SHC - Happy Birthdays ....

.... Hello! It's time for my regular weekly post for Seven Hills Craft Blog. I have a couple of birthday cards to share today and they are quite different. I'll start with clean and elegant birthday card:

Stamps: MFT - Sassy Pants Birthday Greetings, Whimsical Greetings

Inks: Gina K - Soft Stone, Innocent Pink; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: MFT - Happy Birthday Block

Accessories: White Card; Gold Pattern Design Paper; Gina K Card - Innocent Pink; SU Card - Smoky Slate; Nuvo - Clear Aqua Shimmer Brush

I'm submitting this card to Less is More - LIM#440 where they have a colour challenge to use Pink, Grey and Gold. It's been a while since I joined in with their challenges, so I'm pleased to finally get there!

I started by cutting a piece of white card 5" square, placed the die in the centre and cut out the greeting 'Happy Birthday'. I layered the cut piece onto some gold patterned design paper that I found in my stash. I edged the whole piece with a pink marker pen and adhered it to the front of a 5¼" white square card. Next I used the die to cut out the letter from pink and grey card. I used the inlay die technique to replace some of the letter on the front of the card. I left some of the letter empty to show the gold paper. I added shimmer to the pink and grey letters with a clear aqua shimmer brush. I'm pleased to say that you can see the shimmer in the photo above - it is so pretty in real-life! On the inside, I cut a 5" square of the gold paper and adhered it inside the card. I cut a piece of white card 4½" square and stamped a fun greeting in the centre. I added some decoration around the edges in pink and grey ink. I adhered the panel inside the card. I do like the bold gold border.

Next, I have a shaped birthday card to share. I don't usually make shaped cards, but this was fun.

Stamps: MFT - Happy Birthday Background Stamp, Playful Peacock

Inks: Gina K - Soft Stone, Innocent Pink; Versafine Clair - Nocturne; Versafine - Onyx Black

Dies: MFT - Playful Peacock; We are Memory Keepers - Nesting Hexagons #13, #11, #10, #9

Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Bermuda Bay; Copic Markers; Clear Embossing Powder; Sakura Stardust Pens

I'm submitting this card to AAA Birthdays - AAAB#24 where they want to see a shaped card (not a square or rectangle), and to Time Out Challenges - TOC#185 where they have an inspiration photo. I took the colours from the photo as my inspiration.

I started by using a large hexagon die to cut a hexagon shaped card from a standard A2 card. I was careful to make sure that the top cutting edge was just off the card, so that the card could open. I then used the same die to cut a full size hexagon (marginally bigger than the shaped notecard) onto which I stamped the happy birthday text background in soft pink. I adhered the stamped piece to the notecard. On some scrap card I used my MISTI to stamp the front-facing peacock, removed it from the MISTI, coloured with Copic markers, returned it and stamped with Versafine black ink and then heat embossed with clear powder. I used the matching die to cut out the peacock. I used a couple of smaller hexagon dies to cut a mat layer in turquoise and a white layer. I positioned the peacock on the white card, stamped a pun greeting in black and then adhered the whole panel to the centre of the card. I used some Sakura stardust pens to add coloured glitter to the spots on the feathers. Inside the card, I cut a mat layer in turquoise and on the white card I stamped another of the peacocks, coloured it with Copic markers and adhered it to the mat layer. 

Both these cards are for my stash - I have a few birthdays coming up this month, so it's good to have some ready to go. That's all from me today. See you again soon.