Plaid Birthday Card

I am often inspired by other card makers when I am designing and making cards.  There are so many great ideas out there!  Many times they are using stamps, dies, inks, etc. that I do not own.  I usually will work with what I have but when I saw this card by Kristina Werner I knew that I HAD to have a plaid building stamp set.  I waited and watched prices and when the time was right I placed a nice little stamp order and finally had some new stamps to play with (including a plaid building one)!  Then Christmas happened and so these stamps have been sitting on my desk for a few weeks now and I have been waiting to play with them! 

I must say that I LOVE this stamp set!!  It was so fun to create a plaid background and really easy too.  I just picked my ink colors, grabbed my long stamping block (I need a few more of these to speed up the process), and then started stamping.  It's as simple as that.  Alternate colors and plaid stripes and soon you will have a lovely plaid background!  Sorry I don't have any step-by-step photos this time around.  I was in a hurry and really wanted to get this card done.  I have a few more ideas for using plaid backgrounds and will try to take some step-by-step photos then. 

To create the area for the sentiment and image I used some masking paper.  I stamped the border shape on the masking paper, cut it out, and then placed it on my background paper where I wanted it.  Then I started the plaid stamping.  I wanted a one layer card so this could easily be sent in the mail.  You could also cut out a shape using a die cut machine and use that.  Once the plaid stamping is done, peel off the masking paper and you will have a blank area to finish your card. 

Stamp the same border in the blank space and then you can stamp any image you want!  I also got this tree stamp set when I placed my order so of course I had to use that too.  I had one little mistake while stamping my tree so I ended up cutting another piece of white paper to fit inside the border stamp.  This covers my little mistake and adds just a hint of dimension.  

I used my Gelly Roll Stardust pen to add some stitching lines in the plaid pattern, outline the border stamp, and also to add some sparkle to the heart on the tree.  I just love how a little bit of sparkle can go a long way.  

I hope you enjoy this stamped plaid background as much as I do!  I know that I will be trying this technique again with different colors and in different ways.  Thanks for stopping!

Supplies:

• cardstock- misc
• stamps- Maya Road (Create-A-Forest), My Favorite Things (Plaid Background Builder), Close to My Heart (Seasonal Celebrations D1112), Martha Stewart Crafts (Half Labels)
• inks- Momento Dew Drop Ink (London Fog, Rhubarb Stalk, Angel Pink, Bamboo Leaves, New Sprout, Summer Sky, Lulu Lavender, Desert Sand), Close to My Heart (Chocolate)
• misc- Gelly Roll Stardust pen, masking paper