Fractured Happy Birthday Balloons

I’ve made fractured cards before just using a paper trimmer, but I was very excited to discover that Creek Bank Creations now has a Fractured Card Base Die set (#D24017) that cuts all the pieces in one pass and leaves stitch marks on all the pieces!

I used “Party Balloons” by The Paper Studio (no longer available?) and a few sheets from the Recollections “Nostalgia” pack. The greeting came with a shadow die, but I just used the word die for this card. (And I did trim the tail on the “y” a bit.) I added a little texture to the center square with my SU Subtle embossing folder. (Again – NO idea why they retired that amazing folder – lol!!)

I’m on a quest to find interesting ways to feature patterned paper on my cards as I have so much! This die makes it so easy!

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Masculine Center Step Birthday Card

First, I need to vent…

I saw the 12×12 “Dalmuti” paper pad by The Paper Studio on Hobby Lobby’s website and thought it would be good for some of the masculine cards I needed to make. It showed a few patterns that I really liked and others that could still be useful. So I rushed over to the store to buy it, brought it home….. and hated it! The colors on the actual sheets were duller in real life than I thought they would be, and there were several patterns that were pictured (the ones that attracted me to the pad in the first place) that were not even included! Of course I did not realize this before I cut open the pad and started removing/cutting sheets. Even so, I am challenging myself to use this card stock. Luckily the sheets are one sided, so I can always use the white side if all else fails!!

Now that I got that off my chest – lol!

I cut all the card stock into 6×6 pieces so they’d be more manageable for card making. I used four pieces for this card – three of the prints and the (white) back of a fourth. (Yeah, 240 6×6 sheets to get through – ugh! LOL!!!)

For the center panel, I used this frame die to cut the *frame and it’s filler pieces. Because the frame was so thin, very little of those two prints showed. That’s one way to use paper that may be a bit busy or not to your liking!

As you can see, there is not a lot of color variation with these sheets, so I tried to make the card more interesting by adding embossed texture and a fun fold design. The embossing folder used was the Textured Hexagons 3D embossing folder from Altenew. (I suppose I could have brought in additional colors, but I was so intent on using paper from this pad that I kind of forgot!!)

The greeting was cut from a scrap of GKD Chocolate Truffle card stock and white using the greeting die from the Free Standing Tunnel Card Drawer Die set from Creek Bank Creations. The balloons are from the same set.

I often buy pretty paper and then have trouble cutting into it. I will say, it was quite enjoyable chopping up this paper!

(* Note, this die is about 5 1/2 x 4 inch – slightly off for an A2 size card. For this step card, I was going for a 5×7 inch card, but the frame is 1/2 inch too high, so I will make a custom envelope when ready to send.)

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Happy Birthday Wreath

(inside: Best Wishes on your Special Day!)

This card features the wreath stamp from the “Circle of Spring” set from Stampin’ Up (retired) and some beautiful Stamplistic Illumination Crystals (3mm) to add a bit of sparkle.

I created a cut file of the wreath with my Silhouette and stamped the image onto the die cut with Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I colored the wreath with Copic Markers (E93  and B00) and then stacked that on 2 more die cuts to make the wreath thicker. The crystals were attached with liquid glue.

To create my wood grained background, I embossed the panel with the Stampin’ Up “Subtle” embossing folder (retired) and then scored lines with my score board.

The greeting was computer generated and cut with a sentiment strip die by Alinacutle. This die came with a coordinating stamp, but I created my own sentiment sheet (PDF HERE). The inside sentiment is called “Special Day Wishes” (#573F) from DRS Designs.

The faux ribbon was cut with the “Grosgrain Ribbon” die from Poppy Stamps. The card stock is Gina K Designs Turquoise Sea and Recollections white and black.

Here’s a (slightly) better look at the sparkly crystals…

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