*Birch Press Bali*

I love these Birch Press mandala dies...  but I struggle to use them.  I struggle to do something a little different with them.  I get bored making cards with a round centre focal element and a sentiment.  While this card is just that, it is a little different...

 I started out by cutting each of the three layers of the Bali die in a different colour of cardstock.  I wanted some bright and cheerful colours so I picked a deep raspberry, bright green and light blue.  I put the layers of the centre mandala together with liquid glue so that I could have some time to play with it before the glue was set up to make sure I got the layers somewhat close to perfect.

I grabbed the A die and put it through my Big Shot with the embossing mat on a white panel to create an embossed image on what would be the front of my card.  Since I was adding more layers to the top of the card, I decided to put together the front of the card first, using my Perfect Layers tool to create a 1/16" border around the front panel and then put it all on to a white top fold card.

I then put the centre design on to the embossed design, trying to get it lined up as best as I could with the design below.  I added the centre circle piece from the raspberry cardstock to the centre of the design.  I then stamped the Lawn Fawn Happy Birthday sentiment from Simply Sentiments in Nocturn VersaFine Clair ink on a piece of the light blue cardstock and cut it down in to a strip.  I layered together the centre flower shapes from each of the three colours of cardstock and added it beside the sentiment, topping it off with an iridescent gem.

I feel like I succeeded in make this very busy die in to a clean and simple card.