Have a Little Fun Today

Ellen Hutson has been having their "Color Trends Challenge," with this photo as their mood board:

I created a birthday card, using Essentials by Ellen's "Bokeh Dots" & "Up the Happy" stamp sets, along with a Lifestyle Crafts "Nesting Scallops" die.

I used a layering panel that I had pre-cut to 4x5.25" as my main panel. I stamped several of the dots in various dye inks: Memento Grape Jelly & Danube Blue, Hero Arts Ultra Pink & Soft Lilac, and Lawn Fawn Fresh Lavender. I tried to go with the more "blue" purples from the color palette, and added in a pink and true blue for variety.

After I had finished stamping my panel (truly, the longest part of the whole card process), I stamped my greeting (from "Up the Happy") in Versamark ink onto a scrap of Essentials by Ellen 40 lb. vellum. I heat embossed that with Ranger Super Fine Detail Gold embossing powder. When it had cooled, I die cut it with a scalloped circle die. I ran that piece through my Xyron Sticker Maker to apply an even coat of adhesive to the back, and then adhered it to my panel.

For the mat, I decided I wanted it to be the same gold as the greeting. So I got an A2-size piece of white cardstock, & smooshed my Versamark ink pad along all the sides. I heat embossed with gold, but didn't get a good enough coverage. So I ended up repeating the process, which gave me much better & smoother results. Because that panel was warped from all the heat I'd applied, I used Scor Tape to adhere it to my white card base. I also used Scor Tape to adhere my stamped panel, since I felt it would stick to the heat embossed mat better. Finally, I set my card under a couple of books to flatten it out further.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

Through the Craft Room Door: "Anything Goes"
613 Avenue Create Challenge #210: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)
Pile It On Challenge #143: "Holidays and/or Layers" (used layers on my card)