Party Animals - Free shipping

Hi stampin' friends! Sometimes I just love to create simple, yet I think, effective cards. My style...watercolor and then combine the image/scene with a stenciled background. That is just what I did for these 2 birthday cards:

I saw this stamp and die set called Party Animal at the Pink and Main website and just loved all the images and sentiments. I am a subscriber of their Monthly Subscription Kit and therefore receive a 10% discount on all their other products. Win/Win for me!

I do have a Brother Scan 'n Cut, but still buy coordinating dies for they cut out more detail than I seem to be able to achieve with my machine. What is so special about Pink and Main's dies? 1) they are pink, so you definitely know to what company they belong, if they get misplaced (never happens, right?), and 2) the packaging has the pink outline of the dies so you know right where to put them back and if any are missing!

I stamped all the images with Altenew's Obsidian Black Ink on Tim Holtz's Distress Watercolor Cardstock, sprinkled while still wet Nuvo's Crystal Clear Embossing Power and heat set.

Then I watercolored all the images using Daniel Smith's 238 Dot Card set I have been loving lately for the great variety and smooth application.

I used a NBUS (Never Before Used Schtuff) stencil that I have had for a while called The Crafter's Workshop Numbers Collage:

With a little Pixie Spray on the back it ink blended beautifully with Distress Oxide Prize Ribbon (love this color!) and my Scrapbook.com Foam Blending Tools:

Here they are side by side:

I used my new Penny Black Dainty Dashes Creative Dies to cut an interesting border and still leave white showing. These are on clearance now at Scrapbook.com and right now free shipping over $70 (4/11/22 - 3 days only) with the code APRILSHIP22!

The sentiments are stamped with Versamark Ink and then just white heat embossed with Nuvo Detail Glacier White Embossing Power onto black cardstock. Lawn Fawn's Licorice is my favorite to use. Works the best for some reason.  Don't forget to all prep your cardstock with a Magic Anti-Static Pad first.

Cutie patoodies!

Thanks for hanging in there. I will be submitting to the following challenges:

Be well, my friends! Enjoy the crafty life...

*Some of the links in this post are affiliate links. This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive a small affiliate commission at no extra cost to you. All opinions remain my own.