch from Tim Holtz would be wonderful for the front of her card.

I used my MISTI to stamp with Ranger Archival Ink onto watercolor paper. I heat set it and then proceeded to painstakingly paint it, using an Aqua Pen and several reinkers. It was truly a labor of love!

I stamped the sentiment from Butterfly Basics using the Archival ink. Because I wanted the colors to really pop, I chose to adhere it to a thin Basic Black matte using Fuse Fast Adhesive. I adhered the matted stamp to a Bermuda Bay card base using Dimensionals.

For the inside of the card I created a matte from the now retired Naturals White card stock. I used a fern stamp from Butterfly Basics to stamp with Old Olive around the edges of the matte. I stamped the sentiment using the Archival ink and then inked the edges of the matte in Old Olive and Mossy Meadow.

My only regret is that I somehow got a blob of ink where I shouldn't have but I think she will understand!
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Crazy Birds Birthday Card

I had to create a card for our neighbor's 65th birthday so it gave me a chance to break out my Crazy Birds stamps from Tim Holtz! As soon as I saw these birds on Pinterest, I knew I had to get them. They were just too cute!

Using my MISTI, I started by stamping the two birds on Watercolor Paper using Versafine Onyx Black, heat setting the ink.

Because I didn't want to accidentally color over the eyes of the birds, I used Rubber Cement and a small paint brush to brush it onto the eyes, making sure I had a thick coat. I then heat set it to be sure it was completely dry.

I used my sponge daubers with Distress Inks to color the birds. Intense colors seemed to suit these birds so I chose Mowed Lawn, Salty Ocean, Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade, and I also used a Ripe Persimmon Distress Marker.

After the birds were completely colored, I used an adhesive remover from Stampin' Up! to get rid of the Rubber Cement. I used a White Gel Pen to color in the eyes and also used a Project life pen to darken the black of the eyes.

I fussy cut each bird, cutting off the legs and little bits of black.

I planned the placement of the birds on my Whisper White matte and then stamped each bird again on the matte. This allowed me to glue my colored birds over the stamped ones and give them back their feet and little bits of black!

I stamped the sentiment from Just Sayin' using Cucumber Crush and then die cut it with the matching framelits. I adhered it between the birds using Dimensionals.

I distressed the edges of the matte and inked them with Island Indigo. This matte was adhered to a Tangelo Twist matte using Dimensionals and then that matte was adhered to the Island Indigo card base using Fuse Fast. A few scattered sequins and the card front was complete!

For the inside of the card, I used Naturals White card stock for a matte. I stamped the sun from Kinda Eclectic in Tangelo Twist and heat embossed it using the Iridescent Stampin Emboss Powder.

Using Versamark, I stamped 65 on Island Indigo card stock and punched it with the 2 1/2" Circle Punch. I heat embossed the numerals with the Iridescent Stampin Emboss Powder and then adhered the circle with Dimensionals to the centre of the sun.

I inked the edges of the matte with Tangelo Twist and adhered the matte inside the card.

I'm pleased with how the card turned out and our neighbor loved it!

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Tim Holtz Meets Birthday Girl

I have a mostly non-Stampin' Up! card for you today.

For Courtney's 21st birthday, I decided to play with my Tim Holtz supplies—distress inks, distress paint and stencils.

I started by using Picket Fence (white) distress paint on a Whisper White matte with first the Dot Fade and then the Crocodile layering stencils. These are the coolest stencils—lots of funky, imperfect patterns with which to work!

After applying the paint I dried it with my heat tool and then started sponging on some distress inks. I used a combination of Evergreen Bough, Spun Sugar, Shaded Lilac, Vintage Photo and Scattered Straw. I then used a combination of Rusty Hinge, Gathered Twigs and Black Soot around the edges.

Next I used Tuxedo Black Memento ink to stamp (with MISTI, of course!) using the It Is Written stamp set from BoBunny.

Using Versamark, I stamped the dragonfly from the Dragonflies stamp set by Local King Rubber Stamps. I then heat embossed it with Gold Embossing Powder.

I stamped a 2 and a 1 and punched them with my 1/2" punch and inked them with some Rusty Hinge. These I glued in the top right corner of the card.

I then used the @SoSocial stamp set to stamp the sentiment and then punched it with the Word Window Punch. I also punched out a Modern Label. I applied Rusty Hinge and Twisted Twigs to both labels to distress them. They were layered with Dimensionals and adhered to the bottom right of the matte.

I knotted some Mossy Meadow thick Baker's Twine around the bottom of the matte and then adhered the matte to a Mossy Meadow card base using Dimensionals.

I inked up a Naturals White card stock matte using Rusty Hinge and Twisted Twigs and then stamped the sentiment from the Smart & Sassy Sayings stamp set by Hot Off The Press using Soft Suede.

A small dragonfly was stamped in Versamark and heat embossed with Gold Embossing Powder. The matte was adhered inside the card using Fuse a Fast. Gold Stickles were added to accent the sentiment.

Finally, sequins were added to the front of the card for a little sparkle.

What do you think of this card? A bit of a departure from my usual but I enjoyed making it!