LOTV Teddy Topper birthday card with heart banner

Hi blogging friends

The card I am sharing today is for my great-niece's 8th birthday later in July and is my card for the Divas by Design Challenge of 'Happy Birthday'.  It is my first time playing their challenge and I love that you don't have to use a stamped/digi image and you can make anything you want.  I find it difficult to find challenges where it is OK to use a topper.  You can find more details on the challenge HERE.

The main image is a an adorable topper from Lili of the Valley but I just checked their website and they don't sell this particular topper anymore; in fact, none of the toppers that I have in my stash are there and it doesn't seem that long to me since they released their Mini Masterpieces (?) - oh well!   
 
I added Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue to the ribbon around the cake, the candle flames, the cheeks on the teddies plus all the confetti - not that you can see the glitter very well in the photo due to the gloomy weather.  I took the photo inbetween showers of rain - and boy, it sure has rained here ALOT these past 2 weeks which has been fantastic after such a dry autumn.  I love going to sleep with the sound of rain on the roof - so soothing.

When I was at the Picture to Page Scrapbooking Show in May, I bought a La-La Land Heart Banner die which I have wanted for ages but every time I went to buy it online, it was out-of stock:  it must be popular - and I am not surprised as it is so pretty, don't you think?!   I did fiddle around with the Heart Banner die a bit and originally had a white banner with pink hearts but it just seemed to disappear into the designer paper background so switched to pink with white hearts - plus the diecut had four flags and I cut one off because it fitted around my main panel better.  I added Kindyglitz to the white hearts and added a pink rhinestone to each end of the banner and popped the banner up on dimensionals so it would be the same height as the main image panel.
 
The pink cardstock is by Coredinations and is from the Gemstones range - Pink Diamond - and has a lovely metallic sheen - so PRETTY!
 
For the bottom panel, I diecut the pink cardstock using a Nellie Snellen Lace Edge border die and my Big Shot.  I added a Scor-Pal line above this border so I had a nice straight edge to butt the designer paper up against.  The pink ribbon was added in 2 separate elements and the bow itself was made with my Bow Easy.   I added Fray Stop to the cut ends to stop them from fraying.
 
The sentiment was stamped using Memento London Fog (grey) dye ink which looked 'softer' than stamping it in black and I think, looks nicer with the image.  I added 3 pink rhinestones underneath the sentiment then popped this panel up on dimensionals.  I can't for the life of me find the sentiment on the LOTV website which came in a set - perhaps it has been discontinued too (?).....sigh.....
 
All the borders were trimmed to 1/8" using my Perfect Layers Tools.
 
Finished size is 5-1/2" square or approximately 140mm if you are metric.
 
Thanks for visiting my blog today
 
Jocelyn


Card Recipe:
 
Stamps:  Sentiment by Lili of the Valley UK - possibly retired
 
Ink:  Memento London Fog dye
 
Designer Paper:  Best Creation - Once upon a dream
 
Accessories:  Perfect Layers Tools, Big Shot, Spellbinder Circle and Scalloped Circle Nestabilities, Nellie Snellen Lace Edge border die MFD023, La-La Lands Heart Banner die #8026, Scor-Pal, Kindyglitz Crystalina glitter glue, ribbon, Fray Stop, Bow Easy, Kaisercraft SB701 pink rhinestones, dimensionals, cardstock - white, Coredinations Gemstones pink diamond, Lili of the Valley teddy topper (retired)
 
Punches:  Stampin' Up corner