I am a sucker for watercolour-washed backgrounds and a lot of my cards include this technique. It's such a quick and simple way to add a splash of colour that is irregular and fun! This birthday card, which features the Piece of Cake stamp set, has a watercolour wash of Bermuda Bay ink over Shimmery White card stock. The trick to getting a lovely "even" watercolour is to start with a wet Aqua Painter and lay down a puddle of water and it's into this you add the ink.

Bundles: Piece of Cake Stamp Set + Cake Builder Punch (photopolymer: 148610). Ink: Bermuda Bay (147096), Coastal Cabana (147097), Daffodil Delight (147094), Tranquil Tide (147146). Card/Paper: Daffodil Delight (121680), Bermuda Bay (131286), Granny Apple Green (147014), Mango Melody (147013), Shimmery White (121717), Whisper White (106549), Vellum (106584). Accessories: Pearl Basic Jewels (144219). Tools: Classic Label Punch (141491), Bitty Blooms Punch Pack (148532), Stamparatus (148187), Aqua Painter (103954), Heat Tool (129056), Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue (110755), Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals (144108), Stampin’ Dimensionals (104480).

But as you can see, I have created lighter areas where I have stamped the cakes from the Piece of Cake stamp set. This is a watercolour-lift technique. Once my watercolour wash was dry I began by stamping the birthday cakes, all four in one go using the Stamparatus, in a pale ink (I used Coastal Cabana for this card). I then used the Aqua Painter to "colour" each of the cakes with water and dabbed them with a paper towel to lift off the ink. Once I was happy with how much ink I had lifted and the card stock was dry, I re-stamped the four birthday cakes in Bermuda Bay ink, which aligned perfectly using the Stamparatus.

I finished my card with a vellum overlay to frame a punched birthday cake and stand with a pretty punched flower.

Piece of Cake Photopolymer Stamp Set + Cake Builder Punch Bundle (150579) - $66.50

The Piece of Cake stamp set and coordinating Cake Builder Punch is fabulous for birthday cards, wedding cards, and many other celebration-worthy events. I am really pleased they are carrying over into the new 2019-2020 Annual Catalogue, however be aware that the discounted bundle will not. If you want to order the Piece of Cake Bundle at a 10% discount, be sure to do that before 3 June.

• Click HERE and contact me to order your favourite retiring products
  OR
  Order online...