Cupcake Birthday

Had a busy day cardwise! I went to my Mum and Dad's place to show Mum some of my card making gear and to make a few cards. I had fun and I hope Mum did too - hi Mum!!

I made another tropical birthday card for my sister-in-law. Her birthday is on Friday. I also made a Valentine's day card for my husband. I'll post that one tomorrow as the Glossy Accents I put on it is still drying.

Here's a card I made a few months ago for the 'Stamping For Lara' forums challenge. The challenge was simply 'Cupcakes'. I only own one stamp with a cupcake on it from a gorgeous Penny Black set. I made my first attempt at watercolouring with that card. I wish I'd kept it but I gave it to a friend for her birthday. Oh well, hope she liked it. Here it is:

Rating: Decent

I really enjoyed the watercolouring and think I did well for a first attempt. The colour graduation (is that the right word?) on the cupcake case is my favourite bit. So is the glittery icing but the photo doesn't pick it up.

I chose the pink, brown and white colours because they most remind me of cake. Yummy, oozy chocolate cake with delicious strawberry or vanilla icing. Yummo!

Materials:

Cardstock: Chocolate Chip, Whisper White and Pink Passion (a retired colour).

Inks: Chocolate Chip, Pink Passion, Perfectly Plum, Daffodil Delight, Certainly Celery, Marina Mist, Cajun Craze.

Other: Whisper White satin ribbon, stick on pearls, corner punch, oval punch, aqua painter, sponge, 2way glue pen.

Non Stampin' Up: Watercolour paper, black Stazon ink, Cuttlebug embossing folder: D'Vine Swirls, Penny Black 'Cheesecake Party' stamp set, Wendy Irving Collections: Expressions Clear Cling Stamps -  'Occasions', white superfine glitter.

Tips and Tricks:

1. Watercolouring can be a time consuming process so a lot of patience is required, especially if you are new to it.

2. Don't squeeze your aqua painter and use too much water because all it will do is run and blend with other colours.

3. Start with your lightest colour first and build up to the darkest colour. There are plenty of tutorials if you search google or youtube.

Stuff Ups:

The corner punch - sometimes it bites in too far and I get a funny little recess (rebate?) that does not look good. I tried to even it out with scissors but the effect is not too good. Anyone know how to prevent my corner punch from biting in too far?

The ribbon - I didn't have scissors that would cut ribbon properly so it doesn't look straight. Get a pair of scissors or snips that are dedicated for cutting your ribbon and nothing else. Also satin ribbon frays as soon as you look at it so handle it as little as possible.

The layers - too wide. It's amazing how layers can take up so much of your card. I would make these thinner next time so I could put the sentiment elsewhere. It looks stuck on and out of place.