I decided to start this year off with a birthday card since my friend’s birthday is coming up next week. This was my first crafting project of 2021. The final result does look amateurish (image above), but I hope with practice they get better as the year goes on.
To start this project, I wanted to find a unique birthday card, something I could really play around with. I used the image to the left.
Using this image for my inspiration, I went to my Cricut design space and to (attempt to) replicate the cutout for my card. After the paper was cut, I trimmed the card to the size I wanted. On my first try, I cut it too short on the sides, so I had to do it again. Turns out I wanted it to have an edge on the sides, unlike the the original. With my first cutout, the mistake, I used it has a stencil so I could color in the letters and candles using alcohol inks.
I used my first cutout as a stencil so I could color in the letters and candles using alcohol inks. If you have never used alcohol inks before, there are something you need to know.
1. You need to to have special paper, Yupo, so the ink doesn’t get automatically absorbed into the canvas. The paper has a wax feel to it and allows for the manipulation of the ink.
2. There are many methods to using alcohol ink, I usually just squirt some on the paper and then blow on it or move it with a brush or straight edge, but this time I only used a brush and treated the ink like it was paint. It dried much quicker.
3. Alcohol inks come in bottles or sprays. I am a big fan of the sprays for texture. After I painted in my colors, I sprayed with gold to give it some additional texture, besides the texture from the brush.
4. If you don’t seal your finished design, it will smudge and eventually fade. I have found success using Aleene’s® Acrylic Spray Sealer. It dries fast, seals your work and won’t smudge. I am not sure if it has a UV protectant, to prevent fading, but it does state it will prevent yellowing.
After sealing and drying my design, I had to put my card together. I took the Yupo paper with my design and trimmed it to fit in my card. I glued the design to the card so that the colors came through the cutouts of the card. After it dried, I use a stamp from my StampinUp collection to add “Birthday”. I used an acrylic block and stuck my stamp on then inked in blue. Using the clear acrylic block I could see exactly where I was putting the stamp and could go over it if needed too (which I did). I prefer the clear block to the wooden ones for obvious reasons, you can see where your stamp is going. It is much easier to re-stamp in the exact same place. To finish off “birthday”, I did another color layer, gold, so it didn’t look so flat.
I added another coat of sealer and let it dry. While it was drying, I made the envelope that I would mail the card it. I have a great tool to help me with that, it’s a punch board tool. Mine can do boxes, bows, and envelopes.
I found a 12×12 sheet of cardstock with a pattern I wanted to use. The pattern is only on one side of this paper, so the outside of the envelope will be all white, and when it is opened, there will be a pattern. I use my punch board to determine the size of the paper I need and trim my 12×12 to that size. You will always start with a square (all sides are the same length). Then I determine where to line up my paper on the board, I punch a hole and score on the line. I rotate my envelope and do this 3 more times. I then use the back of the board to punch out rounded edges. I fold, use double-sided tape and create my envelope.
An interesting note here, my card was not a square, it had a different length and width. I forgot to check that before gluing my envelope together and I had to put my card in sideways. Whoops.
And finally, for my last touch, I like to do a wax seal on the letters I send. After I pick out my colors, I put the wax in the copper spoon on top of a candle and wait for the wax to melt. Once melted, I poured it onto the envelope, placed my seal onto and waited about 10 seconds for it to harden. I then put a gold dust on the top to bring out the image. Since it is winter, the seal I used was a snowflake. The head or seal is interchangeable and screws on and off.
Now my card is ready to be sent!
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