Stampin' Pastel Birthday

I stamped this card recently for my mom's birthday and it not only took me out of my comfort zone, it reinvigorated my love of stamping. I know the photos I've been posting are not that great (I didn't take them with the blog in mind, so they're not lit up correctly) so you'll have to take my word for how pretty this looked in real life. It's a mixed medium card because in addition to traditional ink stamping, I also used stampin' pastels.

Long-time readers of the blog might remember that I absolutely adore using stampin' pastels, but for whatever reasons I haven't done so in a really long time. Even when I did use them more frequently, I never used them in quite this way. I'll admit it was time consuming, but well worth it in the end.

Now, I know Stampin' Up! no longer offers pastels, so it may be a little unfair to rave on and on about them since many people cannot get their hands on them anymore. Still, for those like me, who may have let their pastels gather dust, I hope this card inspires you to take them out and play!

Here are the details for my card:

1. The card base is 5"x7" and it was pre-dry-embossed with a striped pattern.
2. I used the Sizzix embossing folder for the main image. The folder is slightly bigger than 5.5"x4.25", which makes it perfect for this bigger card. After I dry embossed a piece of whisper white card stock, I used cotton swabs to apply stampin' pastels to the raised areas. Of course, the beauty of using SU stampin' pastels is that they match perfectly with the SU inks. I'll admit I had a couple of mishaps where the color slipped onto the base, but the eraser that came with the Stampin' pastels quickly took care of those. 
3. I stamped the sentiment in the center of the card and the cake slice to the side. I colored the cake slice with stampin' pastels as well.
4. Last but not least I stamped the flowers on a separate piece of whisper white, punched them out and attached the to the card front with dimensionals. I added a mat to separate the main image from the card base and voila!

I was shocked at how easy it was to use the pastels to color even the most detailed parts, like the dotted swirls. I can't wait to use the pastels on more embossed cards. 

Recipe (Stampin' Up! products unless otherwise indicated)

Paper: Rose Red, Whisper White, A7 Embossed white card base by DCWV

Ink: Lovely Lilac, Basic Gray, Rose Red, Regal Rose, So Saffron

Stamps: Sassy Salutations, Sketched Birthday, Petite Petals

Accessories: Stampin' Pastels, Petite Petals Punch, Dimensionals, A6 Birds and Branches Embossing Folder by Sizzix