Birthday Cuties| CAS Card

I really enjoy colouring. But sometimes it’s nice to have other ways to use our stamps. For today’s card instead of colouring I did paper piecing! Actually, there was still a little colouring because I added some shading… But for the most part, the colour all comes from using various snippets of patterned paper.

I started out my project by stamping the cat and the raccoon from Mama Elephant’s Three Amigos onto a snippet of creamy coloured cardstock. It didn’t really matter what colour I chose for this stage as it is just the base layer and will end up completely covered.

I spent some time digging through my snippets folder to find some patterned papers that I felt would work for my paper piecing. Once I’d chosen the ones I wanted I stamped onto them as well.

I stamped the entire cat onto a striped cream and orange paper, then stamped all of their paws onto the same patterned paper, though at a different angle so the stripes would be a different direction.

For the raccoon I stamped first the entire image onto the lighter of the two grey-brown papers I’d chosen. I then switched to the darker paper and selectively stamped so that I could use the paper for the raccoon’s ears, mask, hands, feet, and some of the stripes on their tail.

Both little critters are also holding signs. The signs are double layered, though it’s a little hard to see that on the raccoon’s sign. I chose a patterned paper with text on it for the back layer of both signs, despite it being barely visible. I then chose a music note patterned paper for the front signs. The music notes aren’t actually visible on the portions I stamped though, but I liked the colour for what I wanted to do.

Once I had all the pieces stamped out I worked on adding the shading to all the elements with my Spectrum Noir Illustrator markers. I used IG2 for most of the elements – the shading on the raccoon, the signs, and later for the grounding too. For the cat I used GB2.

Next I fussy cut all of my pieces. It’s a little fiddly, especially on areas like the stripes of the raccoon’s tail, or the tiny little paws, but not too difficult. When it was all cut out I went around each of the images with a black, water-based, brush-tip marker to cover up the white core of the paper, which helps it to look more finished.

With everything cut out I was able to start assembling the critters. I used a glue sponge to add adhesive to each of the pieces, layering them together and placing an acrylic block over the top to help hold the pieces together. Part way through the process I realised I needed to add the sentiment to their signs, so I placed them into my MISTI and added the words “happy” and “birthday”, then finished assembling the critters before setting them aside.

I decided I would make a very simple ink blended panel for my background. I cut down a snippet of white cardstock, and ink blended Distress Inks in Broken China and Peeled Paint to give the look of a simple sky and ground. I added some splatters of water for interest, and used my IG2 marker to add grounding where my critters would be. I then used double-sided tape to adhere the critters onto the background.

I wanted to add some interest to my card base whilst still keeping it clean and simple. After some consideration I cut down five narrow strips of white card and with the help of one of the angle lines on my craft mat I lined up the pieces to go across my card. This gives a kind of faux-embossed look to the card base. I then adhered my focal panel over the top, completing my card.

I hope you like it! Paper piecing is a fun way to give a different look to your images, and is also a really good way to use snippets. Plus using plain snippets to create a tone-on-tone background is a good way to add interest without making it too busy. Have you tried either of these techniques before? Let me know!

Love,

Charlotte E (Lady Joyful) Email thejoyfulsoulcreates@gmail.com

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Challenges:

Addicted To Stamps And More – Any Occasion

Craftyhazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge – Use Patterned Paper

Kraft Chicks Challenge – CAS

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends – Anything Goes

Mama Elephant Guest Designer Call – Anything Goes

Pixie’s Snippets Playground – Use Snippets

The Cutie Pie Challenge – Cute and Paper Piecing

Watercooler Wednesday Challenge – All About Occasions