Birthday Greetings – Tic Tac Toe Challenge #60

Hello there my crafty friends! It’s Thursday and that means it’s time for another Tic Tac Toe Challenge, this time Amy has created our super inspiring challenge board:

I chose to use the far right column, incorporating grass, a square (or two ;), and layers (I LOVE layers) to create a clean masculine birthday card:

Measurements:

• Gray Granite Card Base 4 1/4″ x 11″ scored at 5 1/2″
• Pretty Peacock Card Stock Layer:  3 7/8″ x 5 1/8″
• Botanical Prints DSP Layer: 3 5/8″ x 4 3/4″

Details:

• While browsing online for inspiration, I came across a card made with this jaw-dropingly gorgeous geometric pattern paper from the Botanical Prints product medley. I just KNEW I had to pull it out and create something with it myself! BTW, this amazing medley of products is on clearance right now, down from $70 to only $42 – isn’t that an AMAZING price for all of these goodies?!?

• I began this project right after going through the retiring items list from Stampin’ Up!, and I had seen quite a few items retiring that I hadn’t even pulled out yet to use, so with that in mind I reached for the Animal Outing stamp set. Such a darling rhinoceros! (I never ever thought that I would use the word ‘darling’ to describe a rhinoceros, but here we are!)
• I stamped him in with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and then quickly die cut him with the coordinating die; popped him up with Stampin’ Dimensionals onto a Pretty Peacock die-cut square, and then adhered both to a Gray Granite die-cut scalloped square.
• I loved the sizing distance between the Pretty Peacock square and the Gray Granite scalloped square so I mimicked that in the sizing of my base layers, keeping a 3/8″ distance between the two. It leaves a nice glimpse of all of the colors.
• I then tried really hard to add twine to my card, but just couldn’t quite pull that trigger – I was trying to use the center column of the challenge board (die-cut, twine, animals) but the twine just seemed to insubstantial next to all those thick layers. I then reached for this Pretty Peacock 1/2″ Scalloped Linen Ribbon which I  to be honest, prior to now, hadn’t given much thought to but it was what I had in Pretty Peacock so I wrapped it around my layers and tied it into a knot, and – WOW! it is SO stunning! I will need to reach for it more often!

• At this point I realized that I had not left space for a sentiment! (eek!), but after some pondering I found this darling sentiment in the Itty Bitty Greetings stamp set (it’s an awesome set!) and realized that I would be able to continue with the “square’ theme of my card! Perfect! I just stamped it in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink, die cut it with the smallest square in the Stitched Shapes die set and using Stampin’ Dimensionals, adhered it to my card at a fun angle!
• By now I’ve realized that the twine just will not be making an appearance on this card (I had been holding out hope for it), so I had to go back to the challenge board and decided to move to the far right column and add some grass to my card. This image from the Animal Outings stamp set, stamped, die cut, trimmed down, and tucked behind the sentiment looks to me like tall African grasses!

• I loved the clean look of this card so decided to STOP and not add anything else. Tall order, but I did it! 🙂
• For the last step, I added some fun elements to the inside of the card, as well as adding randomly places grasses to the envelope flap using the same stamp I used for the grass around the sentiment:

I hope you’ve enjoyed today’s post, I had a blast creating this card and, as always, LOVE the mental stimulation of using a challenge board! We would LOVE to see what you’ve created using this week’s inspiration! Please pop on over to the Tic Tac Toe Challenge to see more inspiration from our talented design team!

Side note: I have been using this time of social isolation to sort through, organize, price and sell craft items from another crafter’s estate, as well as packing up my own house as I will be moving out of state in the next two months, so I want to share that I miss you, and miss my craft time, but will be posting more frequently toward the end of summer. 

Take care of yourselves, stay healthy and safe, and make lots of pretty things!

Blessings!

Supplies:

Supplies (all Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise noted):

Card Stock: Gray Granite, Pretty Peacock; Neenah Classic Crest Cover Solar White (110 lb)

DSP: Botanical Prints

Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black

Stamps: Animal Outing, Itty Bitty Birthdays

Coloring Tools: None

Dies: Animal Friends Dies, Stitched Shapes, Layering Squares 

Tools: Big Shot

Embellishments: Pretty Peacock  1/2″ Scalloped Linen Ribbon

Other: Whisper White Envelope