TEXTURED BIRTHDAY

As you can see, this card is FULL of texture. It is absolutely TEXTUREFUL! Yes, that IS a word. At least, now it is. Because it describes this fun card so well.

This card went to my niece, Stacy, who -- by the looks of the card would probably be a child -- is an adult with two precious daughters of her own. But, she teaches young children, and since she is so full of fun herself, I thought the card would be perfect for her. I also thought Macy and Mallory might get a kick out of it as well.

The texture and dimension comes from several sources. 

The cute lion, from Zoo Babies on page 32, is stamped twice. The second time it is stamped, his head is punched out with the 7/8" Scallop Circle Punch (page 165) and popped up with a Stampin' Dimensional. The lion is mounted atop a Decorative Dots Embossing Folder-embossed circle in -- a color mostly neglected on my part -- Tempting Turquoise, cut with the Circles Collection Framelits (page 173).

Texture and interest continue in the ribbon-and-dot strip that is a continuation of the Happy Birthday salutation. The red grosgrain ribbon has delightful up-and-down stripes. And the layered dots added to the ribbon carry on a bit more texture.

The happiest and most textured aspect of the card, however, is in its background treatment. 

I don't know if you've ever tried this trick before or not. But, if you haven't, you MUST give it a try. Here's how to do it:

Take a cheery napkin and carefully separate the top ply of the napkin from the bottom undecorated plys (plies???) beneath. This is usually fairly easy if you start at one of the corners of the napkin. Crumple the decorated layer of the napkin a few times in your hands, slightly flattening it out each time. Once you have nice, interesting veins in the napkin, set it aside. DO NOT FLATTEN IT COMPLETELY. You WANT the ups and downs for texture. 

Cover completely a base piece of cardstock, cut to the size you want for your card, with Stampin' Glue Stick (page 156), from edge to edge. 

Gently place the napkin over the glued piece, and flatten in place with your fingertips, preserving as much of the texture as possible. 

Cut off the excess to about 1/2" from the edge of the base piece. Fold the edges of the napkin to the back and glue or tape them in place. Then when you mount it on your card, you will have a delightfully neat finished edge.

Have you ever tried this technique? It is a take on the faux silk technique in which you use tissue paper.

Textured

Smiles.