Happy Birthday with The Paper Players

Before I share today’s card for The Paper Players, I want to thank you for all of your kind comments over the past two days.  I’ve enjoyed sharing my tales from Stampin’ Up!’s Founder’s Circle, and I’m so thankful to have received so many kind comments and emails as you shared your reactions to my recap of the event.  Thanks so much!

The Paper Players issued two challenges this week – “Masculine Birthday” and “Clean and Simple”.  Occasions 4 You arrived in the mail while I was at Founder’s Circle, so I was happy to ink it up for this card.  Here’s my card:

Occasions 4 You, Big News, Stampin' Up!, Brian King, PP214 And here’s the challenge banner for Jaydee’s Paper Players challenge:

Tips, Tricks and Reminders

  • Color Combination.  I’ve always said that masculine cards can have color – they don’t need to be brown and navy.  In this case, I used all Regal colors but added green and yellow to the blue.  I really like the balance of color with these three shades.  If you like the color combination, feel free to save this:Color Inspiration, Stampin' Up!, Brian King
  • Rounded Shapes.  Because the central image of the sentiment has rounded edges, I cropped the edges of that paper with my Project Life Corner Rounder.  I continued to add rounded sides by rounding the panels on the left and adding a circle on the right.  While I typically think rounded edges soften images, I think they work well for a masculine card here.
  • Balance.  I just love this piece of Garden Green graph paper from Flowerpot Designer Series Paper.  When I was done, though, I didn’t have the balance I wanted.  I thought the circle and sentiment would be perfectly balanced on the card front.  Not the case.  To balance things out a bit, I simply added three Night of Navy Candy Dots to the top, left corner of the DSP.  Voila!  If you want to see my video about finding balance with Candy Dots, click here.

Stamp Sets:  Occasions 4 You, Big News  Papers:  Garden Green, Crushed Curry, Night of Navy, Whisper White, Flowerpot Designer Series Paper  Inks:  Night of Navy  Accessories:  Project Life Corner Rounder, Crushed Curry Stampin’ Emboss Powder, Regals Candy Dots (Night of Navy), Stampin’ Dimensionals

Thanks for stopping by today!

Brian

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13 Comments

  1. Brian,
    Thank you for sharing Founder’s Circle with us! I am a hobby demo and will probably never make it to FC,
    But I enjoyed learning about it from you!
    Thanks again,
    Cory

  2. I love the card but love the color combination better. I will have to use this. I “always” enjoy your post but to read about Founders through your words was pretty neat. How awesome to be rubbing shoulders with SU’s elite. I imagine you made the returning visits of some of those ladies much more fun. I also would have loved to listen to all those planning sessions with the SU people trying to figure out what to get you instead of a charm bracelet. 🙂

  3. Well Brian, I would never have thought about this color combination but, as always, your amazing eye for design came through with flying colors!!! This is a fun and colorful card that will bring a smile to the face of the person receiving it.
    Thank you for sharing.

  4. Really like the ’roundyness’ (okay my own word) and the clean look. The Happy Birthday layer reminds of a button you would push and ta da the candle pops up. Also love your ‘balance’ tips and tricks.

  5. Just discovered your website and just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy it. I get so many good ideas from your creations and your spirit about stamping is awesome. Thank you for sharing. BTW got a kick out of the 113 Founder’s Circle Swap cards…I have a hard time coloring a few…so note to self was cute!!!!

  6. I do so love using blue and green together, they just plays so well. Adding yellow is like adding a ray of sunshine. Great card Brian, one that I think would work for anyone. Not too frou frou or too “Dude”, it’s just right. Super job.

  7. Hi Brian:

    The green graph paper in this card reminded me of a net – perfect for all the soccer going on around this area right now. I don’t know why it did, but it did! Anywhooooo – love the card and I so enjoyed reading about Founder’s Circle. I’m sure it was an amazing time and you could probably fill an 8″ X 8″ album pretty easily with all the photos I’ve seen on everyone’s sites. Looks like you were the absolute hit of the party! No surprise there! Have a fabulous day and thanks, as always, for your amazing blog!

  8. I have to agree with Grace ….your card reminds me of a soccer net . Great card with those fresh colors ! And between you and me ….I think we need to buy some stock in the Candy Dots company !!! Just saying ….

  9. For some reason the circle on the right with the candle reminded me of a bomb! LOL Nice CAS card, Brian. Thanks for playing with the Paper Players!

  10. Turned out very nice. Love it.

  11. Brain, this is a fabulous color combo! I am like you, why always blues and browns for guy cards? I love the Garden Green graph paper, too! Your card makes me smile! Thank you for joining us at The Paper Players this week! XX

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