Birthday Fiesta for FMS240

Festive Birthday is the first suite of products in Stampin’ Up!’s 2016 Annual Catalog – bright and playful, this suite is filled with wonderful ways to celebrate important birthdays.  Along with fun colors, papers and pom pom trim, Birthday Fiesta kicks off the fun with awesome papel picado banners (Lydia taught me all about these), a cactus, an adorable llama and sentiments you HAVE TO HAVE.  Here’s my card with this suite of products for Freshly Made Sketches:

And here’s the banner for Jen Brum’s challenge that inspired my card:

Tips, Tricks and Reminders

• Birthday Fiesta.  I mean, really – how adorable is this llama?  Or is it an alpaca?  I’m going to guess it’s a llama because it’s more fun to say “llama (ya-ma)” in my Spanish accent.  And I couldn’t love this sentiment more than I do – who doesn’t want to “party like there’s no tomorrow” in Spanglish?  There are so many great ways to use this set – Jen’s sketch is just one of them.
  

  Birthday Fiesta Bundle, Stampin’ Up!

• Festive Birthday Designer Series Paper.  I admit that I am smitten by the Birthday Fiesta Bundle – so many fun ways to use this set and the coordinating Framelits.  There was never a question in my mind that I would enjoy playing with these.  I was surprised, though, by how much I love the Festive Birthday Designer Series Paper.  This pack of paper is filled with brilliant colors and festive designs that are perfect for more than a Mexican-themed birthday party.  What fun!
  

  Festive Birthday Designer Series Paper, Stampin’ Up!

• Layering.  The flowery pattern on the piece of Designer Series Paper make me very happy.  While this pattern doesn’t necessarily scream “birthday,” it was my first choice for this festive card – the colors are just amazing!  Tempting Turquoise, Emerald Envy, Crushed Curry – what a great combination!  There are several layers on Jen’s sketch – not only did I flip them around to stack in the opposite direction (so the llama could be facing away from the stacked layers), but I also alternated the layers between solid patterns and this brilliant patterned paper so as to not crowd out the llama as my focal point.  All the borders are highlighted with a thin border of Crushed Curry.

Stamp Sets:  Birthday Fiesta  Papers:  Festive Birthday Designer Series Paper, Tempting Turquoise, Sahara Sand, Whisper White, Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo  Inks:  Archival Basic Black  Accessories:  Fiesta Time Framelits Dies, Stampin’ Dimensionals

I hope you’ll pop over to Freshly Made Sketches to see the cards by the design team members and to play along with this week’s challenge.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Brian

Trying to Narrow Down Your Wish List?  I’ve shared two days of My Favorite Things from Stampin’ Up!’s 2016 Annual Catalog.  Perhaps my lists can help you narrow down your choices?  You can check them out here and here.

Do you like free stamps?  You’ll earn two from stamp sets when you buy Stampin’ Up!’s Starter Kit in June.  What a great way to check off your wish list of the items you already want!  Click on the picture below to read more about this awesome promotion.   

Earn $35 Additional Stampin’ Rewards in June.  Yippee!  With qualifying orders of $35o or more, you can earn an additional $35 of Stampin’ Rewards to spend on whatever you want.  Click on the picture below to read more about this great promotion.