Forest Critters Birthday Card

It’s a party! And all the animals showed up for this Forest Critters Birthday Card.

I designed this month’s challenge grid for the Joy of Sets Tic-Tac-Toe challenge , and I hope you join, too! To play along, just pick a row, column, or diagonal — and create something to share! We’d love for you to join!

For this card, I chose the center column: Forest, Masculine, Masking. I also made it a birthday card!

These forest critters are from the Someone Special stamp set. As someone who has spent a lot of time working with mice and rats, there was no doubt in my mind that masking would be a perfect technique! Lots and lots of little rodents celebrating a birthday makes a party!

Did you see how those balloons fly with just a flick of the wrist?

See below for how to make this fun card FULL of forest critters and balloons that wave around in the wind:

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Steps to Make a Forest Critters Birthday Card

Cut your Cardstock.

• Pretty Peacock: 8 1/2″ x 5 1/2″. Score at 4 1/4″ and fold in half. 2″ x 1 1/2″ for sentiment.

• Sahara Sand: 4″ x 5 1/4″ for stamped layer. 1 3/4″ x 1 1/4″ for sentiment. Scraps for balloons, and party hats.

Stamp the Forest Critters!

• Masking technique: With Early Espresso ink, stamp the squirrel on the Sahara Sand layer. Stamp it again on a post-it note, cut it out, stick it over the first squirrel, and lastly stamp the raccoon “behind” it.

• Do this masking technique again with the mouse. With Early Espresso ink, stamp it a few times, not overlapping. Next, stamp a few mice on a post-it note, cut them out, and cover up the mice you stamped on the cardstock. To finish the mouse party, stamp mice “behind” and “around” the other ones, until you are happy with it!

• Use the two-step stamps to color your forest animals as you wish. Remember to mask them if you need to, first! I chose multiple brown inks and a light gray for this. Multiple colors makes the mouse party look even bigger, and helps differentiate each animal from the one next to it.

• In pretty peacock or gorgeous grape, stamp a few party hats on a scrap of Sahara Sand. Fussy-cut them out, and glue them to some of the forest critters. Stamp a few balloon strings from the squirrels hand. Attach the entire layer to your card base.

Create the Sentiment.

• Using Pretty Peacock ink, stamp your sentiment. Cut it into a banner, and attach to the slightly larger piece of pretty peacock. Next, match the banner by cutting the pretty peacock, and attach it to your card.

Create some wobbly Balloons.

• On a scrap of Sahara Sand, stamp three balloons. Next, use the two-step stamp in the set to color them pretty peacock, gorgeous grape, and melon mambo.

• Cut out the balloons, and glue them together as a bunch.

• Peel back the protective layer of the Wobble and attach it to the back of the balloon bunch. Lastly, remove the other protective layer and attach the Wobble and balloon bunch to the card.

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Supplies for a Forest Critters Birthday Card

Pretty Peacock 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock $8.75	Sahara Sand 8-1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock $8.75	Special Someone Photopolymer Stamp Set $17.00
Pretty Peacock Classic Stampin’ Pad $7.50	Early Espresso Classic Stampin’ Pad $7.50	Sahara Sand Classic Stampin’ Pad $7.50
Gorgeous Grape Classic Stampin’ Pad $7.50	Melon Mambo Classic Stampin’ Pad $7.50	Gray Granite Classic Stampin’ Pad $7.50

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With minimal layers, the balloons get their chance to be the center of attention.

This card project is a great way to showcase the masking technique. Forest critters don’t travel alone, so don’t stamp them alone!

Want to see more tutorials? Click the pictures below to see more!

This guitar also wobbles!

Masking is a great technique!

Or how about another birthday card that uses a single great technique?

Thanks for stopping by today! I hope you subscribe for more stamping and crafting tutorials!

Happy Crafting!