1 Sketch - 2 Birthday Cards

Catch the Bug Challenge Blog is having their bi-weekly Stella Says Sketch challenge. I used the sketch as inspiration to create 2 birthday cards.

For both cards, I used images & greetings from Bugaboo Stamp's "Under the Sea Birthday Set." I did a rough "mock-up" in Photoshop, so I could get an idea how large to print the images & greetings, especially since I rotated the sketch 90 degrees for the mermaid card. Once I had the sizing like I wanted it, I printed each image onto a scrap of white cardstock. I die cut the fish with a Spellbinders "Standard Circles SM" die, and the mermaid with a Spellbinders "Classic Ovals LG" die. Then I colored them with my Prismacolor colored pencils. I also added some glitter to the mermaid's tail & top with my clear Wink of Stella pen.

I trimmed patterned papers from Carta Bella's "Soak Up the Sun" 6x6" paper pad to size. On the fish card, I used decorative edge scissors to cut the scallop edge on the yellow dot paper. For the mermaid, I used Fiskars' "Scallop Sentiment" border punch.

I cut my background panels for each card from yellow & blue cardstocks, and printed the greetings directly on them. To mat the fish, I die cut a piece of orange cardstock with a We R Memory Keepers "Nesting Scallops" circle die. For the mermaid, I used a Spellbinders "Lacey Ovals" die. I adhered both focal images to their respective mats. After adhering my patterned paper panels in place, I glued down the focal images, & mounted my card fronts to white A2 card bases. Then I added Nuvo Crystal Drops in the color Morning Dew to the bubbles in each image, and let that dry overnight. I will send these cards to Send a Smile 4 Kids.

I'm also entering these cards in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Anything Goes"
Pile It On #129: "Interactive and/or Birthday" (I'm doing the mid-month birthday theme.)
Send a Smile 4 Kids: "Punches and/or Die Cuts 4 Kids"