Birthday blossoms

This card is full of dimension and texture and will soon be winging its way across the U.S. to wish a very special friend a happy 60th birthday.  It was inspired by the one seen here.

To the green card base I added Studio 490 translucent embossing paste through TH stencil 061.  Once dry I smudged various brown distress inks over the paste to make it pop.

The doily was die cut from inexpensive watercolor paper using Sizzix 661497.  LOVE the new tool that helps get out the little paper bits left in the die!  I was hesitant to order it as the denture brush I've been using works okay but on these more intricate dies this tool is awesome!  Antique Linen and Old Paper distress inks were smushed onto my work surface and misted so I could drag the doily through them.  Once dry I adhered it to the card front using Multi Medium - but only in the center so the edges would be free.

I applied silver metal foil tape (from the heating and air conditioning aisle at the local home improvement store) to a scrap of chip board.  Die cut using Sizzix Watering Can 660235.  Alcohol inks (Pebble, Slate, Mushroom, Rust, Pitch Black) and blending solution were pounced over the pieces.

Using a tiny label I pressed it into the rest of the doily ink mix, scrunched it up, unscrunched and let it dry.  The numbers were in my 'tovers jar, colored with Black Soot archival ink and glued down before the tag was wrapped around the handle of the watering can.

The flowers (Stampers Anonymous  CMS269) were stamped in Jet Black archival ink on mixed media cardstock and colored with distress markers (Shaded Lilac, Wilted Violet, Dusty Concord, Broken China, Tumbled Glass, Mermaid Lagoon, Twisted Citron, Crushed Olive, Forest Moss, Wild Honey, Carved Pumpkin, Rusty Hinge, Vintage Photo, Ground Espresso).  So glad there's a matching die (Sizzix 661613) as I am not fond of fussy cutting!

I fiddled with placement of the flowers then added several very narrow upright strips of green cardstock behind them.  Multi Medium was used to glue down the flowers and foam tape was added to the back for more dimension. 

From another scrap of green cardstock I stamped 'happy birthday' using Ground Espresso and Black Soot (just at the edges of the letters) archival inks.  More brown distress ink was wiped along the edges of the banner.  A smaller scrap was added to the back to raise it up.

Happy 60th birthday, MB!