News

News

Coffee Understands with Becky Roberts

by Becky Roberts on Jun 26 2020

Hi Stamping Friends! Becky Roberts of Inking Idaho here today with a couple of coffee cards to share with you. I used the stamp set Coffee Understands and the Coffee word die. I colored the girl with Copic markers and placed her on a hand cut tag. I embossed the sentiment in white and then lightly sponged over it with Frayed Burlap Distress Oxide Ink. Coffee Understands Coffee Word Die This card has the sentiments in the stamp set embossed in white for the background. Both cards backgrounds are stenciled with Distress Oxide ink in Speckled Egg with the Flowers Stencil and the Life Changing Blender Brushes. I stenciled first, and then embossed. Life Changing Blender Brushes Have you tried ink blending or stenciling with these brushes yet? Please do, you will find the application so much smoother and easier! Happy Friday, friends! Becky

News

A Cat, a Dog and Thinking of You!

by Angela Bode on Jun 19 2020

Hello, everyone! I hope you have had a great week! I am excited to share with you a couple of stencils and a sweet pup today. First up is the gorgeous Fireburst Stencil. I have a limited supply of watercolor powders and in truth, I am tired of the colors I have. So I decided to try an experiment and see if I could get a different look. First I sponged distress ink through the stencil with a Life-Changing Blender Brush (on sale now!) also sold as a Bundled set with bonus stencil). Then I spritzed the cardstock, (stencil still in place) with water. Next, I sprinkled the watercolor powder through the stencil. I took a piece of cardstock and placed it over the top of the watery ink and rubbed it. When I removed the top piece I had a negative print that I will use at a later time. Lastly, I removed the stencil and voila! Magic! I adore how the distress ink changed the watercolor powder. I will be trying this technique again soon! To finish off the card I heat embossed a sentiment from More Fancy Sentiments and I added a sprinkling of Blueberry Mojito Sequins. Next up is another fun project this time using the Cat Stencil. After stenciling the cat with Life-Changing Blender Brushes, I covered her with a mask. Next, I splattered resist spray all over the background. Once it was dry I brushed blue distress ink over the cardstock and splattered resist spray again. Once dry the resist spray splatters sealed in the blue ink where the droplets had fallen. Next, I brushed on a purple distress ink layer followed by distress spray and lastly a hint of black ink. The result is a cool background in white, blue, and purple splatters! So much fun! The sentiment from Grace Puppy is perfect as a thank you for my cat sitter! And to give equal time to Team Dog I created this sweet card featuring Lucky Puppy. The sentiment is from the Grace Puppy set. I watercolored this darling pup with help from Lydia's Video: Using Unexpected Color. Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you feel inspired to create this weekend! Angie Discounted Bundle

News

Paper Cranes & Lemons

by Ceal Pritchett on Jun 17 2020

Hello Everyone! It's Ceal! Today I am sharing some cards using some 4x4 stamps from the June release. We have several of these 4x4 stamps in the shop and they are so fun to create with. The first two cards use the Paper Cranes along with some word dies, Hello and I Miss You. These stamps are seamless on all four sides so you can line them up for days. They make an easy background for a slimline card like the one above or a card front like the one below. You could even line them up to create a 12x12 background for a scrapbook if you wanted. For my third card I used the Fruitylicious 4x4 stamp, isn't that a fun name for a stamp? You can make this stamp any fruit from lemons to oranges, limes, grapefruit and even Kiwi. I embossed them in gold and turned them into lemons by ink blending the background with yellow ink using the Life Changing Blender Brushes. I stamped the Baker's Twine along the left side in a darker color of yellow and wow does this stamp look real! I am in love with this stamp to add twine without the bulk so it can be mailed without extra postage!

News

After The Storm Two Ways with Erica

by Erica Andersson-Burke on Jun 16 2020

Hi guys! It’s Erica back on the Picket Fence Blog today, with a couple of cards using the brand new After The Storm stamp set. Both cards are coloured with Copics and stamped up with the Black Hybrid ink. Because the After The Storm stamps are brand new, I used a Mini MISTI to make sure I got good stamp outlines. I wanted to create really dramatic and dark clouds, but not make them all grey or black. On a scrap piece of paper I scribbled all the grey copics I planned on using, then used some blues over them to see how they reacted. This scrap piece became my guide to how to colour in the clouds. For the rainbow I used one single marker for each section. On the second card I started with a lighter Grey Copic (C5). On the first one the darkest one is C7. On this one I used a more pastel colour scheme for the rainbow. I have also used two markers for each section to get more dimension. I added two more colours, plus a darker shade, to colour in the umbrella, as well as some browns for the bench. Once the colouring was done, this card was complete as the sentiment is already stamped up on it. To add more drama to the first card, I cut out a mask and placed over the coloured image. Then I ink blended some Chipped Sapphire that was left on one of my Life Changing Blender Brushes to add a soft dark sky behind the clouds. The final touch for the background was splattering some Golden Rose Paper Glaze on the card for some shimmer. I mixed a tiny dollop of it with water and splattered it with a paint brush. I keep one specifically for this as it dries rather hard, and this paint brush is no good for anything else now. The sentiment for this card is one from the After The Storm stamp set, and it says ‘Rainbows only form after a storm’. To create this effect, I masked off the ‘rainbow’ and stamped the rest of the sentiment with Black Hybrid ink. Then I masked off the ‘rainbow’ part in sections and stamped each section in a different colour. I have used Atelier Inks from Ink On 3 in Marilyn Red, Marigold Orange, Bee Sting Yellow, Goddess Green, Peacock Blue and My Jam Purple. If you look closely, you will notice that I have used the colours in the same order as my rainbow is coloured. Nice little touch, eh? Well, that’s it from me for today. Thank you for spending this time with me, I hope you found some inspiration here and if you want to add this gorgeous stamp set to your stash you can find it RIGHT HERE. Lots of love and happy crafting from Erica

News

Getting Glazy!

by Angela Bode on May 29 2020

Hi there! Today we are getting glazy with Picket Fence Studios Paper Glaze! There are 13 beautiful colors to choose from, plus you can mix them to create your own colors! I mixed Agapantha Purple with Ocean Poppy and spread it over the Fleur Di Lis Stencil. I think it would look fabulous with the Peacock Mandala Stencil too! I am always hunting for thank you cards so I used Small Ways to Say Thank You. Have you had the chance to check out all the sentiments included in this set? It's an amazing set with a thank you for every occasion! Check out the shine from the Paper Glaze! Next up is a super fun Super Hero card! I used the Sunburst Stencil for the rays on the yellow and red cardstock pieces. For the top blue layer, I used Snowdrop White Paper Glaze with the Stars Stencil. Not all heroes wear capes so I used the Good Teacher Stamp and Die Bundle. (this is on sale right now as a bundled set!) I love this set. The sentiments are just right for the teachers in your life! Thanks so much for stopping by! I hope you are inspired to mix some Paper Glazes! Make sure to stop by tomorrow for a Picket Fence Studios Collaboration with prizes! Angie

News

Loving this May Release with Karen Reategui

by Karen Reategui on May 14 2020

Hi friends! Today I’m over Picket Fence Studios Blog sharing all cards I made for this new release. There’s a whole lot of awesomeness in this May release. I have made several cards and I’ll be showing you how I did one of them. So let’s get started. For this card, I’m featuring the Dad’s Day Stamp that I stamped onto Strathmore Bristol watercolor paper using Black Hybrid ink. Then, I added color using Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers. Once my panel was dry, I added a piece of pattern paper and a black card base at the back using glue. Next, I placed the Quilting Market Stencil by Picket Fence Studios on top of my panel and applied white ink usually a Life Changing Blender Brush. Finally, I stamped and white heat embossed the sentiment from the same Dad’s Day Stamp Set onto black and added to the background plus a few white Nuvo Drops as a final touch and my card was finished. So now let’s see all the cards I made for this awesome release! For this card, I did a no-line coloring for the Nautilus Shell. Then, I created the background using LDRS inks and the Life Changing Blender Brushes from Picket Fence Studios and added Snowdrop White Paper Glaze at the back. I’m in love with this color combination for this nautical card. On this card, I’m using A Rose Stamp, which is absolutely gorgeous. The size of this rose creates a great focal point in your card. I heat embossed all the flowers and leaves using silver embossing powder and also I did a copic coloring. Here I have a shaker card and if you follow me you know how much I love shaker cards. I’m also using A Rose Stamp and you can use this stamp for a Mother’s Day card just like I did it. On these two cards I also did a no-line coloring. I kept these cards very simple and with a black and white backgrounds since I the flowers already had a lot of colors and I wanted them to be the focal point. Next, I have this card featuring the Spliced Heart Stencil. There are many possibilities for this awesome stencil. I simply love this stamp You or WIFI. I even love the name lol. It comes with fabulous sentiments too. And for this card, I did a Copic coloring and kept it very simple since my main idea on this card was to express a very relaxing scene where you can go and unplug! I have a set of two cards and one more below where I’m using Fleur di lis Stencil with a mix of Paper Glaze. And on this card, I actually mixed three different colors of Paper Glaze and created this new color. It could be Red, Carmine, Poppy... You name it! For this card, I also mixed more colors of Paper Glaze and got this awesome coffee color. This stamp set is gorgeous! To the Lovely Couple Stamp Set is perfect for Birthday cards, Weddings and other celebrations. I have heat embossed the cake using gold embossing powder and did a simple Copic coloring. And for my last card I made a shaker card. I also used To the Lovely Couple Stamp Set and white heat embossed the image. Well, these were my cards for this May Release from Picket Fence Studios and I hope I can inspire you a little bit. Remember Picket Fence Studios is having free shipping on all USA orders. Have a phenomenal day my friends! Karen

News

Cake Is Important To A Happy Life!

by Becky Roberts on Apr 24 2020

Hi stampers, Becky Roberts here from Inking Idaho. Who loves cake? It seems like I've been cooking non stop lately with everyone home and I've made a few cakes the last month. My family loves dessert!! I like cake but not as much as I love coloring cakes, so today I have three cards to share featuring cake and images from the Let's Decorate Stamp Set. I have colored the images with Copic Markers and used the dies to cut them out. The cake is popped up on Foam Squares. Let's Decorate Stamp Set Let's Decorate Dies I made the backgrounds using Distress Oxide ink and Picket Fence Studios Life Changing Blender Brushes. Have you tried these yet? They make ink blending so smooth and easy! These will make perfect birthday cards; I can't wait to send them to friends. You will love the Let's Decorate set and dies for your celebrations too. If you make some, tag me on Instagram so I can see! Happy Friday! Becky

News

Grow Through What you Go Through

by Angela Bode on Apr 17 2020

Hello! I couldn't decide what I wanted to share with you today so I am sharing two encouragement cards and one belated birthday card! I watercolored the beautiful Ponchatoula Strawberries image and then highlighted several areas with Inktense Pencils. This set comes with a coordinating die set which allows you to not only die-cut this large image but several smaller leaves, flowers, and berries as well! The berries overflow the gorgeous Terranium Die in silver foil. Lastly, I added a sentiment from the amazing Face the Sun stamp set. Next up is a fun belated birthday card. I need more of this type of card than any other. I am always late! I watercolored on black cardstock for the background. Such a fun technique! The Wild Wildflowers was heat embossed in white and the sentiment is from Seriously, Literally, Always. After creating several cards in a row with dark backgrounds it was time to lighten things up a bit! I used the Leaves and Flower Stencil with LC Blender Brushes also sold in a Bundle. The sentiment is once again from the fabulous Face the Sun set. In conclusion, embrace the day, grow through what you go through and send out those birthday cards even if they are late! Love ya! Angie

News

Stencilling Madness with Erica!

by Erica Andersson-Burke on Apr 16 2020

Hi guys! Erica back on the PF Blog today and I've got quite a few cards for you! All the cards in this post are made with stencils one way or another, or a third. I do love them and it's so great that there are new ones in each release. For these cards I have used Flowers and Stars. My first two cards are very simple and fun, as well as quick. I have used the Flowers stencil for these. With the help of some Life Changing Blender Brushes and Atelier inks I ink blended the inks directly onto card bases. The stencils have all had a good spray of Pixie Spray on them to keep them in place. It's such a must have for those intricate stencil. It's almost impossible to get clean, crisp lines without it. For these two I started with a light blend of Bee Sting Yellow ink in the middle of the Flowers stencil and worked my way out towards the edges. Then to create some contrast and depth, I added some Marigold Orange on one and Marilyn Red on the other. To finish these off I cut out the Hey You in black and white card stock. The background piece I cut out four times and layered up to raise the whole thing up. On the next card I've used the same Flowers stencil but stead of ink blending, I've used Paper Glazes to create a rainbow. The colours I used, from left to right, are Agapantha Purple, Peony Pink, Marigold Orange, Golden Rose, Daffodil Yellow, Leaf Green and Ocean Poppy. Make sure you clean off your stencils and tools quickly after you have used Paper Glazes as they do dry fast. I have an old kitchen sponge and tooth brush I use to clean off mine. DO NOT use your Stamp Scrubber on Paper Glaze. I repeat: DO NOT use your Stamp Scrubber to clean off Paper Glaze! It will ruin it! The sentiment is from Never Faked A Sarcasm and I stamped it with Black Hybrid ink on white card stock, trimmed it down and adhered it to the card right in the middle. My next card is also very simple, although it took a lot longer to create the background for this one. It's done with Copics and it is done as a dark night sky. The stencil used on it is called Stars and I used Black Pansy Paper Glaze with a palette knife. I thought maybe it would look too dark but it's gorgeous! To make it look more like a galaxy, I added some details with a white Posca pen. I don't have much luck with white gel pens but the Posca pen works quite well for me. If you want splatters, the Snowdrop White Paper Glaze might work a treat, seeing as it's shimmery too. The Love Ya word die is cut out of matte black card stock and silver mirror card stock. It's adhered to the card with foam tape cut to shape using the die to cut it. Well, that's it from me for today but I hope you like the cards and found some inspiration here! Thanks for stopping by, stay safe and stay home if you can! MAD props to those of you keeping our societies going, I am so proud of you and so grateful to you! BIG (germ free) HUGS from Erica

News

Sleeping Baby Onesie Card

by Becky Roberts on Apr 03 2020

Happy Friday Picket Fence Stampers! Becky Roberts here from Inking Idaho with a pretty little baby girl card. To get the onesie shape I made a few cuts. Start with a 8-1/2" x 5-1/2" piece of cardstock. Fold in half like you would for a regular card. 1. Sleeves: Measure on the sides of the card where the sleeves will go, from the top corners down to 1-1/2". Make a tiny pencil mark. From that pencil mark measure 3/4" in towards the chest. Cut on that 3/4" line. 2. Sides: From that cut 3/4" line, use a ruler to draw a line diagonally to the bottom corners of the card and then cut on that line. 3. You now have a onesie with sleeves. Use a corner rounder on the sleeves to round and soften the sharp corners. 4. Legs: I used a 1-1/2" circle punch to add the leg holes. After you make the punch, use your scissors to slightly straighten the crotch area so it look more like how the leg holes should look. 5. Neck: I used the same hole punch to create the neck opening. 6. Now it is time to decorate. Rose Stencil Sleeping Baby Stamp Set I stenciled the roses and leaves onto the light pink cardstock with Distress Oxide Inks and the Life Changing Blender Brushes. I stamped the sentiment on white cardstock measuring approximately 2-1/8" x 1". I hand cut the tag shape and punched a hole to attached to the ribbon sash. Add jewels, pearls or little buttons to the top. Have a lovely weekend, friends - stay safe out there! Becky

News

There is Life After Chaos

by Lisa Henke on Apr 01 2020

Happy April! I have been creating encouragement cards like it's my job lately. This sentiment felt pretty relevant considering the times right now. I am so thankful to have my card making, it helps me escape the crazy. It brings me peace, there will be life after chaos. I started this card with the really cool new stencil Tropical Angel Fish Stencil and Life Changing Blender Brushes. I blended in a few different colors of ink to create a soft serene background. I made sure to use all three of the fish stencils. I could have just stamped the sentiment from Swim in the Sea and left this a simple one-layer card, but I stepped it up a bit by adding some ocean greenery with some of the images from Things on the Sea Floor. I colored them with my Copics and then used the matching Things on the Sea Floor Dies to cut them out. I love how the fish look like they are swimming amongst the stones and plant life. I added the sentiment to the top, and then tucked in a scattering of sequins, because, why not?! I hope you are all staying healthy and safe and embracing the slower pace of life. Keep creating. Hugs, Lisa

News

Deep Waters with Ceal

by Ceal Pritchett on Mar 25 2020

Hello Everyone! It's Ceal here! Right now times are tough and everyone could use a little encouragement so I have been making cards to send out to friends and family just to let them know I am thinking about them. To create this card I started with a white top folding card base and a bristol panel, I have found that ink blends really well using the Life Changing Blender Brushes and Bristol card stock. I started by blending Peacock Feathers and Salty Ocean distress oxide inks with the Life Changing Blender Brushes and a little water to create my background. Next I stamped the water bubbles from the set A Bottomless Sea with embossing ink and embossed it with Under The Sea embossing glitter by WOW embossing. They are so sparkly here is an up close photo I stamped the sea turtles from the Swim in the Sea set, colored them using Copic markers and then cut them out with the Coordinating dies. These sea turtles remind me of Squirt and his dad in the Finding Nemo movie I love them! To finish my card I added a sentiment from the A Bottomless Sea set that is so encouraging and reminds us that no matter what we are going through we are never alone.

News

Good Friends and Support

by Lisa Henke on Mar 11 2020

Hello and happy hump day. Are you surviving the week of full moon, time change, and almost Friday the 13th? And we won't even mention the other hot topic of concern. I'm keeping things light and cheery and uplifting.....see what I did there? lol. I am thankful I can escape the day to day crazy with a paper, ink and a punny sentiment. The Tightening Her Bra Straps stamp set from the February release is a fantastic friendship set and I love the encouraging words included with it. I colored up the pretty bra and used the matching Tightening Her Bra Straps Dies to cut it out. The detail in the image, had me reaching for the gorgeous Fancy Flourishes (it's back in stock! Yay!!) stencil. I did a quick, soft and pretty inking with the Life Changing blender brushes with some blush and light grey inks. I stamped the sentiment in Stormy ink and added the bra image above it with foam dimensionals. I never underestimate the support of a good bra and I always rely on the support of a good friend. Both are priceless. I hope this card makes you smile and that you get some crafty time soon. Hugs, Lisa Henke

News

Time to Grow

by Sara Sherlock on Mar 10 2020

Hello! It's Sara, from Much Love Sara here, to share a fun card with you today. My Life Changing Blending Brushes are one of my favorite tools to play with in my craft room. So, of course, when I saw the Watercolor Trees and Bushes stamp set, I knew I had to create a beautiful sunset blended background to highlight these pretty images.

News

Funky Leaves Stencil cards, two ways, with Erica

by Erica Andersson-Burke on Mar 03 2020

Hi guys! It's Erica back on the PFS Blog today. I've used the Funky Leaves Stencil, in two different ways. Ok, so the cards both started out the same way but I finished them off differently and I got very fun results. To start with I sprayed the Funky Leaves Stencil with Pixie Spray to make sure it stays in one place so I get clean straight lines. Then, armed with a Life Changing Blender Brush and some inks (Mountain Mist from Altenew and Goddess Green from Ink On 3) I blended a panel each with each colour. Not all over, oh no, my ombré obsession is going nowhere fast. On the Mountain Mist panel I then went back in with the Embossing Pad from WOW! Embossing and on top of that I sprinkled Aquamarine Glitter Powder. This I set with the dual heat gun on the lowest setting, from underneath the panel, to keep the glitter in place. I also trimmed this panel down a little bit. I didn't want to cover up all that gorgeous glitter too much so what to do? I heat embossed the Happy Birthday from Fancy Sentiment on a strip of vellum, in Platinum embossing powder and then wrapped this around the panel. This I adhered to a light grey card base and with that card no1 was done. Card no2, done with the Goddess Green ink, I did the same Happy Birthday sentiment for. Also in Platinum, on vellum. After wrapping the sentiment strip around the background I adhered the whole thing to a card base. To give this one a bit more interest, I added lots of Nuvo Jewel Drops in Key Lime. I used the leaf shape and added drops of different sizes to them and then set the card aside to dry. Which one is your favourite? The one with glitter or the one with texture? Thanks for stopping by today, I hope you enjoyed these cards and will try one of these techniques yourself. Don't forget to tag @picketfencestudios in your posts when you show off your creations! That's it from me!Lots of love and happy crafting from Erica

News

Peacock beauty with Michelle Lupton

by Michelle Lupton on Feb 28 2020

Hello! It's Michelle here today to share a card I made using a cover die from the January release. I used my Life Changing Blender Brushes to create a Distress Oxide background, and then sprayed it with Perfect Pearls in water. I cut the Peacock Beauty die from silver mirror card stock, and then fussy cut the peacock image from it. I finished with a sentiment from the Beauty and Song stamp set. Thanks for visiting :)

News

Fancy Flourish Ink Blending with Erica

by Erica Andersson-Burke on Feb 23 2020

Hi guys! Erica back on the PFS Blog with a quick card. It’s blue, it’s ink blended and it has bling on it. All my favourite elements. As I was going to do ink blending I got a panel of Bristol Vellum card stock out. I also generously sprayed my Fancy Flourish stencil with Pixie Spray to keep it in place while doing the ink blending. I had three shades of blue inks from Catherine Pooler picked out. Something Borrowed, Suede Shoes and Juniper Mist. With my beloved Life Changing Blender Brushes I did the ink blending in an ombré fashion with the darker colour at the top. Thanks to the Pixie Spray the lines are super crisp and clean! This product is absolute genius and a must-have if you are into ink blending. As the stencilling is so fabulous, I didn’t want to cover it up too much so I kept the sentiment simple. I cut out the new Hello word diecut out of black and white card stock and layered these up. On Lawn Fawn Blue Jay card stock, I heat embossed ‘I’m obsessed with your awesomeness’ in white. The sentiment is from Favorite Notifications, which is a super fun and relevant stamp set. This I then trimmed down to a slim strip and adhered to the card. The Hello was added above it. The final flourish were some Iridescent Crystals from Studio Katia. For a bit of bling, you know. This design would be so easy to do in different colours for different occasions and different people. Ok, well, that’s it from me for today. I hope you like the card! Lots of love and happy crafting from Erica

News

Swallowtail Beauty

by Ceal Pritchett on Jan 25 2020

Hello Everyone It's Ceal, here to share a couple cards using the Swallowtail Beauty with you today. I was supposed to post on Wednesday and I still had brain fog from Creativation and totally forgot. The January release was fabulous and huge and this stamp is one of my favorites because I love butterflies. I shared the second card on release day on my blog but wanted to share it here along with the top one I created after I got back home. For the first card I used Fadeout ink for no line watercoloring and the new Atelier inks from Ink on 3. You can find the links to these on my blog, Simply Beautiful. The Fadeout ink along with the Atelier inks make it so easy to no line watercolor and we have several new stamps like the Swallowtail Beauty that are begging to be watercolored. The card below I stamped the Swallowtail Beauty in embossing ink and then embossed it using Brutus Monroe Alabaster Sparkle. I used the Life Changing Blender Brushes to blend a rainbow of colors over it. The greeting is from the Forever & Ever set.

News

Happy Day with Karen Reátegui

by Karen Reategui on Jan 09 2020

Hello friends! Today I’m up at Picket Fence Studios Blog sharing this birthday card using 4 different colors of foils to use with the Picket Fence Studios Happy Day Foiled Impression and Cutting Die. Additionally, for the background I used Points of Interest Stencil and One Year Older Stamp for the sentiment. Let’s start! I placed the Picket Fence Studios Points of Interest Stencil on top of a white panel and applied Distress Oxide inks using Life Changing Blender Brushes. I removed the stencil and let the panel dry. In the next picture you will see the inks used on this card. Once the panel was dry, I trimmed down a little bit the edges and adhered a white card base at the back. Next, using the Gemini Foilpress machine I foiled the Happy Day Foiled Impression Die 4 times with different colors of foil. Then, I die cut all the pieces using the coordinating dies. I stamped on my panel the Happy Birthday sentiment from Picket Fence Studios One Year Older Stamp Set using Hybrid Black ink and heat embossed it using WOW! Embossing Powder. Finally, I added all die cuts on top of the background using foam double sided tape and a few sequins and this card was done. Thank you so much for stopping by and have a marvelous day!!! Karen

News

Birthday Fishes and a Touch of Glitter

by Lisa Henke on Jan 08 2020

Hello PFS friends! It's Lisa Henke here and in honor of my oldest son turning 18 today (yes I said 18! How in the heck did that happen??) I wanted to share a birthday card. I layered up some stamps and added a bit of glitter. Let's look. I joke that it is birthday season in our house, but it's no joke. We legit, celebrate 8 birthdays over the next month. So I love to have my birthday card stash going strong. Oh, and all the birthdays are for the males, too. Soooo, I don't know about you but I find it a bit more challenging to make masculine birthday cards. I used the One Year Older stamp set today, as I think fish work great for guys. I started this card with the school of fish image from the One Year Older set. I did a little rock and roll technique with three ink colors to create some color variance. I then layered on the Polka Dots stencil and blended on some light blue ink using a Life Changing Blender brush. I picked one of the larger sizes to make the task go quicker. Next I stamped out a single fish from the set with Intense Black ink and used my copics to color him up. I used the One Year Older dies to cut him out and added him to the card front with some foam dimensionals. I then layered on some bubbles in black. I love adding just a touch of sparkle, even to cards for guys, and using a strip of glitter paper in gold, is a simple way to do this without going over the top. With all the ink layering and dimension of the fish, I kept the sentiment simple and just used the Happy Birthday greeting from One Year Older. Plus I love the linear look of the stamp. I layered the finished panel onto Midnight card stock and added it to a Mist card base. Thanks for stopping by today. See you soon and have a great day. Hugs, Lisa