Excavator Birthday Card

Hi everyone! :o)

Today I want to share with you an Excavator Birthday Card I made for my landlord's son, who celebrated 2nd birthday this month. He loves excavators and tools and always carries them arround. Such a fun kid! :o)

My card is a CASE of an amazing card (link to Create a Smile blog) made by Christine Drogt of Kartenchaos. :o)

Christine is very kind and friendly person and amazing designer, illustrator and many more. Her CAS cards designs are stunning! I love her style! :o)

Christine is an owner and illustrator of Create a Smile. Stamps, stencils, papers, enamel stickers, wood chips... Love love love!!! :o) Here is a link to  Create a Smile blog and shop .

Christine also set up an art project #Smilespotting. Cards to brighten someones day, fun ideas and beautiful designs, gorgeous hand lettering... If you would like to find out more about this fun project, just follow this link. :o)

And now, how I made my card and couple tips. :o)

For this card I used Create a Smile 'Whimsical Wheels' Stamp Set, which is sold out and retired. I'm so happy I managed to get this cute stamp set before it retired. :o)

I went with same layout, stamp set, color scheme, embellishments as Christine on her card, I just skipped stamping background. Must say Christine's idea is awesome and will try it definitely in future. :o)

First I made an excavator. I stamped the image on a patterned paper from Create a Smile 'Sending Sunshine' paper pack. Then I colored whole surface with Yellow Stabilo Marker, adding more color on the edges to accent shades. I colored wheels, double bucket and pivot points with black marker.
TIP: When coloring, shading etc. patterned papers, leave them dry a bit to prevent ink smearing.

Next up was fussy cutting. I love it! One of my favorite techniques! I fussy cut the excavator and cut out a window.
TIP: When fussy cutting, first cut away large pieces of paper and then cut on the lines. Rotate paper, it will be much easier to cut around tiny details. 

Then I colored edges with black marker.
TIP: Color edges of fussy cut image with black pen or marker. This way you'll hide white edges and any white space you didn't cut off. Your paper pieced image will look much better.

As I decided to keep this card as simple as possible with a lot of white space, I played a bit more with the image. I glued a piece of an acetate on the window and covered tires, double bucket and pivot points with gloss resin to create glossy accents.
TIP: Use scraps of acetate sheets to create windows on objects. It looks very interesting. :o)
TIP: You can create glossy accents on your cards not only with Ranger's product Glossy Accents. I use gloss resin super-clear. I pour medium on a piece of paper and add it on the parts I want with crafting needle. You can also use toothpicks, sewing needle etc.

I heat embossed a sentiment on a piece of black cardstock paper scrap and cut out a banner shape.
TIP: Don't throw away any paper. Even the smallest pieces can be used for something. 

After all parts were dry, I put everything together. I glued 3-D foams on the back of the excavator and banner and glued them on a white cardstock card base. I used 2 different thick 3-D foams.
TIP: Use different thick 3-D foams on your CAS cards. Pop-up elements will look even more interesting.

At the end I embellished card with enamel stickers. :o)

Card dimensions: 102 mm x 133 mm (4" x 5 1/4")

List of supplies: 

• Create a Smile 'Whimsical Wheels' Stamp Set
• The Alley Way Stamps (TAWS) 'From Us' Stamp Set (shop is closed)
• Create a Smile 'Sending Sunshine' Paper Pack
• white cardstock paper
• black cardstock paper
• Ranger's Archival Ink (Jet Black)
• Tsukineko VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad
• WOW! Embossing Powder (Opaque Bright White, Regular, WL01R)
• Faber-Castell black permanent marker F
• Stabilo Pens (Markers) 68:
• Yellow 44
• Black 46
• Create a Smile 'Sending Sunshine' Enamel Stickers
• acetate sheet scrap
• strong double sided adhesive tape
• 3-D foams
• Gloss Resin Gel Super Clear
• MS scoring board
• Sigma Rotary Paper Trimmer
• Fiskars High Precision Personal Paper Trimmer
• scissors 
• acrylic block (102 mm x 102 mm)
• Ranger Heat It Craft Tool
• crafting needle
• powder bag

I am entering my card to following challenges:

Note: bold text and challenge badge (if any) are direct links to the current challenge and blog badge is direct link to blog or challenge home page.

1) Create a Smile April projects
This is my 1st entry to this challenge.

2) Crafting By Designs, April Anything Goes
This is my 3rd entry to this challenge.

3) Little Miss Muffet Challenges, Challenge #136 - Anything Goes

4) Paru's Card Making Challenges, April Challenge: Anything Goes

This is my 2nd entry to this challenge.

Thank you for stopping by and your kind feedback. Enjoy and smile! :o)

Crafty Milka