Uh oh! Something else to blame on Julie! Transparency overlay cards! These are so quick to do and really adds the WOW factor to your card! Yesterday was my Mother-in-Law’s Birthday and I wanted to make her a special card. I always make her cards because I know she likes them so much, and well, I have the stuff! Hehehe!! I was stuck until I remembered the transparency overlay card Julie did, and that I had also loved the one Taylor did recently! So away I went!

The card base is Shimmery White since I wanted to watercolor and have the sparkle from the paper. This is a nice, thick cardstock and perfect for special cards! I pulled out my All Things of Nature set from TAC because I love this hummingbird image! When I was trimming this particular image, I seperated the hummingbird from the flower since I knew I’d be using them seperately and I’m glad I did! I makes it much easier for me to stamp the hummingbird in one spot and the flower in another.

I used Palette Black Noir for the images and the sentiment (from Stampin’ Up! set Sincere Salutations). Then I used my Aquapainter and ink pads to watercolor the hummingbird. I pulled up a picture from the internet to use as my guide for coloring a ruby-throated hummingbird and used Cranberry Crisp, Garden Green, Sahara Sand, and my white gel pen to color in the bird and the flower. I then colored the backgroud with a very watered down Not Quite Navy. It gave it a nice cloudy and soft look to the blank background. I then used my Stardust GellyRoll pen to add extra sparkle to the hummingbird, flower and to the word “Birthday”.

Next I cut a transparency and folded it in half. I then used the Flourishes set from TAC and stamped it with my White StazOn. WOW!! I loved the way this looked! I then layed the transparency over the card and tied narrow white organdy ribbon paired with silver cord to hold the layer on. The finishing touch were the sparkly rhinestones from Hero Arts. Gotta love more bling!! *wink*

I was happy with the result and happy to present this card to her for her Birthday. However, next year I’m not letting Don write anything on the inside of the card! I asked him to write something nice to his mom and he spent about 10 minutes writing a hideously curvy “Happy Birthday, Mom!” on the inside and signing it “with love, son”. I was like, “SON?!?! What the heck is that!?” Why he didn’t write his name, I’ll never know. I at least got him to add “your” to it. Then Perrin signed it and Owen signed it. Which added to the character of the card since Owen decided to use “scary” letters. In other words, he would shiver and shake while saying the letter as he wrote his name. *BIG SIGH* Next year they can all make their own cards and sign those all crazy!