That's Crafty!: Happy Birthday to You! by Amanda Pink

Hi Everyone,

Unfortunately due to a few unforseem 'life' curve balls this last week my creative time has been very limited so todays make is very much an example of something you could make if ever you find yourself short of time.

It's a bright, cheery and colourful birthday card (we always need those don't we? ) and no matter what your creative ability or style you could create something similiar giving it your own personal touch.

The Background

I cut a panel of That's Crafty! ultra smooth white card to size, selected an AALL & Create washi tape from my stash and covered the card with strips of the tape sealed with matte medium.

Some cream and black matt n layering and the background panel was all ready for it's focal feature.

The Sentiment

For this I used the "Happy Birthday to You' stamp from Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous 'Bold Saying's stamp set.

This stamp set is a new addition to That's Crafty's shop and one of Tims newer releases. The mix of sayings on the set are so useful and lend themselves to a whole range of creative styles. It's one of those stamp sets that never dates and gets used over and over. I know that's what I'll be doing with mine so don't be surprised if you see one or more of the stamps appearing here again sometime!!

I wanted the sentiment to stand out, be 'bold' (as the name of the stampset suggests) so I stamped and embossed it on white card using Tim Holtz Black Soot Distress Archival ink and clear embossing powder.

I then coloured the card using some of Tims Distress inks (Mustard Salvaged Patina, Carved Pumpkin, Picked Raspberry, Wilted Violet) When happy with the build up and blend of colour I flicked a bit of water around, dabbed some of the water off and dried with a heat gun.

After adding a few highlights to the letters the 'Happy Birthday' focal panel was adhered to the centre of the background that was all wrapped up like a present with some thin strips of black card.