Transformation Tuesday!

Hello, friends! Welcome to this week's Papertrey Ink Transformation Tuesday post. In case you've missed it, this is a new feature we're doing to encourage ourselves (and you!) to pull out those cards that didn’t necessarily turn out the way we had envisioned and give them a second try. Some of you may remember the Recipe Remix Challenge from SAF 2013. It’s sort of like that (but with our own projects instead of customer submitted projects). The idea is to show a project transformed into something fresh and new. Here's the card I'm transforming today (and HERE's the original post):

Despite loving my original concept, I was never completely happy with how the card turned out (and my photography also could have used some work, if I'm being honest with myself). I felt like the scene behind the Text Block was too busy and dark and took too much attention away from the celebratory greeting. I made several subtle changes that made a big impact on the new card. Let's take a closer look!

I began by stamping the streamers from Hooray and the confetti dots from Confetti Toss essentially the same way I did on the original card. The differences on this version are 1) I chose not to do the ink blending behind the Text Block and 2) I didn't fussy cut the streamers and weave them around each other. The result is so much lighter, cleaner, and quicker (Hello?! Fussy cutting all those banners? What on earth?)!

I also chose to glitter the confetti dots to make them stand out better and add festive sparkle. I felt like they really got lost in the blending on the original card. Another change (that you can't really see) is the layer of clear cardstock behind the Text Block. That helps stabilize the delicate text on the Text Block and, bonus!, seals in the glitter so it won't come off on my recipient's hands. I just ran the Tropical Teal cardstock through a Xyron before die cutting it and then applied that to the clear cardstock. No sweat!

I didn't want to lose the blending on the new version of the card, so I instead chose to add a very light Aqua Mist layer to the base. I like how it highlights the texture of the impression plate (I used the same By The Numbers plate this time around) and just adds some nice, subtle interest to the card base.

So what do you think? Do you have a preference? I hope you've enjoyed today's post. Don't forget, you can play along with your own project. Link up your Transformation Tuesday project over on our team blog for your chance to win a $25 gift certificate for the Papertrey Ink store! I have another something coming your way this week, so stay tuned! Have a great day, everyone!

Supplies:
Text Block Birthday Card