Stripes, circles and sparkles

With Christmas cards finally made, it's time to get back into more everyday cards. There are only a few birthdays in my extended family this month, but two of them are for kids (one girl and one boy), and I'm still short on kid cards in my stash. So that was my Saturday project.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^®):
Stamps: Happiest Birthday Wishes
Paper: Regal Rose card stock, Basic Gray card stock, Whisper White card stock, Patterns Pack II DSP
Ink: Basic Gray, Regal Rose
Accessories: Basic Gray satin ribbon, Basic Rhinestones, large and extra large Tag punches, Scallop Edge Border punch, 1" circle punch, Dimensionals

This card probably turned out a little "mature" for the two-year-old for whom it's intended. But one thing I have learned as a childcare teacher is that toddlers like sparkly things. (And really, who doesn't?)

I started this card with the piece of Regal Rose striped paper layered on the Basic Gray card. I added the scalloped edge, ribbon and tag (which is adhered with Dimensionals). The rhinestones on the ribbon and in each corner added a great touch of bling.

But when I looked at the finished card, it didn't seem quite right. The stripes were too dominant, and I wished I'd used a different pattern of DSP on either the top or bottom of the card. But it was already done, and I didn't really want to rip everything apart. So instead I looked for another DSP pattern in the same pack that would compliment the stripes. The polka dot pattern was perfect: it used the same two shades of Regal Rose, and it even pulled out the polka dots in the cake on the tag. I punched a few 1" circles from the polka dot paper and glued them on the bottom half of the card. (I cut a couple of the circles in half so I could glue them right up to the edge of the striped paper.) I think this was a great solution because the circles help break up the stripes, and they add some subtle visual interest to the bottom half of the card.

To make the tag, I stamped the image twice on Whisper White card stock, once in Basic Gray and once in Regal Rose. I used the large tag punch to punch out the Basic Gray image. From the tag stamped in Regal Rose, I cut out just the cake part of the image and glued it over the cake on the Basic Gray image. Then I layered the tag on a larger tag punched out of Regal Rose card stock.

All in all I'm pretty pleased with how this card turned out. I'll share the "boy" birthday card later this week. Thanks for stopping by!