Bird And Balloon Congratulations Card

This week's Creative Cat Crew color challenge came up so fast! When we left our home with the dealer to be fixed, I took a sub-set of crafting supplies with us. I left all the larger items in the trailer. That means my Scan N Cut is not with me and of course I chose a design that needed to be fussy cut. Here is this week's inspiration image: The color range is Basic Black, Basic Gray, Smokey Slate, Pacific Point, Soft Suede, Pool Party, and Whisper White.

I had cut out a bunch of Bird Banter elements last month at the retreat, so I picked a few for a celebration theme. Then, I used the Amazing Congratulations stamp set and knew I would have to figure out how to fussy cut it. I had used this stamp awhile back and used snips to cut it out but alas, the finished product was not up to par. I find snips work great for edgy fussy cutting, but not for loopy fussy cutting.

This time I remembered I have a tool that I've not used much. Its not been used in over three years! So I dug through my tool bag and was relieved to find what I was after. It is called a Fingertip Control Craft Knife. The x-acto blade rotates 360 degrees and is quite small. I went slow and ended up with a decent fussy cut in the end. The SNC2 would have finished the job in way less time and it would have been more accurate of course. I would say this knife is a great fussy cutting tool for rounded shapes. It is a good item to have in your crop bag. You will need a small self healing cutting mat as well. I've put both on the supplies list below.

I colored with blends using: Light Daffodil Delight, Light Smoky Slate, Light and Dark Pool Party and the color lifter. The balloon was colored using a blender pen and Pacific Point ink. I used Pool Party on the cockatoo but thought the Smoky Slate would look better. It is the first time I've used the color lifter and it worked great!

For the background I chose one of the wood grain DSP 6 x 6 sheets. I think it adds more interest than a single color piece of cardstock. I also stamped and colored my envelope. I finished early in the afternoon. It always feels good when I finish up a challenge with time to spare.