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Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Cards for Charity: Happy Birthday with Distress Blending

 I received a call that more cards were needed at my friend Pam's church charity card sales; especially Birthday cards and Sympathy cards. We're making 15 of each design of cards now, so it's quite a production.


I made Birthday cards first, and the goal is to choose a design that can be easily duplicated. Church members will mount my cards onto base cards that are stamped with their charity's information, so I only needed to make the tops.


Since I have been in a creative funk lately, I had been passing the time by blending Distress ink through stencils. It's fun to try out different color combinations.


 This is my favorite method of sparking creativity. I'm playing with my art supplies, and creating very fun backgrounds by just blending beautiful colors. What could be more satisfying?


I made 5 each of 3 different colored backgrounds. People who buy these cards are told that since they are handmade, there will be variations.


I made a prototype card, and once I was happy with it, I started making all the parts, starting with the stenciled blends. 


I started with my favorite Distress trio to blend, Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers, and Wilted Violet. The stencil is Ornamental Fans from Gina K Designs, and is hands down one of my favorites. In the above photo (nothing is stuck down at that point) you can see that I cut the panels with the Greetery Crimped Frame die (the middle size) and I put a strip of the mat cardstock on it as I was cutting it so that it matches up with the crimps on the panel.


I decided to cut out ovals of vellum to go behind the sentiment so that it didn't get lost in the busy backgrounds, and it took two ovals for each card to look the best. This great birthday sentiment is a die from Elizabeth Craft  Designs. There is a thin mat of black behind each stenciled panel, and a larger mat of a coordinating color.

Once I cut out all of the pieces for the 15 cards, I sat at my desk and listened to an audio book while I put them together. The time went by so fast when I was making these, that they were done before I knew it.


Once I lined all 15 cards up, I was so happy with them! I loved making these, and I might make more to send out myself.

Products Used:
Gina K Designs Ornamental Fans Art Stencil
Distress Inks: Twisted Citron, Peacock Feathers, Wilted Violet;
Speckled Egg; Candied Apple, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed
Elizabeth Craft 1439 Happy Birthday Small die
The Greetery GD-M-016 Crimped Frame Die
Hero Arts DI337 Nesting Oval Infinity Dies
Hero Arts DI198 Infinity Nesting Rectangle Dies
Translucent Vellum
PTI True Black cardstock
PTI Tropical Teal cardstock
Stardream Fuse Fairway cardstock
Stampin Up Cajun Craze cardstock




5 comments:

  1. Lovely cards, Dianne. (Hint, my bd is end of October in case you need to send some out then, hee, hee.) I have a bunch of stenciled backgrounds already made as I was in the mood to do them, so I know that feeling. I really like how you put the vellum behind the words - so many cards make it so hard to read the text; drives me nuts (such as white on white - ack!). That stencil is nice! From Laura Pervier

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    1. Thanks so much Laura; I always appreciate hearing from you! Yeah that stencil is super popular. I really like it too.

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  2. Hi Dianne, As always I love your techniques. I purchased similar stencils prior to the closing of Art 'n Soul. I'll do my best to recreate this beautiful birthday cards. Where is the best place to purchase the Happy Birthday die cut? On-line?

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    1. Hi there! Thank you so much! For the die, yes, especially with the pandemic, online is the best place. You can order it directly from Elizabeth Craft at elizabethcraftdesigns.com.

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    2. Thank you. Take care & be safe.

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Dianne