Give a big “Hip Hip Hooray!” for the Light the Candles Kit! This is a beginner-friendly DIY birthday card kit that’ll make you want to party and eat cake at the same time!
You’ll get enough supplies to create 8 cards—4 each of 2 designs—and 8 coordinating envelopes with party-ready designs of birthday cake, candles, and all the wishes. The cards in this kit also make great invitations for a fun birthday bash!
If you order today you’ll be able to choose FREE exclusive reward stamp sets or other items with each $50 purchase as part of our Sale-a-Bration promotion.
If you shop with me this month (thank you ever so much!) and spend under $149.99 (before shipping and tax), please use the current host code for January: 7NXNR767 If your order totals over $150.00, do not use the host code above, you will earn Stampin’ Rewards for free products. Check out my blog for the Mainely Stamping Merits Program to earn your way to a free stamp set from me!
What a wonderful long color journey this has been! As I have explored the new 2021-2023 In Colors with you, we have covered 5 gorgeous colors over 5 months. And now we are down to the end…
This last In Color, Pale Papaya, is one I have struggled with. But I have to say, this card using the Peaceful Cabin Stamp Set in Pale Papaya, Old Olive and Balmy Blue is my favorite! I did not intend to save the best for last, but you can be the judge of that.
Peaceful Cabin Stamp Set
The Peaceful Cabin Stamp Set is just that. You have a cabin scene, some pine trees, a wooden fence and more. There are also 5 lovely sentiments, and all but one can be used year round. Because my chosen colors are not winter themed, I down-played the snowy scene aspect and made a card that spans different seasons.
Next, I stamped the same image onto a Post-It note. I made sure the top of the image was stamped along a sticky edge. Then, I cut this out with my Paper Snips, creating a “mask”.
And with my newly made mask, I covered over my original stamped cabin. This way, I could stamp my pine tree stamps from the Peaceful Cabin Stamp Set behind the cabin. I stamped the trees multiple times in Old Olive Ink to get good coverage, overlapping them slightly.
The Colors of a Peaceful Cabin Card
My pine trees needed a little more green after I was finished stamping them. I used a Blender Pen to shade more Old Olive Ink to fill them in. The majority of the color, Old Olive, comes from my pine trees on this card.
I decided to add background color for this card by way of Water Painters. One of my favorite methods is to use ink refill drops on clear acrylic blocks and adding water. I find that wetting the paper slightly with water before adding the ink color mix provides a great medium.
When I was happy with background, I tore the top and bottom of the paper to create an interesting edge. Next, I used Blending Brushes to add Balmy Blue Ink to the top, and Old Olive Ink along the bottom.
Embellishments in a very specific color can be hard to come by…unless you make your own color! I did just that with the Elegant Faceted Gems. I added some color to the clear gems, using my Dark Pool Party Stamping Blend. Now, I know this card features Balmy Blue, but that shade was so light I needed something slightly darker. In the end, the color is still very opaque, and quite beautiful!
A little twine makes this card divine! I relied on the Baker’s Twine Essentials Pack (5 colors to choose from!). Because I am adding Very Vanilla to my card front, I chose the corresponding color twine. I wrapped it around my Peaceful Cabin scene and made a small knot in the front.
My Peaceful Cabin Card front layers were so easy to assemble! Much of them went down flat, using Multipurpose Liquid Glue.
I did add Stampin’ Dimensionals under my sentiment piece. I chose the mini version on purpose. In this way I could make sure my Baker’s Twine remained in between the dimensionals, so there was no issues with interference.
The last thing I added to my card front was the pretty blue bling I created. I used my Take Your Pick Tool to lift the self-adhesive beauties onto my card. In symmetry, I used 3 smaller sized gems along the top, then 3 larger size gems along the bottom.
My 2021-2023 In Color Tour
I hope you have enjoyed spending some time getting to know the new 2021-2023 In Colors with me! Each month we covered a different color and some coordinating combinations. And 1 out of 3 cards for every new In Color was a Christmas card. If you would like to see the Pale Papaya Christmas card, click here.
As always, products for the cards I create are available in my online stamping store. I showcased the Peaceful Cabin Stamp Set, but did you know there are also coordinating dies? The Cabin Dies and a Die Cutting Machine will help you cut the stamped images nicely, and the Peaceful Cabin Bundle will also save you 10%. I encourage you to check out any sales or specials when you shop…earn yourself some amazing deals. Your creativity is worth it!
I was hoping that the Bright Baubles Stamp Set would come to the rescue. I struggled with great difficulty to create a card with this color combo: Pale Papaya, Merry Merlot, and So Saffron. On the color swatch book, these colors seem to blend quite nicely.
But, as I pulled out the papers and began to design, I just didn’t feel these colors clicking. Merry Merlot is a deep red-wine color, lending itself to Christmas. I wanted Pale Papaya and So Saffron to be gleaming, glowing bright baubles. In the end, I may have come up with the “ugly sweater” of Christmas cards! Let’s see how I got there…
Slimline Card
While I was creating an unusual color-combo Christmas card, I decided to also start with an unusual size card base, the slimline card. To see another slimline card in an unusual Christmas In Color, click here.
To begin, I cut my Basic White Thick Cardstock Base to measure 7 x 8-1/2″ with my Paper Trimmer. If your trimmer doesn’t have an extended arm for measurements, just cut 4″ off the 11″ length of an 8-1/2 x 11″ sheet of cardstock.
After your cardbase is cut to slimline size, score the 7″ width in half, at 3-1/2″. The Paper Trimmer has both a cutting blade (the darker gray color) and a scoring blade (the lighter gray color). Be sure not to confuse the two!
Bright Baubles Stamp Set
The Bright Baubles Stamp Set is an over the top larger than life Christmas ornament set, with 2 different shaped baubles. With a slimline card in mind, I wanted to use both images of the bright baubles. Because I intended to color my baubles in with Stampin’ Blends, I needed a dark Memento Black Ink outline.
Stamparatus to the rescue! Did you know that this amazing tool comes with a foam mat that is needed for photopolymer stamp sets, but removable for cling (red rubber) stamp sets? This is based on the thickness or height of the stamps themselves.
After 3-4 ink-ups and stamps using Memento Black Ink, I was able to get the dark outlines I wanted. I love using the Stamparatus when I know I will need to re-stamp an image. This tool makes it effortless to repeat stamp and not worry about lining up my stamp each time, exactly.
*** Use extreme caution keeping the 2 included magnets far away from each other. They may shatter if the strong magnetic pull attracts them together. Replacement magnets are sold separately.
Colorful Bright Baubles
These Bright Baubles are big images, which makes them fun to color. I say this as someone who doesn’t necessarily enjoy coloring. In keeping with my color theme of Pale Papaya, So Saffron and Merry Merlot, I pulled my Stampin’ Blends and got to work. To temper my color palette, I also added a touch of Pool Party and Soft Seafoam.
After I finished coloring in my bright bauble images with my Stampin’ Blends, I used the coordinating die set, Delicate Baubles Dies and my Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine to die cut them. Notice that the white surrounding edge of my die cut bauble is larger on one side? My die shifted during the cutting process, so I simply trimmed it a bit with my Paper Snips.
Merry & Bright
In order to make my card more merry & bright, I relied on the sentiment stamp from the Bright Baubles Stamp Set. I love to create background paper by stamping a fully inked word image, followed by a stamped off image. And then I continued the process with Merry Merlot Ink… repeatedly!
After filling my paper with merry & bright wishes, I added some soft color with my Blending Brushes. I started with So Saffron Ink at the top. As I moved to the bottom, I switched brushes and color, to Pale Papaya Ink.
Colorful Cardstock
With my Basic White Thick Cardstock base, I don’t have to worry about adding an insert to the inside of my card. This also gives me more freedom to add layers to the card front without the worry of additional bulk. I began with a layer of Merry Merlot Cardstock, then added my Merry & Bright stamped and shaded paper over that.
Remember the dies I used to cut my bauble images? I die cut two more in Merry Merlot Cardstock to place behind each bauble. By placing them slightly offset, this creates a shadow for my baubles. I also added a piece of So Saffron Cardstock and Pale Papaya Cardstock behind each bauble as I assembled my card.
Beautiful Bright Baubles
Just like Christmas ornaments, ribbon and embellishments make them incredibly beautiful. I added a bow to the top of each bright bauble, using Pale Papaya Open Weave Ribbon and some Mini Glue Dots to adhere.
There are certainly lots of embellishments to chose from! After careful consideration, I chose the Artistry Blooms Adhesive Backed Sequins. These sequins come in a variety of colors, and the shiny faceted gleam of Calypso Coral, Coastal Cabana and Rich Razzleberry blended perfectly. I used my Take Your Pick Tool for easy application.
Ugly Christmas Card?
This card sat on my desk for almost a week, while I pondered its fate. I just wasn’t confident that I had used the color combo to the best of my ability. I worried that I had created…an “ugly sweater” Christmas card! Then, I decided that even if it wasn’t the most glamorous of cards, maybe someone would love it. Or at least laugh with me, as I determine that if there is a place for ugly Christmas sweaters, why not ugly Christmas cards?
During my 2021-2023 In Color tour, I have created many cards. To see another unusual Christmas card color combo, click here. And if I have inspired you to try your hand at a Bright Bauble Christmas card (ugly or pretty), be sure to pick up the Bright Baubles Bundle so that you save 10% automatically. My online store has everything you will need!
My In Color tour will come to a close with just one more card, so stop back in soon to see how this chapter ends…
