Birthday Balloons

.... Good afternoon! It's been a lovely day here in Northop Hall. Bright, sunny, and cold! Jonathan has had a photoshoot at home, Mum's been to church and has been enjoying an afternoon movie, and I've been in my craft room working on more birthday cards and listening to music. Here's the card I made:

Stamps: Gina K - Birthday Sparkle, Big Birthday, So Many Sentiments

Inks: Gina K - Red Hot, Tangerine Twist, Wild Dandelion, Lucky Clover, Turquoise Sea, Blue Denim, Wild Lilac; Versafine Clair - Nocturne

Dies: MFT - Dienamics - Stitched Fishtail Flag Stax #4, Fishtail Flags Layers Stax1 #5

Accessories: White & Black Card; Gina K Stencil - Bold Balloons

I'm submitting this card to Just Us Girls - JUGS#724 where it's anything goes with a stencil, and to Seize the Birthday - STB#282 where the topping of 'off the edge'.

I love rainbow birthday cards - they are so bright and cheerful and work for everyone. I cut a piece of white card and masked an area to create a column of balloons. I started at the top with red and finished at the bottom with purple. I used a stitched edge die to cut the fishtail flag (it was a bit longer than I wanted so I moved the die down to make it shorter). I cut a fishtail in black card for the mat layer. I adhered this to the front of an A2 white note card. The tag is very slightly bigger than the card, so it's off the edge and meets the STB challenge requirement. I added some rainbow and black stars/sparkles directly to the white card and finished the front with a simple birthday greeting.

For the inside, I stamped a bold and fun birthday greeting in black, added some stars/sparkles and finished with a few balloons stencilled at the top going off the edge.

Before I go, I have to thank everyone who has stopped by to leave a comment. I appreciate the time you take and your lovely words. Thanks. And that's it for today.

Chocolate Birthday Cake

.... Hello again! I'm here to share another birthday card that I've made:

Stamps: Gina K - Birthday Bash, Big Birthday

Inks: Gina K - Sandy Beach, Dark Chocolate, Sea Glass, Applemint, Blue Denim, Wild Dandelion, Red Hot

Dies: Gina K - Birthday Bash

Accessories: White Card; SU Card - Early Espresso; Gina K Stencil - Fizzy; Copic Markers

I'm submitting this card to AAA Birthday - AAAB#45 where it's 'anything birthday goes', and to Inkspirational - INK#281 where the word prompt is 'new'. I've had these Gina K stamps and dies for a while, but this is the first time I've used them on a card!! I plan on shopping my stash this year, rather than buying new stuff. We'll see how that goes 😉

I used brown card from my stash to make an A2 note card. I placed the stencil on white card and used my blue, green and teal blending brushes to add colour - I didn't add any ink to the brushes, just used what was left!! A lot it seems. I trimmed the stencilled card to 4⅛" x 5⅜" and adhered it to the note card. The birthday cake is made from a solid stamp in the lighter colour, with the layers in darker ink. My cake is chocolate with coffee frosting!! I stamped a candle and flame, and used the co-ordinating dies to cut them all out. I adhered all the pieces flat to the card. I finished the front with a bold birthday greeting in dark blue ink. On the white panel inside the card, I stamped a large greeting and coloured the letters with Copic markers.

We woke up to a blanket of snow this morning - about 3" deep! That's a lot for around here. I've been out this morning and shovelled the snow off our drive - reminds me of being in Michigan. The sun is shining and should melt any snow off the cars and the last bits off the drive. Here are some photos of the snow - it always looks so pretty!!

This was our garden last night - I only realised that it had snowed when I went to bed. My neighbour had his garden lights on - so I got a good photo!

The photos above are two views of the garden just as the sun was rising. The sky was so pretty and the garden looks just lovely. It's a perfect day to stay in the house, keep warm and play in my craft room. That's it for today. See you soon.