A Birthday Card and a Haircut, too!

Megan had a birthday party to go to today for one of her friends.  Of coarse, I had to make a card for her.  I was really excited to make this card because I planned to use a stamp set that was new, never used, still unmounted, and perfect for a young girl.  After thinking about images on the set and what patterned papers I had available, I was ready to start putting it all together.  Well, as luck would have it, I got started late and fell behind.  I was able to finish the card in time, and had a few minutes left over to decorate the gift bag and tissue paper to match, however, I wasn't exactly thrilled with the finished product, nor did I have time to photograph it before it was time to leave for the party.  So, I decided to give it a second try. 

In the meantime, our almost 17th month old was in desperate need of a haircut.  So I gave him one.  That's an art form, right?  Here he is after the cut.  I think I did pretty well, if I do say so myself, but I am exhausted from the stress of the sudden movements and worrying that I am going to cut an ear off!

I stamped the horse image from the Pony Party stamp set with Tuxedo Black Memento ink and then colored it in with Copic markers C1, C3, C7, V6, R32, R11, RV29 (these colors match the SU Rich Razzelberry, Pink Pirouette, Pretty in Pink and Melon Mambo) and outlined it with W1 for some depth.  Here is a close up of the horse before I cut it out:

The base is Night of Navy with a layer of Bashful Blue.  I tried to create the appearance of the unicorn flying through the clouds with silver lining.  I used Staz-on Opaq Cloud White, with a scallop circle and scallop oval masks, tipped with Encore metallic silver.  Then I covered it all with clear embossing powder to give it some glimmer and dimension.  I think I fell a little short.  The "clouds" just look gray.  I am not totally satisfied with this attempt, either, but I'm done for the day!  I {may} try again tomorrow.  (I'll post a pick if I do!)  Anyway, for the background I used a wheel stamp inked with Versamark and the stamping around guide.  That is one of the things on my list of things I thought I would never need, but can't live without!  It makes using wheel stamps so much easier.  I added bling with Dazzling Diamonds and then again with two crystal brads.  Finally I spritzed the whole thing with some pearlized spray.  The sentiment is stamped in Black Staz-on on Whisper white, with  more versamarked wheel stamped in the background.

My seven year old daughter loves it.  I'd love to hear what you think!