Happy Birthday

I am very happy to be a guest DT at Send a Smile 4 Kids' Challenge Blog today! The theme for the current challenge is "Anything Goes 4 Kids." All you have to do is create a card for a child, and link it up. You can enter up to 3 cards. The sponsors this week are: Kenny K (3 digis prize), Doodle Pantry ($10 gift certificate), and Fred, She Said ($10 gift certificate). So prizes are to be had, and you also have the chance to be chosen for their Top 3! Does it get any better than that? Though not a requirement for participating, it would also be great if you could donate your card(s) to SAS4Kids!

I began my card by choosing this sketch from Operation Write Home:

I've actually been wanting to use this sketch, but never had the right image. I did have to make the banner narrower than the 7/8" indicated in the sketch, to keep from covering up the image. Otherwise, I stayed pretty true to the sketch.

I printed this image by Kenny K onto a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media paper. I colored it with Inktense pencils, using a damp paintbrush to blend the colors. This is only my second time painting skin tones, and I must admit, I was kind of nervous, especially since that was the last thing I did. I was afraid I'd mess up, and wished I'd done that first, so if I did do something wrong, I wouldn't have wasted much time on the rest of the coloring! But I think I did OK. I also added some diluted Pumice Stone Distress ink under the figures to add a bit of shadow & help ground them.

For the greeting, I stamped one from this Simon Says Stamp set, using Versafine Onyx Black ink. I heat embossed it with Recollections Clear Detail embossing powder, and colored the letters in with colored pencils. Then I cut it into a banner shape.

I used 2 patterned papers by Me and My Big Ideas for the background & the strip behind the focal image & banner. I thought the number pattern went well with a birthday card, and the blue and green star paper added a nice bit of contrast.

I decided to mat everything with yellow cardstock. To help the white pieces pop against the yellow, I inked the edges of all the pieces with Salty Ocean Distress ink before adhering them to the mats. I also blended Salty Ocean around the front of a white A2 card base, to act as a mat for the card front panel. After adhering the star panel to the background, I popped the focal panel up over that with foam tape. I added more foam tape to the bottom edge of the greeting banner, to keep it level with the focal piece, and glued the top portion directly to the focal panel. Finally, I adhered the completed front to my card base. I will be sending this card on to Send a Smile 4 Kids, hopefully to brighten a hospitalized child's day!