Dropping By To Say Happy Birthday

I’m not sure about you, but I sometimes struggle when creating masculine cards. Oh sure I’m all about mermaids and unicorns, but every now and then I need a card that’s just the right amount of cute (does that make sense – lol). With that being said, today’s card features the sweet Penguin Palace Stamps Love Train.

To begin with, I created an A2 sized card base. For added interest I decided to create the look of a tunnel card. I cut two 4 1/4″ x 5 1/2″ panels from white cardstock. I took the largest and third largest sized rectangle stitched dies and ran them together through my die cut machine (smaller sized die placed within the larger one to create an open frame). With the second panel I took the fourth largest die cut and ran that through the machine to create a frame with a smaller size rectangle cut in the middle. To add color I taped down the layered frames together onto my craft sheet and ink blended the top portion with mermaid lagoon Distress ink and the bottom portion with mowed lawn Distress ink. I spritzed the frame with water, blotted it,then set the frames aside. To create a dimensional background base for the train I inked and water spritzed a panel of card stock with mowed lawn Distress ink then used a grass die to cut a tall and short height panel the same size as the frames.

Next I stamped the mountain (stamped twice), train, smoked heart, sun, gifts, and railroad track images from the Penguin Palace Stamp Love Train stamp set. I Copic colored the images then used the Penguin Perfect Cuts Love Train dies to cut them out. I took an added step by customizing a train caboose by fussy cutting the image and added the gifts onto the image.

Assembly of the card took forethought. I first backed the large and medium frames with fun foam. Working with the bottom base first, I glued the stamped mountains on the same level as the bottom of the inked rectangle. I then glued the frame with the smaller sized rectangle making sure to align it onto the card base with the mountains. Additionally I took the taller die cut grass panel and positioned the edges to meet the mountain images and glued it to the frame. I also took the smaller grass die cut panel and glued that below the taller one more towards the bottom area of the frame. Finally I glued the remaining frame on top of the medium sized frame to complete the tunnel image concept.

To finalize the card, I did the following: foam backed and glued the sun onto the right side of the rectangle on the lowest card base, glued the railroad track and foam backed train onto the lower center portion of the middle frame area, glued the smoke heart onto the right side of the middle frame, above the train stack to simulate steam. Lastly, I stamped and heat embossed the sentiments onto black cardstock , cut them into rectangle shapes, then glued them onto the center of the outer top and bottom center of the frames respectively.

The extra steps taken to create this card was worth the final result! The Penguin Palace Stamp Set Love Train is so versatile you can use them for different themes or holidays and so customizable to fit both feminine or masculine themes! Hope you like this fun card and until next time I wish you a super happy crafty day 😊

Supplies Used:

• Paper: Neenah Classic Crest Solar White 80 lb, Bristol Smooth 100 lb, Recollections Cardstock White 110 lb
• Stamps: Penguin Palace Stamps Love Train
• Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Versamark Watermark ink, Distress Oxide Inks (Mermaid Lagoon, Mowed Lawn)
• Copic Markers
• Recollections Embossing Powder (White)
• Dies: Penguin Perfect Cuts Love Train, Gina Marie Stitched Rectangle

• Fun Foam
• Scotch Create Tacky Glue