Gifted Birthday

I love that Taylor changed up the #TEMaker Challenge for 2020.  The challenge is to use one of the elements to make a card … but as a perennial over-achiever, I had to find a way to use all three.

When I was at Stamp Joy, I bought the products to replicate my favorite card … so that was the plan for the morning … only one problem … it really didn't seem to fit with any of the challenge elements.  I wasn't going to let that stop me … I pushed through to figure out a solution.

I started by die cutting an oval and masking the center of the Taylored Expressions Gifted Background Stamp (I originally tried Taylored Expressions Oval Mask, but the plastic was too thick to get a good stamped image around.  I switched to cardstock (but should have switched to typing paper to get the mask even thinner … learning for next time).

I left the oval in place and positioned the Taylored expressions Gifted Stencil over the stamped image.  I finally used my Taylored Expression Blender Brushes with a masculine trio of hues – Lime Zest, Pineapple and Gumball.

I used the same die cut and the slightly larger size to cut a frame for my masked oval (which helped cover some of the issues from using the cardstock vs. typing paper) and then stamped a sentiment from Taylored Expressions Big Bold Birthday using the Grey Ink for the Challenge theme.  I trimmed down my stenciled piece and placed it on a grey card base.

I have been in search for micro gems, so I asked my friends at Stamp Junkies the other night, and they directed me to a few new stores.  These lovely blue gems are Craft Buddy D.I.Y. Self Adhesive Crystals … I love that each sheet of gems has four different small sizes.

I'm also linking-up at the Seize the Birthday Layer It Challenge since I've got three layers to my design.

And it's Anything Goes at The Male Room.