I was a little absent from the card challenge circuit last month, but I’m excited to have gotten a little time to sneak away into my craft room today.

The sketch today comes from the Retro Sketches Challenge #104

First let’s start with the paper. I started with a traditional white card base, then adding a layer of Pear Cardstock, followed by multiple layers of Lollydoodle B&T Duos™. I used the Scallop Border Punch on the pink B&T, and the Dot Dry Embossing Folder on the White Daisy Cardstock. I want to stop for a second to talk about the new embossing folders that CTMH is now offering. There are 5 different designs {click here to view them all} and I love, love, love the dimension they add to the cardstock. I was struggling on what to use for the top banner layer. Colored cardstock, another layer of B&T?? My intention was to use the dry embossing folder and then ink the embossed dots, but I was so pleased with the added dimension from the embossing folder I left it as plain white cardstock.

Now let’s move on to the stamp sets. The cupcake is from the Birthday Stamp Set {available only through the Artiste Cricut® Cartridge Collection } cut using the Artiste Cricut® Cartridge, and is stamped using three different inks. Using Cocoa Exclusive Ink™, Cotton Candy Exclusive Ink™, and Juniper Exclusive Ink™ I paper-pieced this cupcake together and added 3D Foam Tape for added dimension. The sentiment is from the Belated Birthday Stamp Set in Juniper Exclusive Ink™.

This card is also linked to the Seize The Birthday: Anything Goes Challenge.

I was unsure how I felt about the Lollydoodle Paper Packet when I first saw it in the Spring/Summer 2014 Idea Book, but it has been my go to paper packet for my most recent cards!! Click here to view the other cards I have made using this fun, whimsy paper packet.

-Kelly