Do you make one project and walk away, or do you create several in one sitting? For me it often comes down to inspiration. I often think of new project ideas while I’m still working on something else. For this reason I generally keep a notebook handy so I can write things down before I forget. Other times it’s not a specific project that I think of, but rather a desire to keep using a particular product. That’s how I ended up with this birthday card in monochrome Starry Sky.

DECORATIVE MASKS

Since the Stampin’ Up! 2022-2024 In Colors were launched I have a new favourite blue, Starry Sky. It was still on my desk after making my project for yesterday’s blog post and I couldn’t resist creating something else before putting it away. So I pulled out the Artistic Mix Decorative Masks and a Blending Brush and set to work.

I placed the small grid mask onto a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Basic White Card and gently brushed on the ink. In no time at all I’d created a soft background with the ink darker in the centre than around the outside. This piece would be perfect for the front of my card.

Next I took another identical piece of Basic White Card and the same mask but this time I only brushed the ink around corners and edges. As this was destined for the inside of the card I wanted to leave the centre area completely white.

Finally using the mask and Blending Brush I created the same custom design on the flap of a Basic White Medium Envelope.

It was at this point I decided that my card would be entirely monochrome. So using my Paper Trimmer I cut and scored some Starry Sky Card. After folding it along the scored line I sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder. Then using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) I fixed the layer with the white centre on the inside of the card base. Finally I glued original layer with the darker centre onto the front of the card base and set it aside.

MORE STARRY SKY

With the main layers in place I was now ready for a sentiment and for that I turned to the He’s All That Stamp Set. I chose “happy birthday to a classic” which includes a great image of a vintage car. Still using Starry Sky ink I stamped the sentiment onto a 2″ x 3″ piece of Basic White Card. Then I mounted it onto a 2-1/4″ x 3-1/4″ layer of Starry Sky Card with liquid glue. Finally I added a row of three Rustic Metallic Adhesive-Backed Dots below the sentiment and pressed them firmly into place.

As I thought about where to place the sentiment on the front of my card I decided I needed something extra on the background. So that’s when I pulled out my plastic pocket full of Starry Sky Card scraps. Initially I thought I would just add a single strip of card but I could decide between a very narrow piece and one 6 times the size. Then an idea popped into my head… why not use both?

Now although I’d already used Starry Sky Card and ink, I still had the coordinating 1/8″ Metallic Woven Ribbon available. That was when I decided to fix a line of Tear & Tape Adhesive across the background layer (2-1/4″ from the bottom edge). Then I used the adhesive to hold a 4″ piece of the ribbon in place. Immediately below the ribbon I used liquid glue to attach a 3/4″ x 4″ piece of Starry Sky Card. This was followed by a 1/8″ x 4″ piece of card tight up against the other side of the ribbon.

With that, all I had left to do was add the assembled sentiment using Stampin’ Dimensionals and my monochrome card was complete.

I’ve often wrapped ribbon and cord around card layers but never had them inset in this way before. It creates an interesting look without adding any extra bulk to the layer. That’s definitely a trick to remember for future projects. What do you think?

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the He’s All That Stamp Set in a bundle with the coordinating All That Dies (not used today). Buying the two items using a single ‘bundle’ item number saved me 10% off the cost of buying them separately. I’ve included a link to the bundle below in case you want to explore this option for yourself.