Birthday Blast -- Celebrate You!

04/05/2017

Hello! Thanks so much for stopping by!

Now that Sale-A-Bration is over, I'm taking a deep breath and getting things cleaned up to get ready for Stampin' Up!'s On Stage event this weekend in Savannah (the US location closest to me). I'm excited to see the 2017-2018 Stampin' Up! Catalog which will be unveiled at this event and beginning my Wish List for all the great new products that will be released when the new catalog goes live on June 1st.

Before all that, however, I want to send a HUGE Thank You! to all my customers for their support of my Stampin' Up! business during Sale-A-Bration. Because of all of you, I was able to reach--and exceed--my January - March sales goal. Woohoo! Thank You, Thank You, THANK YOU!!

Today's post features a card I made in January for a 3-2-1 Stamp Team card swap. I wish that I had found it in the stack on my desk sooner as it contains a Sale-A-Bration item: the gold ribbon from the the 3/8" Metallic Ribbon Combo Pack. This ribbon is so much prettier than the photo showed and I love that it was so soft and flexible. I wish I had ordered more of the ribbon before it sold out...

This card begins with a card base of Basic Black. The card front was swiped with the Embossing Buddy, then the star medallion image, from the Birthday Blast stamp set, was stamped on the card front using Versamark ink. Note that the top of the image is approximately 1/4" from the top edge of the card base (fold) and centered across the card front. The stamped image was covered with White Stampin' Emboss powder, the excess tapped back into the container, and the image heat embossed using the Heat Tool.

The shooting star edgelit from the Star Blast Edgelits was positioned across a piece of Gold Foil Sheets, with the bottom edge of the edgelit approximately 1-1/2" above the bottom edge of the Gold Foil Sheets, and die cut with the Big Shot using the Precision Base Plate. [Tip: Use a Post-It Note to keep the edgelit from moving after it is placed on the Gold Foil Sheets on top of the Precision Base Plate.] Be sure to keep the five die cut stars from the shooting stars. Set the excess of the Gold Foil Sheets aside for the liner.

Place the die cut over the card front and position it over the embossed image so that the center die cut shooting star frames the center star of the embossed image and the bottom solid area of the Gold Foil Sheets is straight across the card front. [Tip: Repositionable adhesive is a good idea for this step.] Open the card and trim the excess "solid" area flush with the card front using Paper Snips. Wrap a length of gold 3/8" ribbon from the Sale-A-Bration Metallic Ribbon Combo Pack around the top of the "solid" area and knot on the front immediately to the left of the smallest shooting star on the left.

Place Mini Glue Dots behind the "support" for the center shooting star and Fast Fuse adhesive on the wide solid area below the shooting stars to adhere the Gold Foil Sheets to the card front. Using Staz-On Jet Black ink, stamp "Celebrate YOU!" centered in the "solid" area of the Gold Foil Sheets under the shooting stars.

Using Mini Glue Dots, adhere a medium gold star to the left of the white embossed image and a small gold star to the upper right of the white embossed image.

The inside sentiment area of the card was lined with a piece of Whisper White cardstock. The "Big Yay" sentiment, from the Sending Thoughts stamp set, was stamped near the upper center of the liner using Staz-On Jet Black ink. [Tip: This image has additional words below the "Big Yay". To ink the image without inking the additional words, cover the additional words with clear tape, ink the stamp, remove the tape, and then stamp the image.]

Place the swirl thinlit from the Star Blast Edgelits on one part of the excess Gold Foil Sheets used for the card front and die cut using the Big Shot and the Precision Base Plate. Using teeny tiny dots of Multipurpose Liquid Glue or the Fine Tip Glue Pen, adhere the swirl centered over the top of the stamped sentiment. Die cut a second swirl image from the excess Gold Foil Sheets and adhere centered below the stamped sentiment. Using Mini Glue Dots, adhere the large die cut gold star to the left of sentiment, a medium gold star near the upper right corner of the liner, and a small gold star to the left and slightly below the sentiment.

The "Celebrate YOU!" greeting was stamped at the center of the flap of the Medium Whisper White Envelope using Staz-On Jet Black ink. The small star image was stamped to the left of the greeting, once slightly above and then slightly below the greeting; and the medium star image was stamped to the upper right of the greeting. The stars were stamped using Staz-On Jet Black ink.

By keeping this card "generic" in nature, I can use it for a Birthday card, a Congratulations card, or a Graduation card AND it's not gender-specific because of the color palette used. A very good thing when you need something at the last minute.

Card Measurements --

Basic Black: 5-1/2" x 8-1/2" scored at 4-1/4" along the 8-1/2" length; Whisper White: 4" x 5-1/4"; Gold Foil Sheets: 4" x 6"; Metallic Ribbon Combo Pack (Gold): 15"

Supplies I used to make this card --

Stamps: Birthday Blast, Sending Thoughts; Inks: Staz-On Jet Black, Versamark; Cardstock: Basic Black, Whisper White, Gold Foil Sheets; Embellishments: Sale-A-Bration Metallic Ribbon Combo Pack (retired); Adhesives: Fast Fuse, Mini Glue Dots, Multipurpose Liquid or Fine Tip Glue Pen; Tools: Stampin' Trimmer, Simply Scored Scoring Tool, Bone Folder, Paper Snips, Embossing Buddy, White Stampin' Emboss Powder, Heat Tool, Big Shot w/Precision Base Plate, Star Blast Edgelits; Other: Medium Whisper White Envelope