I am always looking for ideas for birthday cards that suit the recipient, such as hobbies, sports favorites, entertainment favorites (movies, Pokemon, video games, etc.), and even food. My oldest son, David, is a video gaming hobbyist and that should be in capital letters! He had a birthday this past week, thus, I needed a card for our celebration held this past Sunday.
His current video game favorite is Warframe, so I started my research campaign a few weeks ago to find out what this game was all about. I Googled it, asked other members of the family who might know, etc., because I wanted his card to be authentic. It took a number of hours to gather enough knowledge to begin. I resorted to downloading colored digital pictures from numerous searches, and then I was ready to begin.
This game takes place in the future on Earth and in outer space with the players as representatives of the Tenno, descendants of an ancient and mystical civilization. I wanted to make a galaxy night sky in watercolors inks, which I did using Stampin' Up re-inkers and spritzed watered-down metallic sapphire acrylic paint, which give it a pretty, almost silvery blue sheen. I also wanted to try out the shutter technique for the inside sentiment area. My card is larger than the typical A2 size, so I had to find my own measurements for the parts to make the shutter panel and lens.
The shutter technique is used with a gatefold card style and has a bellyband sleeve to hold the gatefold closed. On my card, this bellyband hosts the Warframe game logo, which is an abstract lotus flower...quite pretty, I think.
When the bellyband sleeve is removed, a picture of Earth is visible where the inhabitants of the game reside at some time far into the future. I added this element so the card front isn't so bare once the sleeve is removed.
The card inside features a picture gallery of a few of the characters one might run into while playing the game. On the left panel at the top is The Lotus, the advisor of the Tenno, saviors of Earth, and below her is Alad V, who becomes an occasional ally when it best suits his interests. At the top right is Captain Vor and below him is Vay Hek, who are leaders of the armies that the Tenno must defeat. When the card is opened, the personalized birthday verse (made by Mom) is revealed as the eye of the shutter lens opens.
Ingredients: Papers: Stampin' Up cs: Night of Navy, Rose Red; Recollections Seaside Cardstock Pack (Lt. blue); Ranger Watercolor Paper. Warframe Colored Digital pictures. Stampin' Up Inks: Night of Navy, Marine Mist, Rose Red. Folk Art Acrylic Paint watered down for spritzing. Dies: Stampin' Up Starburst Framelits; Spellbinders Circles LG and Circles SM. Recollections Opaque Marker: Snow. Score-Buddy creasing tool. Chatterbox verse/ computer prepared. Size: 5" x 6-1/8"
