It’s my daughter’s first birthday next weekend, so I wanted to make her a special card. Not least because she’ll be spending her first birthday in lockdown rather than celebrating with a party like we should be!

I started by stamping all of the little foxes from Mama Elephant’s Little Fox Agenda in Gina K obsidian black amalgam ink – *tip* this is a great ink if you want to use alcohol markers – it won’t smudge like some others! I coloured all of these little guys using the Gold Yellow Tri-Blend markers from Spectrum Noir, and used pink and teal shades for their accessories. I don’t have the coordinating dies for this set, so I had to fussy cut each one individually – phew!

Next, I die cut the Studio Katia frame from white cardstock (Neenah solar white classic crest 110lb – this is a lovely heavyweight card), and used liquid glue to adhere an acetate panel behind it (yes, it’s going to be another shaker!). I chose 12 of the little foxes and adhered them to the front of the window using the liquid glue.

I made the background for this card by brushing water over some watercolour cardstock, then using Karin brushmarkers (one in fuchsia, one turquoise) at the top and bottom, fading the colour out towards the middle with the paintbrush.

I placed foam tape around the edge of the panel, and filled the shaker window with clear sequins – *tip*: fold the foam tape in half lengthways to double its height and leave more room for the filling of your shaker card to move around! I adhered the watercolour panel to the back, then glued the completed shaker panel to a top-folding white A2 notecard.

Finally, I used one of CZ Design’s reverse sentiment strips on the front of the card, and a matching one on the inside (it says “you’re getting so big!” – and she really is!!).

I hope you like it – this card took a very long time to make, but I think it was worth it in the end!