AAA Birthday challenge #75 - summer birthday

Hello again friends and happy 1st of July.  The weather has certainly perked up again over the last few days, although it's a little bit too hot for me.  It was my nephew's wedding on Sunday and although it was only 24 degrees I managed to burn the back of my neck lol!  We had a wonderful day and the bride looked amazing, like a princess (no photos yet I'm afraid until the newlyweds have shared their own).  

I'm here today to share my card for this month's AAA Birthday challenge and this month our theme is 'summer birthday' which is such a fun challenge.  I hope you will take on our challenge this month and get creating. Our guest designer this month is the lovely Pauline so please pop over to her blog and leave her some love.

My mind instantly went to food when I saw the theme - I was thinking ice-cream, ice lollies, candy floss etc but I finally settled on ice lollies as my focal point.  There is nothing cooler than a frozen ice lolly in the hot sun mmmmmm!  It's a fun card and I hope you like it.

Here is my card:

A closer look at the lollies:

Plus I decorated the inside:

I often admire Yana Smakula's cards and the way she uses coloured card for her backgrounds; they always look so cool.  I decided to try it on this card and used a panel of blue card cut to 4" x 5 1/4".  I splattered some blue ink as well as some perfect pearls mixed with water onto it to add some interest.  For my focal point I stamped 4 of the ice lollies but used a blending brush to add the ink to the stamp so that it would be a bit softer and have a little roughness to it.  I used the coordinating dies to cut them out. I also stamped 4 sticks using a kraft ink and also die cut them out.  I stamped the happy birthday sentiment directly onto the background in the centre with black ink.  I then decided to stamp the sub sentiment onto the blue lolly in black ink.  I die cut 3 more layers for each lolly and stick and adhered them together with liquid glue.  I added foam squares behind each lolly and added them to my card base, two above the sentiment and two below, in a grid formation (again inspired by Yana). I added some scrap white card behind my panel with double sided tape and then this was adhered to my card base with double sided tape.  I finished off with some clear raindrop embellishments.  For the inside I cut a white panel 3 3/4" x 5" and added a blue card mat layer with double sided tape.  I stamped and die cut another lolly and adhered in onto the lower right of the panel with liquid glue and stamped the sentiment in the centre with black ink.  The panel was then adhered to the card base with double sided tape.  A bright and fun card and I'm really happy with how it turned out. 

I would like to enter my card into the following challenges:

* to be updated *

The Design Team have created amazing cards as always so please pop over to the blog and check them out and perhaps leave them some love on their personal blogs.

I hope you will be able to join in with the challenge this month but don't forget it has to be birthday themed. I can't wait to see your creations in the linky.

Have a great day.

Love and hugs,

card supplies:

MFT - you're the sweetest stamp (the die set is now sold out)

Gina K Designs ink pads - powder blue, key lime, tangerine twist, wild dandelion, passionate pink, kraft

Little Things From Lucy's Cards - clear raindrops - store now sadly closed

Versafine - onyx black ink pad

Limetree Crafts - 250gsm silky smooth white card - not currently available - but they do have 280gsm silky smooth white card available here

blue card from my stash

Ranger - perfect pearls (perfect pearl colour)