Happy birthday, Dad!

Today is my dad's 70th birthday - happy birthday to my dad! He's always been there for me for the past (almost) 42 years so I'm honored to celebrate his special day.

The timing for this card matched up perfectly with the latest sketch challenge from Seize the Birthday, which was a masculine card this week. I wanted to something a little techniquey (is that a word?) so I chose stamps that would work for reverse masking. This is my first time inking up the Papaya Collage set, which is great for a vintage look.

The center panel frame was stamped in Early Espresso, then I masked off the frame to stamp in the center. First I sponged some Crumb Cake ink over the opening, then I stamped the leaf (three generations) with Old Olive. The fussy cutting on the frame took a bit of time but was totally worth it over the background of retired DP and argyle-embossed olive card stock. The tickets use the new punch and stamp set That's the Ticket, with the sentiments coming from Up, Up & Away and Family Reunion. (See the little "70" written in for the ticket number?) Everything was sponged with espresso ink on the edges to give it even more vintage style. Finally I added a piece of Crumb Cake seam binding ribbon and an espresso button (linen thread looped through the buttonholes twice) to finish off this special card.

So that's it about the card - the only thing that would make this day better is if I were with my dad to help celebrate. Happy birthday - I will raise a glass in your honor today, Dad! Love you!