Fun fold Stand Alone Christmas Wreath Card

 This Fun Fold card is so easy to make and because it allows the card to stand up by itself, it also has a WOW factor.  The art piece added to the front  also provides a perfect venue for  displaying  a Christmas Wreath.  

The card base is Thick Very Vanilla card stock measuring 5 1/2 by 8 1/2", scored at 2 1/4, 3 1/4, 5 1/2, and 6 1/2".  It is folded in such a way that the center fold pops out.

The two end panels and the center panel were matted with Early Espresso card stock upon which was added "In Good Taste" DSP.  Dimensions for the card stock and DSP for the 3 panels will be at the end of the post

The card folds up so that it fits into a regular A2 envelope

The middle Art Piece panel was created by die cutting some Early Espresso card stock  with the Stitched So Sweetly die and adding a piece of Very Vanilla card stock in the middle.. The center of this Art piece was adhered to the card base at the middle pop out panel.

Here's how I created the wreath. Before starting, I die cut and stamped/die cut the following:  1 wreath in Crumb Cake card stock (with the leaves); 1 wreath in Mossy Meadow card stock (pine leaves); 8 pine cones stampe..d with Early Espresso ink and die cut; 8 Holly leaves; 6 Real Red Berries; 4 Gold Holly Leaves embellishments.  I also made a bow with the sheer Real Red organza ribbon, and collected some tiny Real Red rhinestones.

To put the wreath together I pulled out my air tight container which has a sponge and tombo glue in it.  I started with the Crumb Cake wreath,  applying liquid glue with the sponge to the entire  wreath and  then adhering it to the art piece. Next came the Mossy Meadow wreath which was adhered on top of the Crumb Cake wreath.

Now the fun part, the decorating. To add the small embellishments I used glue dots and for that my pick it tool was invaluable. I started with the pine cones pairing two together with a Holly Leaf as well as a Gold Holly Leaf embellishments.  A Holly Berry was also added but I ended up adding a red rhinestone on top of them.  To finish a red bow was added off centre  from the bottom.

The sentiment is stamped on a separate piece of Very Vanilla card stock and matted with Early Espresso card stock before adding it to the center panel below the art piece.

Dimensions:

Card Base:  Thick Very Vanilla card stock  8 1/2 by 5 1/2" Scored at 2 1/4, 3 1/4, 5 1/2 and 6 1/2"

Panels:  (2) Early Espresso mat 2 by 5 1/4"   (2)  DSP  1 3/4 by 5"

             (1) center panel Early Espresso 1 3/4 by 5 1/4"   DSP  1 1/2 by 5"

Art Panel:  Early Espresso Stitched So Sweetly Scallop die (largest)

              Very Vanilla insert 2 1/2 by 3 3/4"

Sentiment:  Very Vanilla 1/2" by 3"

               Early Espresso mat 3/4" by 3 1/4"

Supplies Used:

Stamp:  Sparkle of the Season

Inks:  Mossy Meadow, Early Espresso

Papers:  Thick Very Vanilla card stock, Very Vanilla Card stock, Early Espresso, In Good Taste DSP, Mossy Meadow, Crumb Cake

Accessories:  Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Seasonal Swirl Dies, Gold Holly Leaves, Red Rhinestones, 3/8" Sheer Organza Real Red ribbon, Glue dots

Butterfly Brilliance Slimline Birthday Card

 My sister's birthday is next month.  I made this very special slimline card for her

I wanted the card to be very special, simple yet sophisticated and in one of  her favourite colours.

The card stock base is Purple Posy 7 by 9" scored on the 7" side to form a 3 1/2 by 9" slim line card.  This was matted with Whisper White 3 1/4 by 8 3/4" followed by Hydrangea DSP.

The central rectangular art piece are 2 layers of different die cuts - both from Stitched So Sweetly dies.  The sentiment, die cut in Highland Heather card stock adhered to an adhesive sheet is from the Floral Gallery dies. These words are adhered at an angle on the layered die cuts on the card front,

Above and below the sentiment words are two flower pairs coloured with Purple Posy blends and fussy cut from the true love DSP. The leaves are coloured with Old Olive. Some black prills were added on the stamens of each flower

The inside of the card is below.

Supplies Used:

Stamp:  Happiest Birthday, 

Inks: Gorgeous Grape, Blends to colour flowers 

Accessories Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Butterfly punch, Floral Gallery dies, prills

Floating Panel Gatefold Card with Butterflies

 Butterflies are everywhere.  So are this fun fold called a Floating Panel Gateway  card described in a tutorial by Dawn in a video here . 

Today I thought I would make this fun fold card to highlight the new Butterfly Brilliance stamp set. I also include butterflies from other stamp sets.

The 5 1/2 by 8 1/2"  Bermuda Bay card base is scored at 2 1/8" at either end, folded in to the center and the folds burnished. This is the Gatefold portion.

On the inside, I placed a 5 1/4 by 4" piece of the new Butterfly Boutique DSP which is only available for this special.

The square panels are "floating" on either side with a folding mechanism.  The mechanism is a 5 1/4 by 1" piece of Whisper White scored at 1, 2, and 4 1/4".  The panels consist of a Whisper White piece which is 2 1/4 by 2 1/4" matted with Bermuda Bay card stock 2 1/8 by 2 1/8".

Before matting them together, the square which will be placed at the top is stamped with the sentiment "Birthday Wishes" from "Butterfly Wishes" and underneath that a layered butterfly created using the Butterfly Brilliance stamp set and coordinating dies.  The square for the bottom is stamped with 3 colours of ink applied with the Stampin markers, using a Sale-a-bration stamp set which is no longer available. A small butterfly is also added above the sentiment.

The floating mechanism is first attached to the inside of the fold.  Adhesive is added to the end with only 1 score line.  It is then added, adhesive side up, with the edge on the score line, and the card closed.  Adhesive is then applied to the other end, and with the card open, the mechanism is folded under and added to the inside.  The matted squares are then added to the area between the score lines.

Added to the front panels is another pattern of the Butterfly Boutique DSP.  Images from the Butterfly Gala stamp set as well as small butterflies from the Butterfly Brilliance stamp set and dies are added to a Whisper White panel die cut with the Ornate Layer die.

The sentiment on the left panel is die cut with the Stitched so Sweetly die and matted with Bermuda Bay. Small butterflies are added below and above it.

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Butterfly Gala, Butterfly Wishes, Butterfly Brilliance

Inks:  Black Memento, Markers (Bermuda Bay, Calypso Coral, Basic black), Stampin Blends

Papers:  Bermuda Bay, Whisper white, Butterfly Boutique DSP

Accessories:  Brilliant Wings Dies, Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Ornate Layer Dies

Another Curvy card for Easter

 Continuing with the theme of using the Curvy dies and stamp set, I made another card which I made for Easter.  I wanted to show the versatility of this stamp set as well as increase my comfort level with the curved die.

I started with a Thick Whisper White card stock card base to which I added a 4 by 5 1/4" piece of Fine Art Floral DSP.

On top of the DSP I added 2 pieces of Flirty Flamingo card stock die cut separately using the curvy die (floral pattern).  Note, they are not just cut in half.

These 2 pieces were adhered to the top and bottom of the DSP leaving a space between them. This is a great way to display DSP and another way to use the Curvy die.

On a separate piece of Whisper White, I stamped a flower sprig as well as 3 birds.  The flowers, and birds were coloured with Stampin' Blends, and then die cut using the curvy dies.  I also die cut 2 extra sprigs of foliage using Old Olive card stock.

These were adhered below the bottom curve as shown in the above picture, adding the floral strip and the birds using dimensionals.  A bow made with gold metallic trim was added to the left side of the floral strip, and some rhinestones were added randomly on the front.

The sentiment, from Itty Bitty Greetings, was stamped on a scrap of Whisper White die cut with the Stitched so Sweetly die.

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Quite Curvy, Itty Bitty Greetings                                                                   Inks:  Black Memento, Stampin' Blends (Crumb Cake, Daffodil Delight, Flirty Flamingo, Old Olive)                                                                                                    Papers:  Thick Whisper White, Whisper White, Flirty Flamingo, Fine Art DSP, Old Olive                                                                                                                             Accessories:  Curvy Dies, Stitched So Sweetly Die, Dimensionals, Champagne rhinestones, Gold trim

The sentiment was stamped to a die cut j

A Goat Bringing Presents - Try Stampin' on Tuesday #485

 A Goat is not usually associated with delivering presents at Christmas, but put a red scarf around his neck, a Santa hat on his head, and dangling an ornament from his mouth this Goat is all about Christmas. This Goat is friends with Rudolph.

I made this card was made for the sketch challenge with Try Stampin on Tuesday which has an optional theme of a Non Traditional Christmas.

The Goat was stamped on Whisper White card stock, coloured with Stampin Blends and fussy cut. His Christmas attire aka scarf, hat and ornament are compliments of the Christmas Moose.

The now Christmas Goat was adhered to a die cut piece of Seabreeze Spray card stock which had been  embossed with the Texture Embossing folder. Liquid Applique added around his feet make it look like he was standing on a cloud (although my intent was to create snow on the ground). This was added to the card front, at an angle, using dimensionals.   

The card base of Seaside Spray card stock base is layered first with Whisper white card stock, and then a strip of Dazzling Diamond card stock. a strip of Feels Like Frost DSP (the metallic side) and finally a smaller strip of the patterned side of the DSP.  On this smaller strip is added a 1/4" of Seaside Spray cardstock upon which is adhered a 3/8" Metallic Seaside Spray ribbon.   A bow of that ribbon is adhered below the art panel.  

 

The die cut sentiment strip is added to the left of the art piece.

Some blue adhesive gems added randomly finished the card.

Supplies Used:

Stamps;  Way to Goat, Merry Moose

Inks: Black Memento, Stampin' Blends (Gray Granite, Real Red, Basic Black),  Night of Navy

Papers:  Seaside Spray, Whisper White, Feels Like Frost DSP, Dazzling Diamond card stock  

Accessories:  Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Texture Embossing Folder, Liquid Applique, 3/8" Metallic Seaside Spray ribbon, dimensionals., blue adhesive gems   

Ornate Garden Buckle Card

It's getting harder to self isolate during is Covid-19 pandemic so I'm continuing to challenge myself to create at least one project per day.
Today's project is a card fold I have seen often on Pinterest and You Tube - a Buckle Card - using the Ornate Garden DSP, which is part of an Ornate Garden bundle available for order as of April 1

Card Base and Strap

• Mint Macaron is one of the colours in the Ornate Garden DSP so I chose that for the card base and the buckle strap.
• Cut a 4 1/4 by 8 1//2" piece of Mint Macaron card stock and score at 3".  Fold at the score line to form the card fold. Burnish.
• Cut a 2 by 4 1/4" piece of Mint Macaron and score at 1".  This is the strap. Fold at score line and burnish fold.
• Add adhesive to the inside of the 1" fold line of the strap and add to the middle of the wrong side of the 2 by 4 1/4" piece of DSP. (gold pattern on a Mint Macaron background) 
• Adhere to inside of card.
• Stamp a sentiment on a 2 1/4 by 4" piece of Whisper White and adhere to the inside next to the DSP.

Card Front:

• Add a 2 3/4 by 4" piece of DSP (Daisy pattern) to front flap.
• Using the Classic Label Punch, punch an opening for the card strap 1/2" from edge of card front. Insert the strap in the opening.

Embellishment:

• Using a scrap piece of  Whisper White card stock,  punch 4 flowers using the Small Daisy Punch.  Apply Daffodil Delight ink to the flower petals and Soft Suede to the centers.  Shape flowers and add 2 together alternating petals (2 flowers).  Add a Perrential Essence Floral center to each flower center.
• Punch 4 leaves in Old Olive using the Leaf Punch. Shape and add 2 leaves to each flower.
• To cover the buckle opening, die cut a Stitched So Sweetly Die.  Stamp a sentiment near the bottom. Add to the card front with dimensionals.
• Add one flower/leaf to this die cut.
• Add the other flower/leaf on the strap, on another Whisper White  Stitched So Sweetly Die.

Supplies Used:
Stamp:  Another Thank You
Inks:  Mint Macaron
Papers:  Mint Macaron, Whisper White, Ornate Garden DSP
Accessories:  Small Daisy Punch, Leaf Punch, Classic Label Punch, Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Perennial Essence Floral Centers, Dimensionals

The Last Hurrah!!

SAB finishes at midnight tonight March 31.  So if you would like to take advantage of the Free SAB products plus free shipping (Canada only) contact me before then.

For the final Hurrah, today's card features many SAB products:  a stamp "Rise and Shine", the "Pleased as Punch" DSP, with its coordinating "Small Blossom Punch", and the Metallic Bermuda Bay Baker's twine.

• Fold a piece of 11 by 5 1/2" Coastal Cabana card stock at 4 1/ 4" to form an A2 card. 
• Add a 3 3/4 by 5" piece of Whisper White to the card front at an angle.
• Add a 3 3/4 by 5" piece of the striped pattern of the Pleased as Punch DSP to the Whisper White layer also at an angle off setting the Whisper White layer.
• Die cut a piece of Whisper White card stock with the largest of the Sweetly Stitched Dies
• Emboss with the Subtle Texture Embossing Folder
• On a separate piece of Whisper White card stock, stamp a mug with the floral pattern on it using Bermuda Bay ink.  Either fussy cut or if you have the dies, die cut.
• Adhere to bottom of embossed die cut using dimensionals.
• Using the Sprig Punch , punch 2 sprigs with Old Olive card stock.  Add to each side of mug.
• Using the Small Blossom punch, punch 7 flowers of various colours from the "Pleased as Punch" DSP .  Using dimensionals, adhere them as an arrangement in the mug.  Put a small rhinestone in the center of each flower. Add the 7th flower at the bottom right of the embossed die cut.
• Make a bow with three layers of the Bermuda Bay metallic Baker's twine and add to the top of the mug handle with a glue dot.
• Stamp the sentiment "Rise and Shine" with Black Memento ink, punch with the 1" circle punch and add to the mug.
• Add the finished art piece to the card front with dimensionals.
• Add small rhinestones randomly to front of card.

Supplies Used:
Stamp:  Rise and Shine
Inks:  Black Memento, Bermuda Bay
Papers:  Coastal Cabana, Whisper White, Pleased as Punch DSP (striped pattern), Pear Pizzazz
Accessories:  Sweetly Stitched Dies, Subtle Texture embossing folder, Small Blossom Punch, 1 1/4" circle punch, rhinstones, dimensionals, Bermuda Bay Metallic Baker's Twine, Sprig punch

Triple Fold Out Card with Beautiful Memories

Today the sun was shining and the snow was melting.  It's not yet spring, but it sure feels like it. In another week the clocks will go back and the days will be longer  Spring officially arrives on March 21. These warmer weather conditions inspired me to play with the Beautiful Memories stamp set, because the images remind me of warm summer days spent at the beach.

Plus I felt like watercoloring and these images are perfect for this.

I have seen the triple fold out card on Pinterest and Jan Brown, a UK demonstrator, did a video on this fold. I decided to use this fold to showcase all the images in one card.

Since the images reflect a day at the beach, I wanted the colours to be soft, and muted.  So I chose Mint Macaron for the card base and matting, with Garden Lane as the coordinating DSP.

All the images were stamped on Whisper White card stock and coloured with SU Markers and an Aquapainter in order to obtain the soft watercolor effect I was looking for.The images were  either die cut with the Stitched Rectangle die of the Sweetly Stitched Die.

Once finished, the folds are kept closed with 1/4" Mint Macaron textile ribbon which is adhered to the top of the A2 card, and inserted under the top panel before being tied at the side.  In future card with this fold this ribbon would be wrapped around the folds only.  See below.

The triple folds are adhered to the top of a regular A2 card which is also made using Mint Macaron with Garden Lane DSP.

Open the first fold and the first image is revealed. This image is die cut using Stitched Rectangle die

The next opened fold reveals these sweet children holding pails ready to make sand castles. Stitched So Sweetly die used here

 

The Four Panel card is open.

The last fold reveals an image that invokes an emotional response in myself. Stitched So Sweetly die also used to die cut this image.

Supplies Used:
Stamp:  Beautiful Memories
Inks:  Black Memento, SU Markers of various colours
Papers:  Mint Macaron, Whisper White, Garden Lane DSP
Accessories:  1/4" Mint Macaron textile ribbon, Stitched Rectangle die, Stitched So Sweetly dies, Dimensionals, Aquapainter

Power of Hope Birthday

I keep waiting for winter to arrive.  Some days it does, and then its gone.  Some days it is very cold outside, some days its like spring.  Even the bulbs are confused.  Some days its snowing.  Some days its raining.  Some days its both. 

Today its the first of February, and its a both day for precipitation and temperature.  And like most of the days in January, its a dull, sunless day.  I am feeling very sun deprived!!

I continue on my quest to create some cards using the SAB stamp set "Power of Hope" along with the Stone 3D Embossing Folder.  They are available as a bundle, free with a purchase of $120.

It's a birthday card in the classic colours of red, black and gold.

On a piece of Basic Black card stock die cut with the Stitched So Sweetly die, the tree and sentiment (from "Sending You Thoughts" are embossed with gold embossing powder.

On a separate piece of black card stock, three lanterns are also gold embossed, then fussy cut and set aside for now.

The Japanese lady is black embossed on a piece of Poppy DSP and fussy cut.  This image is adhered to the die cut to the right and below the tree.  With a gold pen a line was drawn from each of the upper left corners.  A stretchy gold cord is adhered to this line, and the fussy cut lanterns are hung from this cord.  A dimensional is placed under each lantern to give them a more 3D effect.

Some small flowers were die cut  using the Bouquet Bunch dies.  They were die cut using the reverse side of one of the Lily Impressions DSP.  Each flower was shaped with a stylus, black lines were drawn to each petal and a black rhinestone added.  These tiny flowers were arranged around her feet.  The smallest of the flowers was added above the birthday sentiment.

The die cut was layered onto a gold foil layer embossed with the 3D Stone embossing folder.  I love the look of this embossed layer.  This was added to a Basic Black layer, and this in turn to a Real Red card base.

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Power of Hope, Sending You Thoughts
Inks:  Versa mark,
Papers:  Real Red, Basic Black, Gold Foil, Peaceful Poppy DSP, Lily Impression DSP
Accessories:  Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Bouquet Bunch Dies, Black Rhinestones, Gold and Black Embossing powders, Dimensionals, 3D Stone embossing folder

The Power of Hope cards

Today I would like to share with you a couple of card I made using one of the free SAB offerings, a stamp set called "Power of Hope".
This stamp set surprised me and I surprised myself.

I must admit I was not impressed by this stamp set.  This happens now and then, and when that happens I challenge myself.  Sometimes one's initial impressions are not correct.

For the first card, I did some simple stamping and colouring on a die cut.  I had planned something more elaborate, but when I started to put the elements together, I loved the simplicity  of just the two items.

Sometimes all the stamps do not need to be used on each card.

Some colouring around each image and the card was done.

The sentiment is from the same stamp set.  The words were isolated using a Basic Black marker then stamped on a scrap of Whisper White.  After matting with Real Red card stock it was added to the lower right of the image piece.

The completed art piece was added to the embossed Real Red card stock front at an angle.  The base is Basic Black.

Supplies Used:

Stamp:  Power of Hope
Inks:  Black Memento, Stampin' Blends (Real Red, Smoky Slate, Old Olive, Balmy Blue, Flirty Flamingo, Ivory, Basic Black), Basic Black marker.

Papers:  Basic Black, Whisper White, Real Red

Accessories:  Stitched so Sweetly dies, Stone embossing folder,

The second card is even more simple, but I jazz it up by embossing with some die cuts using the embossing mats.  Using markers directly onto the stamp, the image of the tree was stamped in the center.  A light wash around the trees, and a bow made with a double Old Olive Baker's twine and the card is done.
The sentiment is from the same stamp set. The rhinestones are from the Noble Peacock collection.

I have another card to share with you tomorrow.

Floral Essence Thank You Notes

These are Thank You notes made using the Floral Essence stamp set with the sentiment from Peaceful Moments.
All are stamped on Whisper White card stock with the image inside a rectangular embossed frame. A different colour of ink was used for the flower of each card. The image piece was matted with a similar colour of card stock or DSP. The frame is embossed with the Stitched So Sweetly Die using the embossing mats.

Centers of flowers filled with Black or Gold Prills

Colours of Rhinestones used were as close as possible to the ink colour.  In some instances they were coloured with Stampin' Blends.

Card 1:
Inks:  Poppy Parade, Mossy Meadow, Black Memento

Card 2:

Ink:  Blueberry Bushel, Mossy Meadow.  Matted with Blueberry Bushel DSP

Card 3:

Ink:  Rich Razzelberry, Mossy Meadow.  Image matted with Peaceful Poppy DSP

Card 4:

Inks:  Blackberry Bliss, matted with Blackberry Bliss card stock

These note cards came together very quickly so would be ideal for mass production

A Spring Flower for SUO Challenges #241

This week the theme at SUO Challenges is "Flowers".  I love flowers, any flower, paper, or real.  I love them all.

And I particularly like the flower for this card, the crocus. This bulb flower sticks its head above the ground while the snow is still on the ground. This is a welcome sight after a long Canadian winter.

Although the sentiment on this card is an Easter one, it could be a birthday, anniversary or even a sympathy card.

This one layer card in Whisper White card stock, is made elegant by the stitched embossed rectangular frame in the center.  This frame was made using the Stitched Rectangle Die using the Stampin' Up embossing mat and the Big Shot.

The flower was stamped inside this frame and coloured with light and dark Mango Melody Stampin' Blends.  The leaves and stems were coloured with a Granny Apple Green marker.   A blue wash  around the flowers made them stand out a bit more.

Then another embossed frame, centered in the rectangle frame, was made around the flower using the new Stitched So Sweetly Die and the Embossing mats.

The sentiment from Teeny Tiny Wishes is punched with the Classic Label punch, matted with Daffodil Delight ,and added at an angle just below the flowers.

A bow, made with some 3/8" Whisper White crumpled seam binding coloured with a Mango Melody Stampin' Blend was added to the stems just below the flowers

Supplies Used:
Stamps:  Easter Blessings, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks:  Black Memento, Mango Melody (Light and Dark) Stampin' Blends, Granny Apply Green Blend, Balmy Blue ink
Papers:  Whisper White
Accessories:  3/8" Whisper White crumpled seam binding, Stitched Rectangle Dies, Stitched So Sweetly Die, Embossing Mats, Big Shot, Classic Label Punch.

Reverse Eclipse Technique in an Embossed Frame

A major winter storm is blasting southern Ontario.  It is expected to dump a significant amount of snow accompanied by high winds and sub zero temperatures.  BRRRRR! It's not as bad as in Newfoundland where 70 cm of snow was dumped yesterday.

So what do Canadians do with weather forecasts like that?  Why craft of course!  And think of Spring!  And combine thinking of spring and crafting. And nothing speaks of Spring like the crocus, a bulb flower which is one of the first to emerge from the snowy ground- usually in March.

For this card I decided to do something different.  Not only did I do the reverse Eclipse technique, I also used the Embossing mats and the largest of the rectangle  Stitched So Sweetly Die to create an embossed frame around the image.

The card base for this card is Thick Whisper White which is layered with some Highland Heather DSP from the Subtles DSP stack.

The crocus from the stamp set "Easter Promise" is stamped in the middle of the layering piece of Whisper White card stock and coloured with Highland Heather and Old Olive Stampin' Blends. To make the flowers pop I coloured around them with a Petal Pink Stampin' blend. This coloured image was die cut with one of the window like shapes of the Stitched So Sweetly Dies and set aside.

The largest of the rectangle dies was centered around the die cut opening on the Whisper White piece and embossed using the Stampin' Up embossing mats. Using strips of foam adhesive tape, this Whisper White piece was then adhered to the card front on top of the DSP.  The die cut was then placed into the die cut opening and  adhered to the DSP of the card front. 

The sentiment, from Teeny Tiny Wishes , was punched with the Classical Label punch, layered with Highland Heather card stock and added to the card front just under the flower.  A bow made with the retired Highland Heather Organza ribbon was adhered below the die cut.  Some rhinestones from the Noble Peacock collection finished the card.

Supplies Used:
Stamps: Easter Promise, Teeny Tiny Wishes
Inks:  Black Memento, Highland Heather Light and dark,Granny Apple Green light and dark, Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends as well as Petal Pink.
Papers:  Thick White card stock, Whisper White, Subtles DSP, Highland Heather card stock
Accessories:  Stitched  So Sweetly Dies, Embossing Mats, Noble Peacock rhinestones, Foam adhesive strips, Classic Label Punch, 3/8" Highland Heather organza ribbon (retired), dimensionals

Meerkat Valentine

What in the world are Meerkats?  When Stampin' Up first introduced the Meerkat stamp in the Sale-a-bration catalogue that was the first time I had ever seen this animal.  So, I did a little research and found the following:

Meerkats are a type of Mongoose who inhabit all parts of the Kalahar Desert in Botswana, in much of the Namid desert in Nambia, in southwestern Angolia, and South Africa.

They are carnivora a spend much of their day foraging for food and digging deep tunnels.

A group is called a gang or a clan and it is not uncommon for  30 or 40 Meerkats to be part of a gang. This the name of the stamp set "The Gang's All Meer"

Being with Stampin' Up sure gives you an education!

The Meerkat stamp set can be quite versatile using it for birthdays, and/or holiday events.  Today the gang is sending a Valentine message to everyone.

The Meerkats were coloured with Light and Dark Crumb cake Stampin' Blends; the sky behind them with a  Pool Party Stampin' Blend.

Using the Dog Builder punch (which has a tiny heart as well as the dog) a Real Red heart was punched for each of the Meerkats and attached to their hands.  Tiny stitch marks were made with a fine tipped black pen around the outside and a small red rhinestone placed in the center of each heart.

The completed scene was die cut with the So Sweetly Stitched Die and adhered to the card front with dimensonals.

The Real Red card base is layered with Whisper White card stock.  A strip of From My Heart DSP with a lace die cut adhered to the bottom and a 1/8" strip of Real Red to the top was added to the middle.

The sentiment, from "Meant to Be", stamped in Real Red ink and die cut with the Be Mine dies, was added to the left side above the strip.  The rest of the sentiment was stamped directly onto the card front below the strip.

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  The Gang's All Meer, Meant to Be

Inks:  Real Red, Black Memento, Stampin' Blends (Light and Dark Crumb Cake, Pool Party), Fine black marker

Papers:  Read Red, Whisper White, From My Heart DSP

Accessories:  Stitched So Sweetly Dies, Delicate Lace Edgelet die, Dog Builder Punch, Be Mine die, Dimensionals, Real Red Rhinestones