Chalkboard Birthday Card

I needed to make a quick birthday card today and it was just sheer luck that my Simon Says Stamp September card kit came in the mail this afternoon.  I’ve never used a kit on the same day it arrived before…I guess it was great timing and one of the patterned papers from the kit happened to have a pretty solid birthday feel to it:

I would have loved to use the whole 6×6 sheet of paper, but thought a 6 inch square card would look a bit clumsy, so I chopped off about an inch and a half of the one side (enough to preserve three of the “happy day” greetings at the bottom).  I stamped some cupcakes from TPC Studio and asterisks from the “Life is a Journey” set from SSS in Versamark and heat-embossed them in white.  Since I couldn’t just leave a birthday card black and white, I colored some of the pennants, the cupcakes, and the “happy” greetings with metallic markers from American Crafts.  The paper seemed to absorb and tone down the marker ink, giving them a soft colored chalk appearance:

Lastly, I popped this whole panel up on the gray Bazzill cardstock provided in the kit, leaving just enough room for a chevron border from the same “Life is a Journey” set (stamped in Versamark and heat-embossed in clear).