Priscilla's Papercrafts: #I'm Bringing Birthdays Back!

How many of you send ACTUAL birthday cards to relatives and friends? I notice more and more that I receive e-cards and text messages and Facebook notices when that special day rolls around. Not me! I send CARDS!

So when I saw a swap for the On Stage (Convention) for Stampin' UP! demonstrators in Phoenix, and knew I was planning to attend, I joined without hesitation. This swap was a challenge to make birthday cards! I'm in!

So here is my card:

And I had to make 14 of them! Now those of you who know me, know I hate making multiples of cards. Why, then, participate in a swap? Well, I wanted to get ideas for birthday cards. But first I had to create something to give away--and I take pride in my work. So...lots of work!

The base is Cucumber Crush and there's a layer of Basic Black. Then the fun begins.

I inked up my Writing Notes stamp with Tempting Turquoise ink and stamped it on Shimmery White card stock. Then I began stamping balloons, using images from Birthday Banners. Fortunately these are easy to punch out with the Balloon Bouquet Punch, and they are adhered with SNAIL or Dimensionals (and some have pieces of Black Bakers Twine attached).

"happy" was cut twice, Cucumber Crush and Basic Black, using the Hello You Thinlits dies, and glued together slightly offset, to create a shadow effect.

And the Birthday from Marquee Messages was stamped in Real Red ink. Sounds easy...but lots of steps to create 14 of them!

But I was happy with the end result, and heard lots of oohs and aahs as I went down the line swapping with other demos - totally worth the effort!

Go ahead--create a REAL birthday card for your friend or family; I guarantee they'll love it!