A 50th Birthday Card

Hi Everyone,

I've not been around for almost a week ... one of those nasty viruses is to blame ...  and there's been absolutely no action in the craft room! I'm still feeling less than 100% but thought I'd check in with a card that was completed before the bug hit.

Made for our fellow crafter, and WOYWWer, B-J's very significant birthday so, of course, the colours used are based on her favourites - lilac, lime green and turquoise - and as she loves them, a dragonfly had to be included.

The main piece started out as a square of white cardstock ... it's actually pearlescent card but I worked on the reverse side ... as recommended by Sheena Douglass. This bit of card has been subjected to just about every technique you can think of. First, a colour base was created by sponging it with ink in the three colours - Adirondack Brights Citrus, Rangers Shaded Lilac and Peacock Feathers distress inks. Next, water was sprayed over it and after leaving for a wee while it was dabbed with paper towel to create a lovely watermarked effect. Once dry, I decided I wanted some more inky interest on it so I inked up a Chicken Wire mask (Clear Scraps) with the Peacock Feathers which I then placed inky side down on to the card and passed it through the Cuttlebug, using just the plate configuration for die-cutting, not embossing ... this transfers the ink without embossing. Next up was the Thistle mast (Imagination Crafts) - I inked up only the insect/flourish corner detail on this mask ... those wee winged beasties look awfully like Scots midges to me :) ... using Shaded Lilac. That done, texture was added to it by dry embossing using a Fretwork mask (That Special Touch). The final touch was to apply silver gilding wax (Pebeo) around the edges.

The dragonfly was made using a Stamps Away stamp, VersaMark, silver embossing powder (Heat It Up) and, though it's not too clear in the photo, it's painted with H2Os in Royal Satin, Sea Spray and Just Peachy (from the Summer Fun set).

More of those pesky little midges made their way on to the inside :)

Other Materials Used:
Cardstock: American Crafts lime green for base; Core Color Core'dinations VaVaVoom lilac for matting and layering; Neena Solar smooth white for stamped topper and inside of card
Stamps: Sheena's A Little Bit Sketchy Only Words - Through the Rain for the sentiment; the numbers were included in a giveaway from Jo, Jozart last year -  NBUS, but deserved to be used much sooner so thanks Jo :)
Die for Topper: Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Nine - the lilac mat was made by tracing around the die and cutting out.

I dipped into the snippets box for the Neena Solar for the topper so I'm skipping over to visit Di and the playmates at Pixies Snippets Playground - Week 112

I started to write this post up on Wednesday ... two days - that has to be a contender for the Slowest Post Ever Written Award :) It's just taking me a bit longer than usual to throw off this bug, one minute I feel perkier, the next I have to lie down for a while ... very frustrating!

So, I hope this finds you fit and well and having lots of crafting fun.

Take care and stay safe,