Diorama Birthday Card

It's my niece's 5th birthday soon so I needed a card. I wanted this to be extra-special, not just because such a special girl, but because 5 is such a milestone birthday. How did 5 years fly by so quickly?!? It seems like just yesterday that I was meeting her for the first time. The world is a better place with her in it.

Anyway, before I get too soppy, I'll introduce this card. I made a diorama card, following this tutorial on splitcoast by Diana Gibbs. It's a really easy one to make. It also folds down flat to fit inside the SU small open-end envelope. My one note of caution from a mistake I made the first time I tried this type of card is to make sure you line up the outside edge of your punch, not the inside of the punch shape when it tells you to line things up. I went astray with that instruction the first time I made this kind of card.

I went with some nice soft colours for this one: Almost Amethyst, Barely Banana, Certainly Celery and Pretty in Pink. The stamping is all done with Basic Gray so it's not as harsh as black would be. Thank you SU for bringing us a waterproof gray!!!

The bear is stamped on So Saffron and coloured with Close to Cocoa inkpad juice and an aquapainter. The other colouring is all done with markers, which is the way to do it when you're colouring on coloured cardstock. The balloon, hat and popped-up present are stamped on whisper white and cut out after I coloured them. I added some sparkly accents with my Sakura glitter pen and the silver cord is tied around the bear's paw. Speaking of the bear, I cut him up so I could re-pose him in a sitting position. (The original stamp has the bear walking.) I simply cut along the join of his leg and re-assembled him sitting down. He is a very dear bear and I just love this set (Favorite Teddybear) and all its bits and pieces. All the stamps on this project (balloon, bear, hat, present, confetti, birthday wish) are from that set!

Thanks for looking! I hope this card prompts you to try a diorama. They're fun to make.

Supplies all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted: Stamps: Favorite Teddybear; Ink: Basic Gray, Close to Cocoa; Paper: Whisper White, So Saffron, Almost Amethyst, Barely Banana, Certainly Celery; Other: SU markers, aquapainter, silver cord, Sakura Glitter pen (non SU).