Peter's Birthday Card

So my hubby's birthday required a very fancy, lots-of-time card (especially since I couldn't afford to get him a birthday present this year!) I started with a blank white 5x7 card base, but wanted to try something new, covering the entire thing in pattered paper, inside & out, front & back. It turned out pretty well, making a nice sturdy, heavy card, with lots of body to it. I like it. And it's a great way to use up the massive quantities of patterned paper I have! ;)

Materials used:

Close To My Heart paper packet - Good Times (background paper, inside & out)
Close To My Heart ink & markers - Chocolate, Twilight, Buttercup
Close To My Heart cardstock - Buttercup & Sweet Leaf
Cuttlebug embossing folder - Happy Birthday
Chocolate embossing powder
Metallic rub-on
Stamps ~ Close To My Heart Adorning Corners (corners of text block on inside), Unity Stamp Company Something Within (frame & sentiment on inside)
Gold micro beads w/ super tacky strip tape
Embossing marker, 3-D adhesive dots, corner rounder punch

After embossing the card front, I decided to make two of the words "Happy" and "Birthday" stand out by coloring them with an embossing marker and then coating them with embossing powder & setting it. It didn't work perfectly (embossing markers aren't gooey enough to make embossing powder stick perfectly, and in trying to tap off the stray embossing powder grains, you end up tappping off the powder where you don't want it to be off!) but the general idea is there. That wasn't enough for the front, so then I added the metallic rub-ons over the whole rest of the embossed front; that wasn't enough, so then I added four tacky strips as borders on the front and coated them with micro-beads. Ah, finally, it looks more "finished" (IMO anyway).

Then since I had covered the inside with a very busy patterned paper, I had to make a place to write and stamp a sentiment, so I stamped & embossing the frame using the USC stamp, and then made a decorative text box.