'I'll be there for you'

I don't know about you, but I am a big fan of TV. I love all kinds of shows -- paranormal/ghost hunting, forensics and crime, old reruns, cartoons, British dramas, etc. -- but some of my all-time favorites are sitcoms. One of those sitcoms is Friends.

Friends originally aired when I was in college, and I remember that on Thursday nights everyone used to gather in the campus lounges to watch "Must See TV" on NBC. (Remember the days before everyone had cell phones, tablets, and laptops where they could stream any show under the sun?) Since then I've seen every episode of Friends multiple times, but they still make me laugh, and my sister and I often quote Friends lines to each other. So when I found a Friends-themed stamp set, I had to get it. And it was the perfect set to use for a birthday card for one of my friends who is also a fan.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: The One with All the Stamps (The Ink Road), Stylized Birthday, Birthday Greetings (Studio Katia)
Paper: Basic Black, Crumb Cake, Whisper White card stock; gold foil sheets; Neutrals Designer Series Paper (DSP) Stack
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, Crumb Cake, VersaMark, light Crumb Cake Blends marker
Accessories: Gold embossing powder, gold sequins (Craft Medley), Corner Chomper (We R Memory Keepers), Dimensionals, foam tape (3M), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute Glitter)

Oh my goodness, this card just makes me smile. Especially that quote in the upper left about a "moo point." Joey had some of the best lines.

I will admit, though, that I struggled with the card layout at first. Since none of the stamps in the set are specifically birthday related, I decided to go with a "sampler" approach. I picked out a few key quotes and icons and arranged the stamps together on a large clear block so I could stamp them all at the same time. I stamped them on a piece of Crumb Cake card stock using black ink. I also stamped a few of the images again on Crumb Cake with VersaMark so I could emboss them in gold. I cut out those images and used Dimensionals to attach them over the original images.

For the rest of the card,  I wanted to keep a neutral palette, so I used a black card base and added a layer of black-and-white polka dot DSP to the bottom part of the card. The white dots on the DSP seemed too stark, so I colored them with my light Crumb Cake Blends marker. It was the perfect way to soften the white (and an easy method for customizing patterned paper for just about any project).

I added a strip of gold paper along the top of the DSP and then attached the focal layer to the card base with foam tape. A few gold sequins finish the front of the card.

Inside the card I focused on the birthday part of this birthday card. First I stamped a large script "Happy birthday" in Crumb Cake ink on a panel of white card stock. Then, to tie in the Friends theme, I stamped the sentiment "Wishing you a year of joy and friendship" just below that in black ink. I added a few more gold sequins just for good measure.

What do you think? Do you have a favorite TV show? I also bought a stamp set with quotes from The Big Bang Theory (which just happens to be on right now), and I'm looking forward to creating some fun cards with that set, too. Thanks for stopping by!