Happy Birthday Wishes

As I've promised, I did use my Heidi Swapp materials and dabbled in stencils over the weekend. There are many techniques to using stencils and so far my favorite one is sponging.

Below are the 2 versions I did. The first one is just sponging over inks. I used Hero Arts Shadow Ink mid-tones in Bubble Gum Pink, Soft Cantaloupe and Grape Juice. I used Heidi Swapp Make Me Happy Polka Dots stencil. After sponging the ink, the background looked so bright and colorful that I decided against adding any more embellishments. I then stamped the sentiment from Close To My Heart's Banner Wishes.

The second technique I used is called layering. It usually goes with masking but I had too much fun with this I decided to just finish it off using layers. This is is another birthday card which I'm giving my aunt. Her birthday's coming up and I thought this might cheer her up. I used the scallop shape from Heidi Swapp's Butterfly Stencil Set. I sponged over the colors using Hero Arts Shadow Ink in Soft Cantaloupe, then the 2nd layer with Close to My Heart's Sorbet Ink and lastly I used Close to My Heart's Buttercup Ink. Sunshine theme I think is what I had in mind when I did this. After the stencil I stamped a flower from Close to My Heart's Rustic Flowers stamp set. It's a retired set which I was able to acquire from another consultant. I stamped it several times using Hero Arts Shadow Ink in Bubble Gum Pink. I then cut them out and layered them, and adhered a circle brad which I got from Michaels. I stamped the sentiment from Close to My Heart's You Are My Happy stamp set. The card base is also from Recollections, Butterfly Wings collection. I love this collection of papers. Nothing says Spring more than the colors in this set.

Thanks for looking!