Freebie Friday: Shining Stars Dies Birthday Card
Who doesn’t love a good birthday card with lots of color?! Today I’m sharing a fun birthday card featuring the Shining Stars Dies, which are the October 2026 Product of the Month from Stampin’ Up! This die set includes 23 star-shaped dies, and you can get it for just $5 with a $75 purchase! I love that there are so many different sizes and styles of stars to play with. For this card, I paired some bright, cheerful colors with black and white, and I think the combination is just so fun! I started with a Thick Basic White card base and added a layer of Basic White cardstock embossed with the Softly Woven 3D Embossing Folder. Before adhering it, I flicked a Basic Black Stampin’ Blend over the embossed cardstock to create a little splatter. It’s such a simple way to add some extra interest! I also layered a piece of the Beautiful Ordinary Life Designer Series Paper onto a Basic Black mat and added that to the card front. The black polka dots are a fun contrast to all that texture! Now for the stars! Using the Shining Stars Dies, I cut three stars from Lemon Lolly, four from Strawberry Slush, and two from Pool Party cardstock. I wanted to give some of the stars a little extra detail, so I used the Playful Patterns Stamp Set to stamp tone-on-tone patterns onto the Strawberry Slush and Pool Party stars. I love how those subtle patterns make the stars a little more interesting without taking away from the colorful design. For the birthday greetings, I pulled out my Stampin’ Hot Foil System and the Sweetly Sentimental Hot Foil Dies. I used gold foil rolls on Basic Black cardstock to create the sentiments, and that little touch of gold really pops against the colorful stars! I finished everything off with a bow tied from black baker’s twine and a few black dots. This is such a fun way to use the October 2026 Product of the Month, and I can already think of so many other occasions where these Shining Stars Dies would come in handy! When you’re working with several different colors of die cut shapes, try repeating each color in a few places around your card. It helps tie everything together and keeps the design looking balanced, even when you’re layering stars of different sizes! FREEBIE FRIDAY! Each Friday, I plan to have a new project to share with you, and a free tutorial to go with it. These tutorials will be emailed to those on my email newsletter each week, and you can also find them linked on my blog. Join my …