Party Animal Punches!

My fourth order of Cat's Pajamas stamps arrived and I spent part of Saturday trimming and mounting them on rubber cushion. Man, am I addicted to these stamps! :) I only used one new one on this card, but I can already tell it's going to be a favorite one. Isn't the L'il Party Hat I used on this card just adorable?

From the responses I got to the weekly challenge, I guess you all want to see me make some cards using those punches we all keep collecting! One of my favorite things to do with punches is to fold a piece of paper in half and punch half the shape (I always use my punches upside down so I can see where I'm punching), giving me two identical half shapes. I then glue these on opposite sides and ends of the card to make it look like they are little tabs. This really draws the eye towards the focal image, which is what you usually want in a card. Other punches used on this card are the Mega and Giga Scalloped Oval punches. These are some of my favorite punches, but they can be hard to find. (If you're looking for one of these punches, Cindy over at My Inky Fingers is taking pre-orders right now.) I also used the small oval punch for the party animal phrase.

To begin, I stamped Big Sprinkle in Black Stazon on pearlized white paper and used my Stamp-a-ma-jig to line up and stamp the L'il Party Hat. I then colored the image in with Stampin Write markers and glaze pens. I punched it with the Mega Scalloped Oval punch and matted on a Basic Grey Color Me Silly Giga Scalloped Oval Punch and two offset Basic Black Giga Scallops for a slight shadow. I then glued on a Making Memories birthday charm with Crystal Effects

Next I used my new Karen Foster snap stamps (1/4" Casual) to stamp the party animal phrase on pearlized white and secured to another pattern of Basic Grey Color Me Silly paper (I'm on a mission to use this paper I've been hoarding!) with hodgepodge hardware. I tied a bow around the paper to hide where the two papers met and matted the whole panel on Basic Black. For the finishing touch I glued down the half-circle tabs and dotted the edges with my clear stardust pen. What a cute little birthday card. I can't wait to send it!

If anyone has any ideas or requests for next week's challenge, please either email me or leave me a comment.