Valley Oak Paper - Cardmaking designs by Cecilia Huster

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Tropical Birthday

Cecilia Huster

‘Things With Wings’ is the theme for my June 2024 YouTube cardmaking video hop. For this hop, my starting point was the recent Spellbinders die set Tropical Friends. It creates a parrot and a toucan.

I also used palette 252 from Volume 2 of Sarah Renae Clark’s Color Catalog. Although my card veered pretty hard toward blue, rather than green.

There’s a lot of die cutting in this card. In addition to Tropical Friends, for the sentiment and some of the flowers I used Spellbinders Balloons and Birthday Wishes (only $15 right now). The complete cut list is above. Click on it to enlarge it.

Parrot

I’ve cut two bases for my parrot, so I can stack them. The bottom layer will show through the holes in the chest. It’s called Teal in palette 252. I’m using the darkest shade from Recollections 110 lbs Ocean and added tape behind it. That way the holes won’t fall out. 

The lighter layer is the lightest tone from Recollections 110 lbs Blue Skies. That’s what I’m using for Mint in palette 252. I edged it with Distress Oxide Mermaid Lagoon.

I’ve cut the face out of Accent Opaque 100 lbs and I didn’t ink it at all.

The top hole is for the eye. I’ve cut it out of the darkest shade in Recollections Blue Skies and poked out the highlight. I’m using the same navy blue for the beak. Before I glue it to the parrot, I’m edging it with Distress Oxide Black Soot for added depth. 

For the parrot’s cheek I’m using Orange from Recollections 110 lbs Elementary. It’s such a tiny detail that I didn’t try to add ink to it.

For the tail, there’s a base and three feathers. For the wing there are three layers, but no separate base. You can of course cut out the tail feathers and wings from the same cardstock color. But I chose to do both in teal, gold and orange. Then I ink blended the edges with Distress Oxide Uncharted Mariner and Crackling Campfire.

I’m saving the feet for when I assemble the card.

Toucan

Turning to the toucan, I’ve cut two bases out of the darkest shade of Recollections 110 lbs Blue Skies and I’m stacking them. Then I’m inking the edges with Black Soot Distress Oxide. 

For the beak, there are two choices: A solid color or vertical stripes. I, of course, chose neither. It’s easy to cut the beak in half, so that the top and bottom are different colors. So I made the bottom orange and the top gold. Then I added the strip that’s part of the eye die between the two colors.

Just like the parrot, the toucan face is white. I’m placing it on the base. Then I add the eye. And then the beak. Finally I add the wing to our toucan. I had edge the wing in Black Soot as well. In hindsight, I wish I’d chosen Teal for the wing. Navy on navy with Black Soot edging is too hard to see.

Sentiment

There’s no risk that the sentiment gets lost on this card, despite everything else going on.

Balloons and Birthday Wishes was Spellbinders Large Die of the Month for May 2023. It includes a pretty, layered banner, some word dies and lots of decorations. I’m only using the banner and some flowers.

The banners consist of a flat front, a fishtail end and the curved backside of the banner to connect them. I’m cutting the banner parts and sentiment from white cardstock. Then I cut out the letters once from gold foil cardstock. 

I stacked the banner fronts and added Distress Oxide Hickory Smoke to the edges and the backside of the banners. 

Then I glued my Happy Birthday to the banners. 

Background

I’m using a Sizzix 3D embossing folder for my background. It’s called Leaf Pattern and I’m inking up the top of the folder with Uncharted Mariner. I’ve got an A2-sized panel of the darkest shade from Recollections Ocean. I’m misting the back and adding some tape runner to it. Then I’ll run it through my die cutting machine. I repeated the process 2-3 times for better coverage.

The tape runner is the important part. It doesn’t take more than a dab, but it prevents the cardstock from shifting when you run it through the die cutting machine multiple times.  

When the ink was dry, I cut down the panel by a quarter inch in length and width. Then I cut another panel a little bit smaller and stacked it behind the embossed panel. Finally I glued it onto my Ohuhu white card base. 

Assembly

Now that I have all the parts, it’s time to put my card together. I’m starting with the sentiment. To fit the birds, I’m going to place the sentiment in the top left corner. The parrot is going next to it, partly over the banner. I’ll use two layers of foam tape under the parrot and one under the banner fronts.

The toucan I’m going to glue directly to the card panel in the bottom left corner. He’s drawing attention to the sentiment by looking up at the banner. 

I’m adhering the Happy banner with one layer of foam tape. Then I nestle the top banner end underneath. 

The branch that the parrot perches on extends behind the Birthday banner, so I’m gluing it down first. Then I can add the second banner and banner end to the card. 

Next I’m adding the branch that the toucan sits on, so that’s in place.With both perches now in place, I add the parrot and toucan feet. Now I can start adding lots of flowers and foliage to the card. I want the scene to be a bit chaotic, because that’s what tropical jungles are like.

To finish up my card, I added some Trinity Stamps Gold Rush, Holographic Gold Confetti Mix. Love that sparkle!

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