Birthday troll

Hello and welcome to another challenge over at the Alphabet challenge blog. Thanks for stopping by since the last time I checked in here. I'm crafting exclusively for my bi-weekly DT task at the moment as I still feel absolutely exhausted on a daily basis, but at least my DT spot gives me a reason to do something every now and then. I also received some encouraging results at today's check-up so I hope that things will get back to normal at some point, even though I don't see it coming yet. 

Anyway, we'd like to see easel cards for the letter "E", and I for myself decided to work with that adorable troll girl from Bugaboo. I printed her ages ago, but never really found a project that would suit her. For my easel card inspiration, I decided to combine her with this wonderful birthday-themed background paper. I cut the pieces in a way that would make sure I get to feature all the nice motifs: the pile of presents in the bottom part of the card, and the birthday message in the upright part. Coincidentally, the latter also had a balloon that matches nicely with the balloon that is featured in the digi. And that pretty much sets the tone for my DT project, which is full of matches and coincidences.

To recreate the cheerful mood of a (child's) birthday, I decided to colour the troll girl with bright and bold colours. Unfortunately, the light conditions made it impossible for me to make decent photos - in reality, I used coloured pencils for my colouring, meaning the colours should be way softer and a bit brighter than depicted. Oh, well. 

Once I was done, I placed the motif onto a piece of pink cardboard. I think it goes well with the pink balloon, and it also merges nicely into the overall bright colour scheme. To complete my card, I then took a strip of blue cardboard that featured embossed circles. 

It's only visible when you turn the card around, but I think it's a nice feature that makes sure there's no awkward white space left. And somehow, those embossed circles do remind me of balloons/lanterns, which again puts emphasis on the celebration theme.

To make sure the easel card will stay in position, I wanted to add a banner saying "Happy birthday" onto the bottom of the card. However, I thought it might interfere with the birthday message on the background paper. As an alternative, I opted for huge pink and blue gemstones I had in my stash forever since I hardly ever use this particular size of pearls and gems in my projects. I consider them way too big, which is why they'll be the "leftover pieces" of every sheet of perals/gemstones. This time, their size turned out to be perfect, as they're big enough to stop the upright part of my easel card from collapsing. Also, in a fun twist they match the colour scheme of pink and blue which somehow repeats all over in my card. What a fun crafting coincidence!

challenges: 
- krafty chicks: stamp act

- 613 avenue create: ATG
- a place to start: ATG

- gem of a challenge: ATG

- as you like it: pastels or brights (I opted for bright colours in my project as I feel like they express the joy and happiness that comes with a celebration, especially when it's a child's birthday. I feel like bright colours are the "caps lock" of crafting - the equivalent of being loud in a positive way)

- classicdesignchallenge: ATG DT 

- crafty catz: ATG

- creative moments: ATG

- lil patch of crafty friends: ATG handmade

- love to craft: ATG 

- morgans artworld: ATG

- nachteulen: ATG

- pennys papertake: ATG

- use your stuff: ATG

- vesela hiska: rainbow
- wortartwednesday: ATG
- pinspirational
- worldwide crafters and colorists challenge: ATG