A very special birthday card

 Oh my goodness!  I don’t know about you, but I am glad this Monday is over.  I wanted to share with you this birthday card that I made for my bestie!  She is one of the most amazing women I know, and I am so blessed that I get to call her my friend and mentor.  I wanted something spectacular for her and I am so pleased with how her card turned out.

I started with a 4.25” x 5.5” panel of Spectrum Noir Ultra Smooth Premium White card stock, as I would be coloring my images using alcohol ink markers.  It is so important to use the right paper when using alcohol inks to prevent bleeding.  Trust me, I learned the hard way! 

I wanted to make a cluster of peonies in the upper corner of my card, so using the Altenew Beautiful Peony stamp set, I stamped my first flower in Altenew Permanent Black Ink.  Using the coordinating Beautiful Peony Mask stencils, I laid down the mask and stamped my second flower.  I love the mask stencils, as they allow you to “tuck images” behind one another without your images getting muddied. I did the same with my second flower and added my leaves.  Once my ink was dry, I colored my images using Stampin’ Up’s Stampin’ Blends.  I love alcohol ink markers, as they really allow you to achieve beautifully shaded images. For this card I used both the light and dark shades of Melon Mambo, Flirty Flamingo, Mango Melody, and Granny Apple Green. 

Once again, I masked my images and I smooshed some black ink onto an acrylic block.  I added a bit of water and picked up the ink on a paint brush and added ink splatters to my panel and set it aside to dry.  I cut a 4.25” x 5.5” panel of black card stock and adhered it to my card base.  I used some scrap black card stock to emboss my sentiments in silver, using the Opposites Attract stamps and coordinating dies from The Greetery.  I added a piece of Altenew Silver Glitter Tape to my black panel and trimmed down my stamped panel and adhered it to the card base, leaving just a thin strip of silver.  To complete my card, I tied a wispy bow from Altenew’s Metallic Thread in Silky Lilac and placed it on my card front and adhered my sentiments to the card.

Products Used:

• Recollections 110# White Card Stock
• Recollections 65# Black Card Stock
• Spectrum Noir Ultra Smooth Premium White Card Stock
• Altenew Beautiful Peony Stamp Set 
• Altenew Beautiful Peony Mask Stencils
• Altenew Crisp Dye Ink: Permanent Black
• Stampin’ Up Stampin’ Blends:  Melon Mambo, Flirty Flamingo, Mango Melody, Granny Apple Green
• Altenew Silver Glitter Tape
• Altenew Metallic Thread:  Silky Lilac
• Stampin’ Up Silver Embossing Powder

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Happy Stamping!