How to Make a Birthday Card with Blessing Angels Dies

Hello, cardmaking friends! It’s Mona Tóth here, and I’m so happy to be back on the Spellbinders blog with another detailed step-by-step tutorial.

Today, I’m creating a sweet birthday card using the Blessing Angels Die Set from Bibi Cameron’s new release. I have also used the Divine Arch Card Creator Die Set and the Everyday Blessings & Banners Stamp and Die Set from the same collection.

These little angels are so adorable that they immediately made me smile. Instead of using traditional colors, I chose Tuscan, orchid, and mulberry shades to give them a colorful and playful look.

This project is a perfect mindful activity with dies and cardstock. Once the die-cut pieces are organized and assembled in the right order, the cute little characters come to life. That is always one of my favorite parts of working with detailed die sets.

Let’s start creating!

DIE-CUT ALL THE ANGEL PIECES

1. Select the dies needed to create both angels from the Blessing Angels Die Set.
2. Place the dies onto the cardstock with the cutting edge facing down.
   Use:
   • Chiffon ColorWheel Cardstock for the faces, hands, arms, and legs;
   • Fawn ColorWheel Cardstock for the hair;
   • Orchid ColorWheel Cardstock for one dress and some of the flowers;
   • Tuscan ColorWheel Cardstock for the second dress;
   • Classic White ColorWheel Cardstock for the wings and white decorative clothing layers.

3. Secure the small dies with Best Ever Craft Tape so they do not move while cutting.
4. Create the die-cutting sandwich for the Platinum SIX die-cutting Machine. Place the plates in this order from bottom to top: Platform A, Platform B, Cutting Plate C, cardstock with the dies, second Cutting Plate C.

5. Run the sandwich through the die-cutting machine.

6. Die-cut one more time the wings, flowers, and dress parts from Classic White ColorWheel Cardstock and Tuscan ColorWheel Cardstock. Make sure the cutting edge is facing the cardstock.

TIP: Small die-cut pieces are much easier to assemble when you keep the parts for each character together. A light-colored work surface also makes the tiny pieces easier to see.

DIE-CUT THE FLOWERS AND LEAFY BRANCHES

1. Choose the flowers and leafy branch dies from the Blessing Angels Die Set and the Divine Arch Card Creator Die Set.
2. Die-cut the leafy branches from Glitter Metallic cardstock from the Rose Gold Assortment Treasured Cardstock Pack. Make sure the cutting edge is facing the cardstock.
3. Die-cut the flowers from Orchid, Mulberry, Tuscan, and Classic White ColorWheel Cardstock:
   • Die-cut the rounded flowers from the Blessing Angels Die Set 2x from Orchid and 1x from Mulberry,
   • the three-petaled flowers from the Divine Arch Card Creator Die Set 2x from Orchid and 1x from Classic White,
   • die-cut the tiny flower centers from the Divine Arch Card Creator Die Set from Tuscan 1x.

4. Die-cut the four flowers from the Blessing Angels Die Set one time from Tuscan and Mulberry. Make sure the cutting edge is facing the cardstock.

TIP: Keep the tiny flower centers in a small container or in one area of the work surface. They are very easy to lose.

ASSEMBLE THE ANGELS’ FACES AND HAIR

Begin with the heads of each little angel. The Reverse Tweezers help a lot with the accurate placements.

1. Put Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue on the neck and adhere the head on it.

2. Use liquid glue on the Fawn die-cut hair pieces and place them on the heads. Place the braided hair behind the head.

3. Use liquid glue on the buns and place them on the top of the hair.

TIP: Use only a very small amount of liquid glue behind detailed die-cuts. Too much glue can easily squeeze out around the edges.

ASSEMBLE THE BODIES

1. Use liquid glue on the neck and place the dress on it.

2. Turn over the angel and use liquid glue on the dress then attach the white decorative lower dress section.

3. Use liquid glue on the lower etched parts and place the body on it.

ADD THE SLEEVES AND ARMS

1. Use liquid glue on the tiny sleeve parts. Place the hands on the tiny sleeves.

2. Use liquid glue on the hands.

3. Position the arms on the hands.

4. Use liquid glue on the backside of the completed arms.

5. Attach the completed arms to the angel bodies. Make sure to put one arm before the body and the other one behind it.

ADD THE WINGS AND LEGS

1. Apply a small amount of liquid glue to the center of the white wing pieces.

2. Turn over the angel then attach the wing to the correct place. Turn back the angel and check the placement from the front before the glue dries.

3. Use a small amount of liquid glue on each leg and attach the cute socks to them. Make sure the legs are in the correct position.

4. Use liquid glue on the top part of the legs.
5. Turn over the angel, then attach the legs to the bottom part of the dress.
6. Make sure to use the correct legs for each angel and that the center part is hidden beneath the dress.

The angels are almost complete; aren’t they cute?

CREATE THE FLOWER CROWNS

The next part is the placing of the flower hair ornaments. I put a little twist to it. For the angel with the buns I decided to put the flowers just below the buns where only four flowers are needed, so I cut out one flower from the Orchid flower chain.

1. Cut out one flower from the Orchid flower chain

2. Use only a small amount of liquid glue on the Orchid and Tuscan flowers and place the Mulberry flowers on top of them.

3. Use a small amount of liquid glue on the hair and place the flowers in the correct place.

4. Using the Reverse Tweezers can help a lot in handling tiny pieces like these.
5. Use liquid glue on the flowers then place them in the correct place.

The little flowers add so much personality to the characters. This is where the angels really begin to feel finished.

ASSEMBLE THE LAYERED FLOWERS

The larger flowers are made from several die-cut layers.

1. Use a tiny amount of liquid glue in the center of the Orchid flower then place the same flower on top of it in the correct position.

2. Use a tiny amount of liquid glue and place the smaller white flower over the larger base flower.

3. Use a tiny amount of liquid glue and place the tiny round part in the center to finish the flower.

4. Repeat the same process with the other flowers as well. The white flowers don’t have a tiny round center.

5. I decided to make the rounded flowers more 3D so I bent the petals a little.

6. Using liquid glue, place the second petal part on the base.

7. Then follow with the smaller white part in the center and lastly the tiny Tuscan center.

8. Repeat the same process with the Mulberry flowers. The first step is the base.

9. Then follow with the smaller white part and finally the tiny Tuscan part in the center.

TIP: Make sure to use the correct amount of liquid glue to avoid squeezing it over the flowers. You do not have to make every flower identical. Mixing the colors and layers gives the arrangement a more natural, handmade look.

CREATE THE CARD PANELS

The cute angels and the flowers are ready. Now comes the creation of the card front.

1. Use the largest part, 4.25 x 5.50 in., from the Precision Layering A2 A Etched Dies to cut the larger card front from Lavender ColorWheel Cardstock.
2. Use the second largest part, 4.00 x 5.25 in., from the Precision Layering A2 A Etched Dies to cut the smaller card front from Fairy Tale ColorWheel Cardstock.

3. Secure the dies with Best Ever Craft Tape so they do not move while cutting.
4. Create the die-cutting sandwich for the Platinum SIX die-cutting Machine. Place the plates in this order from bottom to top: Platform A, Platform B, Cutting Plate C, cardstock with the die, second Cutting Plate C.
5. Run the sandwich through the die-cutting machine.

6. Position the angels next to each other, turn them around, and fix them with the Best Ever Craft Tape so they remain in place for the designing.

7. Place the angels, the sentiment, and the vines to the Fairy Tale card front to find the preferred place for each element.

STAMP THE SENTIMENT

1. Place the Fairy Tale card front inside the MISTI stamping platform.
2. Position the “Happy birthday, little angel!” sentiment from the Everyday Blessings & Banners Stamp and Die Set near the lower-right corner.
3. Ink the stamp with Garnet color from the Jet Set BetterPress Ink Mini Set - 4 Pack.
4. Stamp the sentiment onto the panel.

TIP: Check the stamped impression before removing the cardstock. If necessary, stamp it again in the same position for a clearer result.

ATTACH THE CARD PANEL

1. Apply liquid glue to the back of the Fairy Tale card front.

2. Attach the Fairy Tale card front to the Lavender card front.
3. Press around the edges to make sure the card front is evenly adhered.

4. Using liquid glue, adhere the finished card front to a 4.25 x 5.50 in. white card base.

ARRANGE THE ROSE GOLD BRANCHES

I wanted to create a little dimension with the branches, so instead of liquid glue, I used White Foam Adhesive Micro Squares.

1. Turn over the branches and add Micro Squares to some of the leaves.

2. Place the leaves on the card front and position them as you want.

3. Cut off the unnecessary leaves from the branch. We will use them later.

4. Position the other branches as well.

5. Cut off the unnecessary leaves here too.

TIP: The metallic cardstock adds a soft shine without competing with the colorful angels.

ATTACH THE ANGELS

1. Add White Foam Adhesive Large Squares to the back of both angels. The Best Ever Craft Tape can remain as they are unseen and helps fix the angels.

2. Position the angels near the center of the card, above the sentiment, slightly overlapping the leaves.
3. Press them onto the card front.

TIP: The foam squares lift the angels away from the card front and make them the main focus of the design.

ADD THE FLOWERS

1. Begin placing the assembled flowers in the angels’ hands.
2. Use Bearly Art Precision Craft Glue for the flowers.

3. Place the flowers under the angels’ hands to make it look as though they are holding them. The Reverse Tweezers can help a lot here as well.

4. Attach the remaining flowers to the branches with liquid glue.

5. Continue filling the empty spaces around the branches. You can add one more flower to an angel.

6. Mix flat and raised flowers throughout the card. This creates depth without making every part of the design equally dimensional.

ADD THE FINAL DETAILS

1. Check the overall arrangement, and now you can add the cut-out leaves to the lower part of the branch with liquid glue.

2. The Reverse Tweezers are a great help to position the smallest details.

3. As a final embellishment, use the Spectrum AB Color Essentials Gems.
4. Place the gems around the angels, or the tiniest ones even on the flower hair ornaments.

These tiny gems catch the light and add the final bit of sparkle.

I really enjoyed creating these little angels and watching them come together. The Orchid, Tuscan, and Mulberry colors give them a playful, less traditional look, while the rose gold branches add a soft and elegant shine.

Thank you so much for spending your creative time with me today. I hope this tutorial inspires you to get crafty. For more inspiration, and easy-to-follow photography tips for cardmakers check my Instagram and lets be online crafty friends. I wish you an amazing crafty day! Mona

Other Supplies

White A2 card base, MISTI stamping platform.