Special Request Birthday Card - Garden Hydrangea

 I was asked to make a birthday card with blue hydrangeas.  My mind immediately went to Altenew's Garden Hydrangea layering stamps and dies. 

This amazing stamp set includes four layering stamps for the blossoms and three layering stamps for the leaves.  I decided to pair it with the Altenew Icy Lake and Green Fields Crisp Dye Ink Collections.

I stamped the outline image of the hydrangea in Sapphire, the solid image in Iceberg, and the two detail images in Persian Blue and Ulramarine.  I used Evergreen for the leaf outline and stamped the solid image in Frayed Leaf and the detail image in Forest Glade.  Once my images were stamped, I used the coordinating Dies to die-cut them out, and I set these aside. 

Next, I took a panel of Neenah 80# White Card stock and trimmed it to 5.5” x 4.25”.  Using my ink-blending tool, I began to lay down some ink to the left side of the panel.  For this, I used Arctic.  Once I was satisfied with the color, I set this panel aside to dry,  Using another panel of the same size, I used one of the Dies from Stampin’ Up’s Quite Curvy Dies to die-cut the left side of the panel.  

After making sure that all of my card pieces were safely out of the way, I smooshed some Ultramarine ink onto a clear acrylic block and used a wet paint brush to pick up some ink.  I splattered this randomly over my die-cut card panel.  I learned the hard way to make sure my work surface is clear before splattering ink, as I realized that I don’t have as much control over where the ink ends up as I think I do.  

I had a strip of scrap white card stock on hand, so I trimmed it to the size that I wanted and I stamped the “It’s Your Day...’ sentiment from Stampin’ Up’s Happiest of Birthdays stamp set in Azurite.  I trimmed the ends into a banner and using the “direct to paper” technique, I added Azurite ink around the edges of the banner. 

I adhered my ink-blended panel to the card base, followed by my die-cut panel.  Once these were dry, I added the leaves and the blossoms. I popped the sentiment banner up on foam squares to give it some dimension. Lastly, I added a few clear sequins to give it a little bit of sparkle. 

Products Used;

• Recollections 110# White Card Stock
• Neenah 80# White Card Stock
• Altenew Garden Hydrangea Stamps and Dies
• Stampin’ Up Happiest of Birthdays Stamp Set
• Stampin’ Up Quite Curvy Dies
• Altenew Crisp Dye Inks:  Azurite, Ultramarine, Sapphire, Persian Blue, Iceberg, Arctic, Frayed Leaf, Forest Glade, Evergreen
• Tim Holtz Mini Ink Blending Tool
• Simon Says Stamp Clear Sequins

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Happy Stamping!