Birthday Bash with Guest Mary Polanco

December 31, 2017 by craftychark 5 Comments

Hi, friends, it’s Chark here today to introduce our Guest Designer for the month of December, Mary Polanco. I first found Mary’s work on YouTube where she does great videos that are well-paced, inspiring and full of beautiful projects. When I asked if she’d be our December Guest Designer, she agreed and went above and beyond our expectations with her projects using our digital-of-the-month, Birthday Bash. There’s even a video for you to watch! Here’s Mary with her instructions…enjoy!

Hi there! I’m so excited to be guest posting today using the Birthday Bash Digital Stamp set! For my first project, I wanted to go big and go bright. So I decided to print out the cake image pretty large. This is an A2 size card so you can see the scale here, it’s pretty big. I love this cake image because it’s simple and so easy to work with. I chose the sentiment “Celebrate” because I’m going for a very cheerful and upbeat card.

I cut out the cake and sentiment and left a small white border. I pulled out my “Color It” Gel pens and used the glitter ones that matched the background I was using.

Speaking of all things bright and cheery, let’s talk about the background! I had a blast working with these Distress Oxides. First I sponged on the three colors you see here, Peacock Feathers, Wilted Violet, and Picked Raspberry. After I sponged it on, I sprayed that bad boy down with water from my Ranger Mister and let the water do all the work. I moved along the drying process with my heat tool and once it was good and dry, I covered it with Versamark Ink and then used some clear glitter embossing powder to get that shimmery look.

I put the card together with some fun foam under the colored background and some 3M foam mounting tape under the cake image for some added dimension. But I laid the sentiment flat and used Multi Medium Matte from Ranger for a strong hold! I finished off the card with some Confetti Sequins from Pretty Pink Posh for some added fun!

I really wanted to use these balloons and the vintage look of them inspired me to go with a little bit more of an artsy kind of look.

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I started with my background, using some Canson XL watercolor paper. I used Distress Oxide in Iced Spruce, Seedless Preserves, and Worn Lipstick, and sponged it on first. Then I watered it down with my Ranger Mister to fully mix the colors. I heat set it with my heat tool and then finished it off with some of this fantastic black Smooth Spritz. I love the look of the black shimmery paint splatters on top of these colors.

I printed the balloon images and the “Hooray” on some Neenah Solar Crest 80lb weight cardstock and cut them out leaving a small white border. I sponged the balloons with some Iced Spruce Oxide, and the sentiment with Worn Lipstick.

I put the card together using fun foam under the colored background and foam tape under the balloon and sentiment. Finally, I finished the balloons with some Glossy Accents and Confetti Sequins from Pretty Pink Posh.

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I hope you enjoyed this project as I had so much fun working with these digital images. Until next time, Happy Crafting everyone!

Mary Polanco

Many thanks to Mary for her work and time and for inspiring us with her beautiful projects! You can see more from Mary on YouTube, her blog MerryMadeCrafts, and her Facebook page here.

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Please join us in this month’s “Make it Pop” challenge for your chance at a free digital stamp AND, if you used Hero Arts, a $20 gift card to our Hero Arts store. Our current monthly challenge can always be found in the menu bar, and runs from the 1st to last day of the month

The a2z scrapbooking store carries a wide variety of Hero Arts products! Get discounted new releases, sales, grab bags & more. Proceeds from our store benefit Celiac & Behcets disease foundations. Use my discount code CHARK15 to get 15% off your purchase of $25 or more. If you’re looking for a Hero Arts product you don’t see in store, use the Request Custom Order button from with-in the shop.

Author: craftychark

Loves reading, crafting, writing and The Wizard of Oz.

5 thoughts on “Birthday Bash with Guest Mary Polanco”

Cindy C.
December 31, 2017 at 9:52 am

Wow thanks for sharing these festive, gorgeous cards Mary!! Love the glossiness and shimmery shine. Thanks so much for guest designing for us!!

Leslie
December 31, 2017 at 10:06 am

Just gorgeous! Definitely went above and beyond! We so appreciate you guesting for us!

afmmac
January 1, 2018 at 1:08 pm

WOW. Just spectacular.

Pam Sertich
January 3, 2018 at 5:29 am

Out of this world! You nailed it 😘😘😘

sean108sandra
January 3, 2018 at 7:31 pm

Wow! Those cards are AMAZING! Thank you so much for sharing. 😉