Birthday Smiles Kraft vs. White Ice Cream Cone Birthday Cards

How was your weekend?  They always go by way too fast, don't they?  Today I'm wrapping up the Birthday Smiles stamp set with a fun little crafty experiment.  I wanted to play with the ice cream cone image for a card that would be super easy to mail and I couldn't decide if I preferred kraft or white cardstock for my background so I decided to try both!  :)

For the kraft card I stamped the ice cream images with Hero Arts Latte Chalk Ink and lightly shaded the image with E42 Copic Sketch marker.

For my card in white I stamped the cones in the background using Hero Arts Soft Sand shadow ink which I traced with an E41 Copic Sketch marker.  I then colored in the pink portion on the ice cream and hearts with a RV52 Copic marker which was blurred a bit with the colorless blender pen.

For both of the focal point ice cream cones I stamped them onto Neenah Solar White cardstock using Hero Arts Passion Flower ink (which is actually a pale pink despite what the case shows) and Bubblegum shadow inks for the ice cream and Hero Arts Soft Sand and Latte Ink for the cone.

To give my ice cream a bit of a shaded look, I used the solid ice cream image which I added a bit of bubblegum ink to the bottom and one side before stamping it again over the top of the first stamped image in Passion Flower.  I finished them off with a bit of glossy accents added to the hearts on top.

So which version is your favorite?  My personal favorite is the kraft, but my family prefers the white.  I would love to hear what you think.  ;)

Birthday Smiles: Smiley Face Balloon Birthday Card

Happy Friday!  I'm back today with another card using the Birthday Smiles Stamp set.

My background is mostly one layer which I created by stamping the balloons on masking material and moving the masks around as I stamped the balloons in back.  I like how this looks, but it would have been equally easy to stamp & color them on cardstock and layer them afterwards.

When I had my card nearly completed I realized my white background was a bit too stark so I lined up those masks again and came in with some light color using my Copic airbrush (the Tim Holtz Distress Marker Spritzer tool also works great).

I finished my card by popping up one smiley face balloon with foam tape and adding a matching sentiment on a piece of scratch cardstock which I inked up with Mustard Seed and Fossilized Amber distress ink.

You may have noticed there's a little tiny curved "sprinkle" in the Birthday Smiles stamp set.  That was added as an extra stamp to layer over the balloon tie to make the appearance the dangling string is tied on.  ;)

Thanks again for stopping by!  I hope you have a nice and relaxing weekend!  :)

Birthday Smiles Girly Birthday Card Ideas

Today I have a couple of girly birthday cards to share using some more of the Birthday Smiles stamp set.

My first card uses a snippet of everything offered from this set:  Cupcakes, Balloons and Banners, oh my!  I colored my stamped images with Copic Markers.  The background was lightly watercolored using Tumbled Glass Distress Reinker and the sentiment strip was inked up by sponging on Mustard Seed and Wild Honey Distress inks.

I will admit that once I had all of the images adhered to the card, it felt like I had space everything too far apart, leaving a huge gap in the center.  Crystal Reflections sequins from Simon Says Stamp came to my rescue and saved my card.  I love the colors in this mix!  They're so pretty!

My second card uses most of the remaining images in the set, focusing on the ice cream cone.  Once again I colored the images with Copic markers and then matched them to distress inks for the background strips.

This was a fairly quick and easy card to create and yet it's one of my favorites.  Because I knew I would be fussy cutting the simple ice cream images out, I didn't worry about coloring within the lines which made coloring and blending so fun and carefree.  I finished off my card with some straight machine stitching using coordinating colors of thread.

With some simple changes to the color scheme (and switching the sequins to paint splats or epoxy dots) I think these would also look great with a masculine spin.  I'd love to see your take on these stamps.  As your orders start to arrive, don't forget to share your creations on our new Flickr group.  ;)

Birthday Smiles & Fishtail Banners Birthday Scrapbook Layout

I'm super excited to officially share a scrapbook layout using the Birthday Smiles stamp set along with the new Fishtail Banners dies!

I still had a few photos to scrapbook from an ice cream party my daughter had a number of years ago so when it came time to play with these stamps, I immediately knew the project I wanted to use them on!  I love how they look stamped out in matching inks with Doodlebug's Petite Prints Collection.

Here's an close-up view of how I used the fishtail banners on this layout.  I love how they look layered with one another and cut from different widths of patterned paper!  

To add a fun detail to the ice cream cones and cupcake, I dressed them up with Doodlebug Sprinkles.

Here's another look at the dies.  The little cutout tick marks make it easy to line up your paper strips no matter what the width.  They can create pennants and banners up to 4-1/4 inches wide from any basic strip of paper.  For those that missed it, I shared a video last week on how these dies work on our YouTube channel HERE.  :)
 

I hope I've inspired you to try stamping on your scrapbook layouts.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  :)

Furever Friends: Birthday Kitty Card Using a Grid Design

Hi there!  Today I have one last Furever Friends card I'm excited to share.

For this card I chose to go with a gird design and created my own tone-on-tone prints with the tuna can and paw print images in the stamp set using Peacock Feathers and Barn Door distress inks.  I just love how these colors look together when paired with the kraft cardstock!

I colored my little kitty to have a little bit of a Siamese flair which just happened to tie in my kraft background.  I realized after taking my photos that I had failed to draw in the missing whiskers which I had trimmed off the cat and mouse.  They are there now, but unfortunately you'll have to use your imagination with these photos.  ;)

Starting tomorrow I have some Harvest Happiness cards to share and then on Friday I will be announcing my new design team.  I can't wait for you guys to meet these talented ladies (if you don't know them already).  ;)

Sunny Studio Supplies Used:

Furever Friends Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio

Furever Friends Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio