Happy Birthday | AALL & Create/Simon Says Stamp/My Favorite Things

Hi crafty friends!  Today I am sharing a colorful birthday card featuring products from AALL & Create, My Favorite Things, Hero Arts, and Simon Says Stamp.  The My Favorite Things die is an older one, but a much loved one.

The supplies used:

     AALL & Create – Clown Around Stamp

     Simon Says Stamp – Scripty Birthday Background Stamp

     My Favorite Things – Happy Birthday Circle Frame

     Hero Arts Baloon Bunch Die Set

     Spellbinders – Precision Layering A2 A Die Set

     X-Press It Blending Cardstock

     Spellbinders – Breeze Cardstock

     Heavyweight White Cardstock (any brand)

     Copic Alcohol Markers – RV17, RV06, RV13, YR07, YR04, YR01, Y38,

          Y18, Y13, G12, G05, G16, B16, B14, B02, E11, E01, E000, C02, C00

          R29, R24, R20, 100 (Black)

     Simon Says Stamp – Ink Pads – Carnation, Peachy, Lemonade, Spring, Marine

     Lawn Fawn – Jet Black Ink Pad

     Winsor & Newton White Designers Gouache

     Ranger Ink – Glossy Accents

Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     Scor-Tape Double Sided Adhesive

     My Sweet Petunia - MISTI Stamping Tool

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Background Panel

I die cut a piece of Spellbinders Breeze cardstock using the second largest die in the Spellbinders Precision Layering A2 A die set which cuts the panel to be approximately 4” x 5-1/4.  I placed the blue cardstock panel into my MISTI stamping tool and using the Simon Says Stamp Scripty Birthday Background stamp, I stamped the background using Simon Says Stamp’s inks in the colors Carnation, Peachy, Lemonade, Spring, and Marine in a gradient down the surface of the panel.  Using an ink blending tool, I lightly blended the Marine ink around the outer edges of the inked panel for interest.  I mixed a couple drops of water with Winsor and Newton White Designers Gouache and applied spatter across the panel using a small paint brush.

Creating the Focal Point

Using the My Favorite Things Happy Birthday Circle Frame die, I die cut it four times from white cardstock (saving the negative circle portion from one of the die cuts).  I used Bearly Art Precision Glue to glue three of the die cuts together and placed them under an acrylic block until the glue dried.  For the fourth layer, I used Copic alcohol marker 100 (black) to carefully color only the words from the die cut then glued it to the rest of the stack and set aside to dry.  I lightly blended Simon Says Stamp Marine ink onto the one negative circle I saved from the die cutting – this will serve as a background for the clown image that gets created in the next step.

I stamped one of the clown images from the ALL & Create Clown Around stamp set onto a scrap piece of X-Press It Blending Cardstock using Lawn Fawn Jet Black Ink.  After the ink dried, I began coloring it using Copic alcohol markers in the following colors:

     Hair:  YR07, YR04, YR01

     Flesh:  E11, E01, E000

     Eyes:  G16, G05 (white gel pen accents), C02, C00

     Nose:  R29, R24, R20

     Shoes:  RV17, RV06, RV13, YR07, YR04, YR01

     Hat:  B16, B14, B02, RV17, RV06, RV13

     Trousers:  B16, B14, B02 (gold gel pen buttons)

     Shirt:  G16, G05, G12, Y38, Y18, Y13

Once the Copic coloring was completed, I fussy cut the clown image with a pair of fine tip scissors and used Copic's 100 (black) marker to go around the edges of the die cut to hide any white paper from showing.

My last touch for the focal point was to pull a scrap of red and silver from my scrap bin to die cut the single balloon and string from the Hero Arts Balloon Bunch die set.

Assembling the Card Front

I started by utilizing Scor-Tape to adhere the background panel to the white A2 card base.  I glued the balloon where I thought it looked best and added liquid glue to the back side of the happy birthday, stacked die cut and placed it onto the center of the lower portion of the card front followed by gluing the ink blended circle into the center of the stacked die cuts.  I glued a few scraps of white cardstock behind the center portion of the clown to bring him level to the sentiment circle die cuts and glued the clown to the center of the sentiment circle.  Lastly, I applied a thin layer of Glossy Accents to the balloon to give it shine.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out today’s blog post, I really appreciate it.  Until next time, happy crafting!

2025 Holiday Card Series #7 | Cutest Reindeer of All

Hi crafty friends!  Today I am sharing a tag that could also be made into a card featuring some humorous and delightful stamps from AALL & Create.  This company makes some of the most adorable, whimsical stamps that I’ve ever had the opportunity to work with.   I went out on a ledge with a random number generator to pick the color scheme from Sarah Renae Clark’s Color Cubes for this tag and the winner was #4.  Not exactly screaming Christmas, but let’s see if we can make it work!

The supplies used:

AALL & Create – Hexalove Die Set

     AALL & Create – Merry Little Things Stamp Set

     AALL & Create – Snow Good Stamp Set

     X-Press It Blending Cardstock

     Spellbinders – Antique Glitter Metallic Cardstock

     Lawn Fawn – Jet Black Premium Ink Pad

     Ranger/Tim Holtz – Distress Oxide Ink Pads – Uncharted Mariner,

          Peacock Feathers, Salvaged Patina

     Copic Alcohol Markers – BG78, BG49, BG45, BG72, BG11, YG0000

          YG63, YG61, YG11, E53, E51, E50, E19, E08, E97, YR18, YR12, YR82

     Winsor & Newton White Designers Gouache

     Trinity Stamps – Crystal Ball and High Dive Baubles

     Krylon Workable Fixatif Spray

     Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue

     Scrapbook Adhesives Thin 3D Foam Squares

     Anna Griffin Empress Die Cutting Machine

Creating the Card Front Background

I cut a piece of white cardstock to measure 4” x 6-1/2” to give me plenty of space for ink blending and to allow room to use the AALL & Create Hexalove die to cut the card front.  Next, I used the inner tag die from the Hexalove die set and used it to cut a 2” x 3” piece of the Spellbinders Antique Glitter Metallic cardstock so that the edges of the glitter cardstock align perfectly with the tag. I used my scissors to simply freehand a curvy edge on the top end of the glitter cardstock to represent a slight hill. 

For the wintry sky, I used Ranger/Tim Holtz Distress Oxide inks in the colors Uncharted Mariner, Peacock Feathers, and Salvaged Patina.  I started ink blending at the top of the cardstock using Uncharted Mariner, then moved to Peacock Feathers, and lastly Salvaged Patina.  I worked my way up and down the cardstock, changing ink colors as necessary, until I obtained the look I was going for.  Once the ink had a chance to dry, I die cut the ink blended cardstock panel with the tag front die from the Hexalove die set.  To set the colors and help them to not bleed when I spatter with white paint, I went outside and lightly sprayed the inky tag panel using Krylon Workable Fixatif spray (you want to do this outside with lots of air flow!).  The Fixatif spray will also add a satin sheen to the cardstock versus the chalky finish you would get with the Distress Oxide inks… just in case you were wondering.  I allowed the Fixatif coating to completely dry then mixed a couple drops of water with some Winsor & Newton white gouache and spattered it across the tag background.  Once the spatter dried, I glued the metallic glitter cardstock panel to the bottom of the tag.

Using a piece of black cardstock from my scrap bin, I die cut the decorative tag die in the Hexalove die set to frame the inky background.  I glued the inked front panel to the decorative tag panel and set aside to dry.

Creating the Focal Point

My focal point for this card was the reindeer from AALL & Create’s Snow Good stamp set and the stack of three presents and one of the trees from AALL & Create’s Merry Little Things stamp set.   I’ll list the Copic markers used for each element below:

     Reindeer:  E19, E08, E97

     Reindeer Coat:  BG49, BG45 w/ E19 pocket, & Gold Posca buttons

     Reindeer Scarf:  YG63, YG61, YG11

     Reindeer Antlers:  E53, E51, E50

     Christmas Tree:  YG63, YG61, YG11, YG0000

     Tree Trunk:  E19, E08

     Star on Tree:  Sakura Gold Metallic Gelly Roll Pen

     Christmas Gifts:  BF78, BF72, BG11 (blue)

                                YR18, YR12, YR82 (orange)

                                 BG78, BG49, BG45 (dark blue)

Once the coloring was completed, I fussy cut the images and used liquid glue to adhere four Trinity Stamps “High Dive Baubles” and four Trinity Stamps “Crystal Ball Baubles” to the Christmas tree in the place of ornaments.  When the glue dried, I added foam squares to the back of all the colored elements.

Building the Sentiment

Utilizing the small rectangular die from the Hexalove die set, I diecut a banner to hold the sentiment out of a scrap of white cardstock that I colored with Copic markers E08, E97, YR12, and E51.  Then from the AALL & Create Snow Good stamp set I stamped the sentiment that said “cutest reindeer of all” onto the rectangle die cut.  I loved the quirky, smudged look of this stamp and couldn’t resist using it as my sentiment.  Lastly, I added some foam squares to the back of the sentiment.

Finishing the Design

To complete the card, I removed the backing paper from the adhesive squares on all the Copic colored elements and adhered them to the card front.  Using a ¼” hole punch, I punched a hole at the top of the tag so it could be placed on a gift more easily.  My final touch was to add a bit of silver cord and white ribbon to the top to finish off the festive design. 

Thank you for stopping by and checking out today’s blog post, I really appreciate it.  Until next time, happy crafting!