Party lanterns

Earlier this year I was on the look out for a stamp set that included images of Chinese lanterns. I  had found a few possibilities doing online searches, but nothing that was exactly what I wanted. So when I saw the Party Lanterns dies by Elizabeth Crafts at the Stamp and Scrapbook Expo earlier this summer, it didn't take much time for me to decide to buy them. Here is the first card I created with them:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Inside & Out: Birthday II (Papertrey Ink)
Paper: Basick Black, Crumb Cake, Whisper White card stock; gold foil sheets
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black; Distress Oxide Inks - Fossilized Amber, Worn Lipstick, Spiced Marmalade (Ranger)
Accessories: Party Lanterns dies (Elizabeth Craft Designs), Confetti embossing folder (Taylored Expressions), crochet thread (DMC), gold sequins (Craft Medley), Dimensionals, Glue Dots

Each lantern has two dies: one solid piece that is the whole shape of the lantern (except the hanger) and one that layers on top with the slit details. (There is a separate die that cuts out all five hangers at once.)

For this card, I die cut the base shape for each lantern twice: once out of gold foil and once out of black card stock. For the detailed dies, I used a piece of white card stock colored with Distress Oxide inks. (It was one of the many backgrounds I made at my craft weekend last fall.)

I wanted the lanterns to look like they were glowing, so I glued the decorative, pinkish lanterns on to the coordinating gold foil die cuts and trimmed off the "extra" gold paper at the top and bottom of each lantern. Then I glued those layered pieces onto the black die cuts and added a gold foil hanger to each lantern.

To make the background, I embossed a piece of Crumb Cake card stock with a confetti-style embossing folder. I strung the lanterns on two pieces of white crochet thread and attached the ends of the threads to the back of the Crumb Cake card stock. I positioned the lanterns where I wanted them on the card front and secured them with Dimensionals.

I attached the panel to a Basic Black card base and added a white banner stamped with a birthday sentiment and several gold sequins. I wish I had better photos of this card; it's much prettier and more sparkly in real life. (I've been struggling with my photos lately. I need to figure out a setup that works better for me.)

Thanks for stopping by!