Orchid Happy Birthday

I created this card to send to a woman whose birthday is this month. She is battling cancer, so needs all the good vibes she can get.

I used Sketch #SC641 from Splitcoaststampers.com as the basis for my design. I began by die cutting the pieces for the Hero Arts "Color Layering Orchid in a Pot" stamp set (discontinued). The stem & flowers are especially fiddly, so by die cutting first I could make sure to have everything lined up with the die properly. I taped the pieces on the back into the negative space, to make it easier to stamp on them. I decided to go with purple for the flowers, & used a light brown for the stem pieces. I stamped the pot with teal ink, then - without moving the stamp or cardstock in my MISTI stamp positioner tool - added Peacock Feathers Distress Oxide ink with a sponge dauber to one side of the stamp. It took a couple of stampings to achieve the look I wanted, but this added a bit of shading to the pot.

I die cut a pink panel with Spellbinders' "Grateful Lattice" die (discontinued), & layered it on top of another panel cut from the same cardstock. I cut the curved edge with Simon Says Stamp's "A2 Card Curved Edge" die. I added that panel with a couple of other strips to my A2-size card base.

For the greeting, I pulled out the Hero Arts "Year Round Sentiments" stamp set (discontinued) - an oldie but a goodie. I stamped the Happy Birthday onto a strip of white cardstock with one of the purple inks I'd used for the flowers. To mirror the curve on the pink panel, I used an oval die to trace a curve onto the end of my greeting strip, then cut it with scissors. I adhered the strip to my card, and then glued down the die cut pieces to build my orchid. I am really happy with how this card turned out, & hopefully the recipient will be, too.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero April 2024 Challenge: "Anniversary/Birthday"

Double Trouble: "SomeThing, AnyThing, EveryThing"

Have an Ex-STRAW-dinary Birthday

The theme for the current Stay Crafty with a Blog Named Hero challenge is "Happy Anniversary." (Birthday-themed cards are also allowed.) I needed a birthday card for a friend of mine. She loves gardening, so I thought the "Strawberries Line Art" stamp set by Hero Arts would be perfect. I think she'll also get a kick out of the greeting!

I used Sketch #SC939 from Splitcoaststampers.com to guide the design for my card. I began by die cutting a circle from 140 lb. watercolor paper, then measured & cut off a portion, as per the sketch. I temporarily adhered the semi-circle onto my card background to make it easier to stamp on, & used my MISTI stamp positioner to stamp the image. While I had the image adhered to the navy panel, I went ahead & heat embossed the greeting, from the same stamp set, with Simon Says Stamp Antique Gold embossing powder. Finally, I removed the watercolor paper from my background, painted the strawberries with my watercolors, & used a white gel pen to highlight the seeds.

I adhered the image panel permanently to the background. I added a length of red-&-white checked ribbon as indicated in the sketch. For the 3 dots in the upper left corner, I punched circles from a scrap of white cardstock & glued them to my panel as a guide. I made a puddle of glue over each circle, then sprinkled on more Antique Gold embossing powder. After I let the glue dry, I melted the powder with my heat gun. To finish the card, I mounted the panel to a white A2-size card base.

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

Ellibelle's Corner/Ellibelle's Crafty Wednesday: "Anything Goes" (in conjunction with Double Trouble)

Double Trouble Challenge #165: "SomeThing, AnyThing, EveryThing"