Hi friends! Happy Sunday, and thanks for stopping by our blog today! Please join me in welcoming back the super sweet and talented Anna-Karin Evaldsson! If you aren’t familiar with her work already, please be sure to stop by her blog at Layers of Ink, and be sure to stop by each Monday for a new Simon Says Monday Challenge each week! Let’s jump into this fun Birthday Penguin card! Read on for more information and enjoy!

Hi everyone! I am so happy to be here today with a fun and easy tutorial. It is summer and I wanted to make a bright and happy card today. I have always liked transparent cards. A transparent card base really makes a card stand out and is also fun when it comes to layering.

My sons like to read an old book of mine about a penguin that doesn’t like the cold and is searching for warmer shores and it inspired this card. It’s called ‘The Penguin That Hated the Cold”. Flimsy transparencies don’t work well for the background. It is better to use a heavier acetate. My favorite is Wendy Vecchi’s Clearly For Art Modeling Film. You can use a transparent background for lots of different types of cards, and they look great for layouts too.

1. Start by stamping the background with the Circle Doodle Background stamp and Cotton White Stazon ink, then fold the Modeling Film to create a card. I stamped the entire sheet, but you can also fold it first, and only stamp the front.
2. Dry embossed vellum looks great on a transparent background since it lets the stamping in the background show through slightly. Emboss a piece of vellum in Tim Holtz’s Tiny Dots folder and tear the lower edge.
3. Simon Says Stamp Birthday Wishes Frame die is very versatile. If you cut off the sentiment, it works great as a general frame for just about anything. Die cut from Heavy stock paper.
4. Ink with Mermaid Lagoon and Twisted Citron.
5. When I want a stronger, more vibrant shade on a part of a paper inked with Distress Ink, I use Distress Crayons. They coordinate perfectly and work great for adding a darker shade of the same color, for instance along the edges.
6. For some shine, mist with Wendy Vecchi Pearl Mica Spray.
7. Stamp the frame in just a few places with the SSS Good Reading Background stamp. The technique used on the frame would work just as well for an entire card background.
8. Die cut the Picture Book Hugging Penguin from white and black wool felt. The beak and feet were die cut from white paper and inked with Spiced Marmalade. Press the die into a piece of cardstock to make an impression and roughly cut out, inside the lines. This step makes it easy to assemble the Picture Book dies.
9. Glue the penguin pieces on top of the backing piece. Don’t glue the ‘hands’ down yet.
10. I wanted the penguin to stand in a field of flowers and inked Tim Holtz Bouquet flowers with Distress Inks. Mist with water to make the ink blend into the paper.
11. I inked a piece of paper with Mermaid Lagoon and die cut SSS Clipping Heart from it. The penguin is holding one of the hearts.
12. Three hearts were also glued to the vellum. I stitched the frame in place with my sewing machine.
13. Die cut a sentiment from white paper with Tim Holtz’s Celebration Words Script set, and add the rest of the sentiment with Label Letter stickers.
14. Here you can see the effect of the Pearl Mica Spray.

I hope this tutorial inspired you to make some projects with clear backgrounds. It is really a lot of fun.

Thank you so much for looking!

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

SUPPLIES:

Simon Says Stamp PICTURE BOOK HUGGING… [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp BIRTHDAY WISHES… [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp CLIPPING HEART Wafer… [ SSS ] Simon Says Cling Stamps CIRCLE DOODLE… [ SSS ] Simon Says Cling Rubber Stamp GOOD… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Sizzix CELEBRATION WORDS… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Sizzix TINY DOTS Texture… [ SSS ] Wendy Vecchi Modeling Film CLEAR… [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp VELLUM SSSVEL12 [ SSS ] Neenah Classic Crest 80 LB SMOOTH… [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp Wool Felt Sheets… [ SSS ] Simon Says Stamp Wool Felt Sheets… [ SSS ] Ranger Tim Holtz Distress 8.5 X 11… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad MERMAID… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad TWISTED… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad SPICED… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pad SQUEEZED… [ SSS ] Tsukineko Stazon COTTON WHITE Ink Pad… [ SSS ] Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crayon… [ SSS ] Ranger Tim Holtz Distress Crayon… [ SSS ] Ranger WENDY VECCHI Designer Mica… [ SSS ] Tim Holtz Idea-ology BOUQUET Findings… [ SSS ] Creative Devotion ALPHABET Stickers… [ SSS ] Sizzix BIG SHOT MACHINE Gray And… [ SSS ] Sizzix SINGLE STANDARD CUTTING PAD… [ SSS ] MISTI MEMORY MISTI PRECISION STAMPER… [ SSS ]

Thanks so much for stopping by, and thanks to Anna-Karin for being our guest!