BIRTHDAY SQUIGGLES

The jury is still out on how I feel about this year's new In Colors: Berry Burst, Fresh Fig, Lemon Lime Twist, Powder Pink and Tranquil Tide. Meh. If I had to choose a favorite -- or two -- I guess I would pick Tranquil Tide and/or Fresh Fig. Not a fan at all of neon colors, to me, the Lemon Lime Twist falls into that category. The Berry Burst is, in my eyes, a combo of Rich Razzleberry and Melon Mambo. The Powder Pink -- well, it's just too much akin to Blushing Bride and Pink Pirouette, neither of which I use very often at all. So, I don't need another soft pink.

I had a Stamp-In workshop last Monday, and since I was in love with the new Happy Birthday stamp in the catalog (Stylized Birthday on page 80), I wanted to feature it in one of my workshop cards. I also wanted to play with some of the new In Colors.

 In tandem with the Swirly Scribbles Thinlits (page 216) and the four most jewel-like tones of the In Colors, I came up with a project that pleased my senses enormously.

To incorporate a little more of the richness than just the jewel tones of the papers, I embossed the sentiment in gold. 

Following is a tutorial of how to build one of these cards for yourself to give to some lucky birthday male or female:

SUPPLIES:

Stylized Birthday stamp (page 80)

Very Vanilla cardstock

Black cardstock

Berry Burst cardstock

Fresh Fig cardstock

Lemon Lime Twist cardstock

Tranquil Tide cardstock

VersaMark ink

Big Shot

Swirly Scribbles Thinlits

Embossing Buddy

Heat Tool

Gold Embossing Powder

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fold  a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of Very Vanillla cardstock in half, creasing well with a bone folder.

Rub a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Basic Black cardstock well with the Embossing Buddy. You don't want any stray dots of gold embossing lurking! Stamp "Happy Birthday" in the center of this piece in VersaMark ink. At the Heat Station, add Gold Embossing Powder to the stamping, tapping the excess powder back into its container. Use the Heat Tool to emboss the image.

Using the long Swirly Scribbles Thinlit, cut one of each of the four In Colors. Add the swirly shapes to the edges of the black piece so the sentiment in the center is completely visible. Do a little planning in putting the diecut pieces on. Use glue sparingly and be fairly confident about the placement. Excess glue on the black is hideous and very difficult to remove. Once you have your diecut pieces adhered to the black piece, adhere this entire piece to the card base.

At this point, use scissors to trim off any excess swirls that extend beyond the edges of the card. At certain points, you may have to add a bit of glue to hold it in place because your trimming may create some strange and straggly ends.

Squiggle-y

Smiles.