STAMPIN' UP! MASCULINE BIRTHDAY CARD IN EARLY ESPRESSO

 

Tonight's Colour Creations blog hop is all about Early Espresso, the darkest brown in Stampin' Up!'s colour range.

I knew I wanted to use some papers from the Blackberry Beauty Designer Series Paper pack, and the bear from the Count On Me stamp set.  From that jumping off point, I made a card for my youngest son's birthday that is coming up next week.  My baby is turning 21.

The two background papers I have used are Early Espresso and Cinnamon Cider, so I've worked with that colour scheme. 

 Using my Playful Alphabet Dies,  I die cut the "HAPPY" from the same "twiggy" paper that is on the bottom part of the card front.  After adhering the letters to a piece of brick wall patterned paper (from the Bloom Where You're Planted DSP pack), I used the Stamparatus to stamp the rest of the sentiment, from the Biggest Wish stamp set, in Early Espresso ink.  I added a thin mat of Early Espresso card behind the "brick wall" panel that was cut with a Stitched Rectangles Die.

The bear was stamped in Jet Black StazOn ink, on Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper.  Using a Water Painter and Early Espresso reinker (a drop on a palette), I watercoloured the bear.  I picked up Cinnamon Cider ink from the inkpad, to watercolour the heart.  When the ink was dry, I fussy cut the bear.

The balloons and strings were cut from Hippo & Friends Dies.  I sponged some ink on the balloons before sticking them down.  The Early Espresso balloon, and the bear, are raised up on Black Stampin' Dimensionals.

The "21" was cut from Cinnamon Cider card, using Playful Alphabet Dies.  I gave them a bit of a treatment, to end up with a tortoiseshell-like finish!  First, I stamped the "plus signs" (from Biggest Wish) all over the numbers, in Cinnamon Cider ink.  I then sponged around the edges of the numbers with Early Espresso ink, and finally applied Shimmery Crystal Effects to the surface.  When dry, I stuck the numbers on to the "brick wall" background.

The art piece was added (on a slight tilt, which is VERY out of character for me!) to the background, raised up on Black Stampin' Dimensionals.  I die cut some tiny stars using Stitched Stars Dies, and Be Dazzling paper (that is free with a $90+ order, until the end of September).

Next up on tonight's blog hop is Tina Gillespie.  You can get to her blog by clicking on the button below:

If any links are broken on the blog hop, or if you would like to see a comprehensive list of all participants in this week's share, you can go to Catherine Proctor's blog.  Cathy co-ordinates our blog hops every week.

Listed below are all the products I used to make this card.  If you live in Australia, and would like to shop with me for your Stampin' Up! supplies, you can get to my online store by clicking on any of the thumbnail images below.

Product List

Count On Me Cling Stamp Set [155647] $38.00	Biggest Wish Photopolymer Stamp Set (English) [155052] $30.00	Stamparatus [148187] $85.00	Basic White A4 Thick Cardstock [159230] $14.25	Cinnamon Cider A4 Cardstock [153083] $15.25
Early Espresso A4 Card Stock [121686] $15.25	Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper [149612] $15.75	Blackberry Beauty 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper [156458] $26.00	Bloom Where You're Planted 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper [155696] $20.00	Be Dazzling 6" X 6" (15.2 X 15.2 Cm) Specialty Paper [156629] $0.00
Jet Black Stāzon Ink Pad [101406] $17.50	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Pad [147114] $13.00	Early Espresso Classic Stampin' Ink Refill [119789] $6.50	Cinnamon Cider Classic Stampin' Pad [153114] $13.00	Water Painters [151298] $21.00
Sponge Daubers [133773] $9.00	Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653] $209.00	Stitched Rectangles Dies [151820] $61.00	Playful Alphabet Dies [152706] $59.00	Hippo & Friends Dies [153585] $63.00
Stitched Stars Dies [150653] $66.00	Paper Snips [103579] $17.00	Early Espresso 1/4" (6.4 Mm) Faux Suede Trim [152472] $11.25	Shimmery Crystal Effects [150892] $8.75	Adhesive Sheets [152334] $17.50
Black Stampin' Dimensionals Combo Pack [150893] $10.50	Stampin' Seal [152813] $14.00