A little birthday gnome

Last month my cousin's daughter celebrated her second birthday. I wanted to make her a whimsical, fun, girly card, and here is the end result:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Under the Flower stamp and die combo (Taylored Expressions)
Paper: Whisper White, thick Whisper White, Basic Black, Pool Party, Old Olive card stock; Happy Day paper pad (My Mind's Eye)
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; alcohol markers: Skin Tone assortment, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight (Stampin' Up! Blendabilities); R81, R83, R85 (Copic); Strawberry Slush, Basic Black markers; white gel pen
Accessories: Grassy Border Lawn Cuts die (Lawn Fawn), Stitched Rectangles Thinlits dies (Tim Holtz Sizzix), Party Punch Pack, Cloudy Day embossing folder, Pool Party Shimmer Ribbon, Iridescent Sequin Assortment, Clear Wink of Stella glitter brush pen, Dimensionals

This card has a few more layers than I usually add to my cards. But I think it all works well and turned out pretty cute!

I wanted to make the little gnome and flower look like a little framed scene, so I started by stamping, coloring and die cutting those two pieces. I also die cut a strip of grassy border and layered all three pieces on a piece of Pool Party card stock embossed with a cloud pattern. To create a frame for the scene, I adhered the whole panel on a piece of Basic Black card stock die cut with a stitched rectangle die. (I love the detail created by the two different types of "stitching" on the die.)

For the background I used a larger stitched rectangle die to cut out a piece of patterned paper. I adhered that piece to a plain piece of Basic Black card stock that was just slightly larger to add a narrow border. I wrapped a piece of shimmery ribbon around the panel and then attached it to a white card base. I added the focal panel with Dimensionals and sprinkled on a few sparkly sequins.

With all that detail on the front of the card, I couldn't leave the inside plain white. I stamped the sentiment near the middle top of the card and colored in the letters on the word "birthday." I punched out three small balloons from the same patterned paper I used on the front of the card, glued them around the sentiment and used a marker to draw strings. A strip of grassy border along the bottom was the perfect finishing touch.

I wondered whether I should add anything to the front of the card to make it more "birthday-ish," like maybe the gnome holding a balloon. But in the end I decided to leave it as is. The beauty of the more general card front is that this card would be cute for any number of occasions -- just change or omit the sentiment inside the card

Thanks so much for stopping by today!