Cricut Ice Cream Birthday Card Tutorial

Summer birthdays, parties, and events are so much fun! What better way to celebrate someone special than with a sweet treat that melts their heart, but not all over their hands!

• All You Need Is Ice Cream Clear Stamp Set
• Free Cricut File - All You Need Is Ice Cream
• Acrylic Stamp Block
• Craft Paper of Choice: Colors, Patterns, and Designs
• Black Dye Ink Pad
• Glue
• Scissors or Cricut
• Envelope

• Prismacolor Alcohol-Based Markers
• Glue Tape Runner
• Gelly Roll White Gel Pen
• 3-D Styrofoam Dots
• Bone Folder
• Tweezers
• Address Stamp

To get started, gather all of your materials so you have them accessible. Select the craft paper for your outer card and the background paper that will peek through your oval cut-out. Take your foreground paper and use the cricut machine to cut-out an oval shape in the center. If you don't have a cricut machine, use an oval object to trace an oval shape in the center of the paper and manually cut it with an exacto knife or scissors.

Once your oval is cut, make sure your second cardstock paper for your window is cut to size (cutting to the same size as the foreground paper so when you open the card, the left half is your background paper the right half is your foreground paper). Then simply glue that piece of paper to the inside of your card, creating the window layer.

Take white cardstock and place it onto a craft mat to protect your surface. Using clear stamps is easy, simply peel your stamp from it backing sheet and place it onto an acrylic stamp block. The photopolymer is slightly tacky, so your stamp can easily stick and be removed from your stamp block.

Second, ink your stamp with the ink pad and color of your choice. In this project, we are using black dye ink by ExcelMark. Dye ink is water-based, which is great for card making as it drys quickly and creates crisp outlines for coloring in.

Stamp all the designs you want to use on the sheet of white card stock. Be sure to space out the stamped impressions so that you can cut around them. If you have a Cricut machenie, use the Cricut files to create professional looking die cuts for your stamped images.

Now it's time to add color to your stamped impressions! For this project we used alcohol-based art markers, however, you can use your medium of choice.

"Begin with a base color. The base color is the main color of what an animal or object looks like."

Tip: If you are just getting started, basic markers and colored pencils will still get the job done. Using basic art supplies allows you to practice at a low initial investment, plus, chances are you already have some supplies laying around from a past project or items you have used with your kiddos or other family members.

Important notes for stamp coloring:

• Test your color on a part of the paper you are not using, like a top or bottom corner.
• Start with your base color or the main color of your object or animal.

Now it's time to start shading and blending with darker colors to create dimension for our designs. Take a slightly darker color than your base color and lightly shade in where the shadows would be. Use minimal pressure to start. You can always darken the shadow with more layering but cannot remove the shading you've added.

Tip: After you have shaded in your colored stamp images, use a white gel pen to add little highlights for an extra professional look!

Cut out your colored stamps and start to place them together on your card to ensure the layout and look you want before you start gluing pieces down.

Once you are happy with the placement, glue all your elements down. We recommend using a glue runner as it is quick, easy, and mess-free.

If you want to add a 3D effect to your card, so that some elements are raised on the face of the card, simply use adhesive styrofoam dots. Place them on the back of the element you want to be raised, for a 3-dimensional effect, just like a pro!

If you have some extra adhesive gems, pearls, or stickers around, add them to your card for a fun finishing touch!

Now you've made a sweet card for a sweet person - and the best part - is not only is it homemade but its calorie and mess-free!