Handmade Ballerina Card – Paper Funday Challenge Card

I’m so excited to share my first official card as part of the Paper Funday Challenge Blog Design Team! The theme this month is “Anything Goes” with a twist: use something starting with B—and I leaned all the way into it with ballerinas and blooms.

This card was extra meaningful for me because I was a ballerina for six years growing up. I even had a poster over my bed that read “Just Keep Dancing”—a message that still resonates, especially during creative slumps. 💃

🖌️ Supplies + Techniques

For this piece, I used two beautiful digital stamps:

• Whimsy Stamps – Ballerina Girl
• Varada Sharma Designs – Blooming for You Rose

I layered them together (physically, but you could definitely do this digitally if your stamps are in PNG format!) and colored them with alcohol markers. I made a Distress Oxide Ink background using the colors Pink Raspberry and Spun Sugar and I used the Waffle Flower A2 Lacy Layers Dies to cut out my DSP and soft pink matting paper.

🌸 Tip: When layering digital stamps physically, print each one separately, fussy cut (or use your Cricut/Silhouette), and arrange with foam tape for gorgeous dimension. Let me know if you’re interested in learning how to layer transparent PNG digital stamps and I’ll add one to my Tutorials page.

🌈 Why It Matters: Childhood Nostalgia & Creative Play

This card took me right back to childhood—the pinks, the petals, the pirouettes. I love how crafting gives us a way to revisit those inner worlds and blend them with new skills like digital layering and ink blending.

Whether you’re using digital stamps, physical supplies, or a little of both, the magic is in the layers—of paper, of meaning, and of memory. 💫

🔄 What Almost Was: The Spinner That Didn’t Spin

Originally, I had planned to turn this into a spinner card, with the ballerina spinning on top of the rose, but I really wanted the ballerina to look like she was spinning ON the rose and between that and layering woes, I was toast.

Here’s the original version:

In the end, I pivoted to a more dimensional, layered card that still captured the movement I wanted—just without the mechanical twist. Honestly? I still love how it turned out.

✨ Creative Lesson: Sometimes, letting go of an idea opens up a better one.

🧚‍♀️ Want to Make Your Own?

You can enter this month’s challenge at the Paper Funday Challenge Blog! Whether you’re dancing with ballerinas or blooming with florals, there’s room to create whatever sparks joy.

Until next time, just keep dancing.

With twirls of nostalgia,

Breanna