Using my stash - a birthday card

I've been having a sort out of my craftroom.  And I have come to realise that I have SO MUCH STUFF that I never, ever use.

So.  I have resolved that every single card I make from now on will utilise a different piece of my existing kit, be that stamps, or dies, or embossing folders.

This card, which I made for a friend's 70th birthday uses all three!

I have two favourite card sizes - the 6 x 6 square and the 7x5 rectangle.  On this occasion I chose to use a 7 x 5 base card, which I coloured using the stream adirondack inkpad through a stencil.  I really like this look as it keeps the colour tone but isn't too busy.

Then I ran a piece of Tim Holtz Kraft-Core (nostalgic collection) which I cut to size, through an embossing folder in my stash, and sanded it to distress it.  I wrapped some ribbon around the bottom right corner, and then matted  it onto some normal brown kraft card.  I made a bow from the same ribbon and attached it using a hot glue gun.

The embossing folder came with stamps, so I stamped out the extra butterflies and embossed them with fine gold detail powder. They were then cut out and stuck over their "mates" on the embossed card.

Next I chose a dielite die to make my sentiment base.  I stamped my sentiment (from a set by Crafters Companion) onto a textured cream card which I cut out with the die and coloured with the stream adirondack ink in the centre. On the edges I used the lemonade adirondack just to darken it slightly so that the cream centre would stand out.  The sentiment was attached to the card using foam pads to raise it.

Also from my stash were some paper flowers, which I tinted slightly with the stream adirondack to match.   In the centre of the largest flower I put a very small 70 (the lady wishes the number was lower!)  In the centre of the others I used a tiny AB gem.   Underneath the flowers I put a swirl, cut from a dielite die using the Kraft-Core surplus,

Finally using the same cream card as for the sentiment, I cut a small tab for my greeting.  The edges were coloured with the stream ink, and it was then mounted onto an offcut of the Kraft-Core card.  I used two AB gems as "brads" and the whole thing was mounted underneath the topper using a foam pad.