Let be the first one to say I am not an artist. This is why I buy stamp sets and use my die cut machine. I wanted a specific look for a birthday card I was making today to use with the Always Playing With Paper blog challenge.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieHRH-hb7YVVtmzP-l-thJxZBOkpptTrs78pE8cUpEp6oA1z4MBmHX8y8YN_gX7KFGGllGgM38PKfuUNjF7jz0g-Mln6m1L65ZDwu9pFoSJYcO8MR0rHKbtpsLZHSVUFsYe0dEpf2Yz7oT/s200/New+Banner-015.jpg)
After looking at all my stamps and not finding exactly what I wanted I headed to my computer and Cricut machine. Not there either. "How hard can it be to draw a birthday cake" I'm thinking to myself?
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieHRH-hb7YVVtmzP-l-thJxZBOkpptTrs78pE8cUpEp6oA1z4MBmHX8y8YN_gX7KFGGllGgM38PKfuUNjF7jz0g-Mln6m1L65ZDwu9pFoSJYcO8MR0rHKbtpsLZHSVUFsYe0dEpf2Yz7oT/s200/New+Banner-015.jpg)
After looking at all my stamps and not finding exactly what I wanted I headed to my computer and Cricut machine. Not there either. "How hard can it be to draw a birthday cake" I'm thinking to myself?
Hard! At least for those of us who are perspective challenged. Round two of looking through my stamp sets and I found one that was almost what I was thinking so I sat down and started creating.
I started with this stamp set from Stampin Up. I'm not sure if it's still available, but it had the layer cake i was going for. I used my Mother's Day gift, a MISTI, and a piece of acetate to carefully position each stamp right on my card base. Brave? Crazy is probably a better word. I also made a mask with masking paper for each piece.
After, the cake was stamped, I covered it with the masks and got just a little crazier and added some background with another Stampin Up set, Gorgus Grunge.
Masking is one of those magic techniques. It seems contrary to stamp the top image first and then stamp over it, but that is exactly how it works.
The end result was a great masculine birthday card.