Carousel Birthday
It’s a NEW YEAR!! Welcome to 2017!
I have a feeling that this year is going to be AMAZING!
Maybe, it’s only because there were so many tough things happening in 2016 in the world around us that made me glad to see it go. Maybe, because my husband is on the home stretch to his Master’s Degree and we’re thinking about what we can do to celebrate his graduation. Maybe, it’s because I want so much for it to be amazing. I want hope and new adventures and healthy changes and personal growth!
And you know what? I think I have a certain amount of control over my year. There are plans to be made, goals to pursue, and new things to learn.
And there’s a new Occasions Catalogue and a whole new set of Sale-a-bration items to enjoy from Stampin’ Up! That’s a pretty good start to a new year, don’t you think?!
My card today is a total CASE! (Copy And Share Everything!) I saw a simple square note card designed by Kristine McNickle, a demonstrator in New Zealand (you can see it by clicking here). I instantly fell in love with the fact that it was layers of stamping with no Big Shot and no heat embossing. It was clean and simple. I loved it just the way it was! However, I needed a full card design, so I CASEd her square card with very minor changes and added it as a layer for my card front. You can call it a “stepped up” version of her beautiful note card.
If you looked at Kristin’s original card, you can see that I flipped her design and switched out the colour of the carousel image to Peek-a-boo Peach. Other than that, the square layer is pretty much identical to hers!
From there, I used a mat of Soft Sky under the square front, which I popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals over the next layer. Look closely, because there’s another mat of Whisper White with a piece of the Cupcakes and Carousels Designer Series Paper and the Basic Black Baker’s Twine wrapped around it and tied in a bow. That layer is (surpise!) on Stampin’ Up Dimensionals also (you know how much I love my Dimensionals!!). The card base is a simple Thick Whisper White piece of cardstock.
And that’s it! No embossing, no die cutting, just old fashioned and clean stamping.
A couple tips for this card: The Peek-a-boo Peach carousel and the little Bermuda Bay flourish were both stamped off on a scrap piece of paper before being stamped on the card front. My ink pads were pretty juicy, so this helped make the images a bit softer. Also, the sentiment was created by colouring only a section of the sentiment stamp with a Basic Black Stampin’ Write Marker (Kristin used Early Espresso ink for her card, but I wanted to pull in the black from the baker’s twine).
So, a special thank you to Kristin for the inspiration!
And here’s to a brand new YEAR!! WHOOHOO!!
With another sun rise
It’s a brand new day
So gonna make a little list
To keep the worries awayI gotta dance just a little bit
Move to be free
Keep my head up high
Don’t forget to be me(lyrics from “It’s a Beautiful Life” by Tim McMorris)
Supplies: Carousel Birthday stamp set, Thick Whisper White cardstock, Whisper White cardstock, Cupcakes and Carousels Designer Series Paper, Soft Sky cardstock, Peek-a-boo Peach Ink, Calypso Coral Ink, Bermuda Bay Ink, Tuxedo Black Momento Ink, Triple Banner Punch, Bermuda Bay Sequin Trim, staple, Basic Black Baker’s Twine, Stampin’ Up Dimensionals.
January 7, 2017 @ 10:00 pm
Cute card! I love that it is simple stamping. I sometimes get so caught up in trying to add “stuff” that it takes away from the stamped image. Very inspiring post! I hope this year is amazing for you and your family!!
January 9, 2017 @ 5:08 pm
Thank you, Stacey! 🙂