Flirty and thirty

So, with this subtle card I doubt anyone can tell how old my friend is going to be… 

My friend trained in drama, although she acts little nowadays as she’s busy doing the grown up thing of working and paying rent and trying to find a work/life balance. She remains a very confident, dramatic person who is definitely not a shrinking violet. She loves colour and she’s a proper magpie.

I wanted a fairly classy look to her card, but to have it make an impact, nod to her personality. Also, she’s turning a certain age which deserves acknowledgment.

The layout is based on a card I saw on Pinterest, I liked the simple design because I thought I could then really enjoy playing with the details and make them much bigger – not necessarily in size, but in impact – than if I went for a more fussy design.

The numbers are cut from Create and Craft’s sequined sequin card again, three different designs. I love how blingy and wow the card is (although I’m not brave enough to use it in large quantities) and I thought it would be a great way to satisfy my friend’s magpie. I wanted 5 numbers, and having them all in the same design seemed a bit boring, the odd number meant I had to choose between three of one and two of another, or two twos and a one which was what I went for for maximum going.

I wish I could get photos to show off just how shiny this sequined sequin card is, but I can’t despite trying natural light, torches and funny angles. If anyone has any tips they’d be very much appreciated.

I wanted something very subtle to lay the super shiny numbers against, and found this lovely white slightly striped vellum in the stash I inherited. It seemed a good background because the contrast of textures really drew my eye, hopefully it does the same for others.

The background had to be a very simple one. This is not something I find easy to do, and I had to tell myself not to emboss it or add gems or any extra. I did choose a pearlescent finish, it’s Adorable Scorable but I don’t know what colour as I got it in a mixed pack.

At first I die cut Happy Birthday and put it onto the front of the card, but it looked a little bland and I was finding it hard to choose the right colour to use (so I now have 7 different pre cut greetings for future cards). Inspiration struck: I thought I could use the negative and have whichever card I chose for my backing layer show through. 

This led to further deliberation. What to use for the backing layer? I considered silver mirri card, but it was too harsh and too in your face as well as meaning the card seemed to have too much going on, but iut did make me realise the card needed more shininess. Hmmm. I spent ages trying the card against different card until I realised I was giving myself a much harder task than I needed, by using some of the sequined sequin card again I could pull all my colours together and really let the magpie go wild.

Overall I am really pleased with this card, it’s very much outside of my comfort zone (I love clean and simple designs when I see other people’s makes, but return struggle not to add extras to my own as they tend to feel boring or bland) but I am confident my friend will like it.

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