Two-at-a-time birthday cards

Whew! The start of the school year and going back to work has really thrown me off my game. I haven't gotten back into a good routine yet; I need to figure out how to fit in crafting/relaxing/fun time with work, sleep, and all the boring regular stuff like cleaning and laundry. So I don't think I'll be posting as much as I did in August, but I'll try to get back on track with sharing something at least once a week. Today I've got a few festive birthday cards for you.

During August I was working on a collection of birthday cards to gift to a friend. So when I made a card for her, I tried to make another one for my own stash. For these two-at-a-time cards I used the Pretty Party Decor stamp set (Trinity Stamps) with the Paradise Found collection of inks (Catherine Pooler). I wanted to use a gender-neutral color pallet, and I think these colors fit the bill. 

Each lantern image has two stamps: the full shape of the lantern and then the details. I stamped the full image onto scratch paper first and then onto my card layer to make it lighter; the detail image is stamped in the same color but "full strength." I used a ruler and fine-tip pen to add the strings for the lanterns, and I also added a little sparkle by coloring the lighter parts of the lanterns with a Stardust Gelly Roll pen. It doesn't show up well, but you can see a hint of it in this photo:

I layered the panels on black card bases and finished them off with yellow enamel dots.

For these cards I used the Make a Wish stamp and die combo (Taylored Expressions). I had this layout in my head (not that it's a unique layout or anything), and while the cards turned out fine, I don't totally love them. For the first card (on the left), I adhered the die-cut candle and flame images directly to the card base. I used a small blender brush to add a touch of yellow ink behind each flame to create a glow. For the second card, I attached all the candles and flames to the card base with foam tape. I like that better, but it still wasn't exactly what I was looking for. I think maybe I should have stamped the candles and flames on colored card stock so there wasn't so much white. Or I could have lightly blended over the die-cut image with the same color ink. Oh, well. Two things to try next time. At any rate, I stamped "Happy Birthday!" along the bottom of the cards and finished them with clear sequins or blue rhinestones.

Thanks for stopping by!