Hey, chick!

When I get a stamp and die set with a lot of characters (usually animal characters, because those are the best), sometimes I will stamp, color, and die cut a whole bunch of pieces and then mix and match them onto cards. That's what I did for this group of cards made with the Hey, Chick and Hey Birthday Chick sets from Stampin' Up!

Supplies:
Stamps: Hey, Chick; Hey Birthday Chick (Stampin' Up!); Tiny Words Birthday (Simon Says Stamp)
Paper: Whisper White, Crumb Cake, Soft Sky, Old Olive, Garden Green, Early Espresso, So Saffron, Poppy Parade, Real Red, Blueberry Bushel card stock (Stampin' Up!)
Ink: Chocolate Truffle Amalgam ink (Gina K Designs); colored pencils - PC924, PC921, PC942, PC901, PC1069, PC1084, PC947 (Prismacolor); Early Espresso, Crumb Cake, Real Red (Stampiin' Up!); Sugar Cube (Taylored Expressions)
Accessories: Chick dies and Birthday Chick dies (Stampin' Up!), Frame in Frame 2 Cutting Plate (Taylored Expressions), Stitching Lines dies (Essentials by Ellen), Stitched So Sweetly dies (Stampin' Up!), Chicken Wire embossing folder (Taylored Expressions), Mini Clouds stencil (The Crafter's Workshop), blending brush (Picket Fence Studios), Gamsol (Gamblin), paper blending sticks (unknown), gold sequins (Craft Medley), Bubble Blower droplet (Trinity Stamps), red enamel dots (Eyelet Outlet), jute twine (May Arts Ribbon), Art Glitter Glue (Art Institute), foam tape (3M)

To be honest, making cards this way can be a challenge for me. Once I have all the pieces cut and colored, I tend to get stuck trying to come up with card designs. I prefer to have the card design/idea in my head and then stamp the pieces I need. But ultimately I was really pleased with my end results -- keep reading for more details and closer pictures of the cards. (Note: The supply list above includes the products for all of the different cards; I didn't do separate lists for each card since I used so many of the same supplies on multiple cards.)

Since I used colored pencils to color the images, they aren't quite as bold as they would have been if colored with markers, and they're a little washed out in the photos. But I fell like I have a little more control with pencils, especially when the images are smaller or more detailed.

For the card on the left, I embossed a Crumb Cake card base with a chicken wire embossing folder. Then I die cut a red scalloped rectangle and stamped it with some red confetti, which is hard to see in the picture. I attached the rectangle to the card base at an angle and glued the die-cut sentiment to the left side. (The sentiment is die cut twice and then stacked together for a little more "oomph.") I used foam tape to adhere two chickens and finished the card with a few gold sequins.

For the card on the right, I decided to create a little scene. I used a stencil and white pigment ink to add clouds to a light blue card base (again, almost impossible to see in the photo) then glued a piece of green card stock -- with a torn top edge -- along the bottom for grass. I added a die-cut fence, streamers, and sentiment and then adhered the three chickens with foam tape. I even gave one of the chickens a little bow tie to spiff him up for the "party." :)

Inside each of these cards I added a panel of white card stock stamped with the sentiment "you're still a spring chicken" and the image of the hatching chick.

I think this is my favorite of the three birthday cards. I started with a Crumb Cake card base and glued down a yellow streamer and a red streamer. Of course then I had the idea to stamp the confetti, so I had to work around the streamers. But I think it still looks okay. I used foam tape to attach four chickens to the card base and finished the card front with a few droplets.

This time I added the die-cut sentiment inside the card, and since those chickens are definitely ready to party, I also stamped "Let's get the party started." Perfect!

And here are a couple of non-birthday cards from the bunch. For the card on the left, I used a die to add two lines of faux stitching along the bottom of the card front -- and I love that it looks like chicken tracks! I used a scalloped frame around the middle chicken and attached that chicken with foam tape to help it stand out. I added a twine bow around the frame and played off the red in the chickens by adding two red enamel dots in the upper left corner.

For the card on the right, I made another little scene. This time I added a few stalks of corn and a tree stump on the "grass." I added two chickens, one on top of the other, on the stump, and I realized when I was done that it looks like they're trying to peek over the corn -- maybe to find a way to escape the farmyard. :) I finished this card with a little die-cut sign and hatching egg and twine wrapped around the top of the card.

Inside these cards, I stamped "You're a good egg!" which I think could be used for a variety of occasions, such as thanks, congrats, or encouragement/thinking of you.

Do you like to make cards by first stamping and coloring a bunch of pieces? Or do you prefer designing cards one at a time? Thanks for stopping by!