So sorry to disappear on you yesterday. By the time our day wound down and I got yesterday’s card finished, it was far too dark to take a photo that would do the project any justice.

This week, we’re restocking the birthday card stash by using a variety of products in the crafty stash. We’re pairing up the Label Me Grateful and Gathering Moments dies for today’s card. This design is inspired by a card that I saw on The Crafty O ink Pen over on Insta. And I must say that one of my favorite things about using inspiration is seeing how much or how little you can see the inspiration behind the design once it’s finished. And just for funsies, today I’m gonna show the two side-by-side and you tell me. Can you see it?

What drew me to the inspiration design to start with is our Luv 2 Stamp monthly team challenge bingo card – with one square being to design a fall card. And I figured what better way to kill two birds with one stone than to adapt this super beautiful fall inspiration design to fit the birthday design theme for this week. And one of the first obstacles I had to face was the color palette because I was completely out of my preferred base color of Crushed Curry and had to search for a suitable substitute that would work with the vision I had for the end result. I must admit that the new In Color Darling Duckling is NOT a favorite of mine. And if I’m being completely honest, I pretty much hate it because it has too much green and reminds me of … well, I’ll just say that I prefer not to say and let your mind wander. BUT I decided to give it a try here because I figured this would be the best context in which I ever could potentially use the few sheets of Darling Duckling I have in the stash. And from there, I worked to choose colors and elements that tamed the duck and let thoughts of fall shine.

So we get started with a base of Darling Duckling. I cut an extra quarter panel for the focal panel backdrop and cut it down using the largest Textured Notes die and then machine embossed it with the Forever Plaid embossing folder. This panel is matted with Peach Pie glimmer paper from the In Color pack. We move on to cutting our smaller detail elements with the Label Me Grateful dies using a combination of Cajun Craze, Crumb Cake, and the peach end of a sheet of Pastel Ombre glimmer paper. To really hit home with the fall theme, the center sentiment is matted by a large oak leaf cut from Peach Pie glimmer paper using the Gathering Moments die. It’s adhered a little askew in the center of the card and then the smaller fall foliage elements are tucked around on each side in opposing corners and held with strips of tear-n-tape. The sentiment is broken into two distinct but complimentary sections. The first part of the sentiment is from the Scenic Adventure set and is stamped in Early Espresso on white and then cut with the smallest banner die from the Stylish Shapes set. Birthday is stamped on a scrap of white, also in espresso, and then hand cut with paper snips. Both portions are affixed to the center of the card over some gold striped ribbon using several layers of dimensionals. We finish things off with a scattering of Cajun Craze dots and gold drusy embellishments.

This card is one big, fun, fall celebration. I just couldn’t be more pleased with how this morphed into one big sparkly birthday party in an envelope! I hope you’ll drop by tomorrow to see what other fun goodies we can pair together.

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