Aloha, all!
As I was trying to develop a theme for my Saturday posts in October, I realized that there is quite a bit that I do that really doesn’t fall into a particular theme. Every single week there is something that I do that is neither a technique for which I’d like to offer a tip (Tuesday’s Techniques) or some kind of project from the past that I’d like to revive (Throwback Thursdays). On top of that, one week’s odd project doesn’t necessarily go with the same theme as the next week. So I’ve decided that, for a while at least, Saturday is going to be for me to share whatever project (or projects) that I’d like to share from the past week.
Unicorns for My Niece
This past week was my one and only niece’s (at least on my side of the family) 40th Birthday. Happy Birthday, Margie! For quite some time, I’ve been trying my best to send her something that relates to unicorns on her birthday, as unicorns are a love of hers.
For the last couple of years, I’ve looked for the perfect stamp set to stamp a card for her. Her mother was also a Stampin’ Up! demonstrator, so always had first dibs on all of the Stampin’ Up! unicorns. So I had to look elsewhere.
This was the first unicorn that I saw this year. I could not wait to make a card that featured this gorgeous creature. Once I put myself to work on it, the Misty Moonlight color from Stampin’ Up! jumped right out of the stamp pad storage and said, “I’m it for this project!”
Creating a Shadow
To create the look of the unicorn standing out from the base of the card, I took these steps.
- I stamped the unicorn on Whisper White Cardstock with the Misty Moonlight Stamp Pad.
- Next I used my Brother Scan n Cut machine to cut the unicorn out with no extra margin around it.
- I took the negative image of the unicorn and placed it over the center of a 3-3/4″ x 5″ piece of Whisper White Cardstock to create a sponging template.
- I used a Sponge Dauber and sponged Gray Granite Ink to create a sponged image of the unicorn shape.
- Once I die-cut the sponged paper using one of the Rectangle Stitched Dies, I placed the cut-out unicorn over the sponged image, offset a bit, and adhered it to the white cardstock using Stampin’ Dimensionals.
Finishing the Card
I finished the card with a layer of Misty Moonlight Cardstock that I texturized using the Subtles 3D Embossing Folder. The final touches were the sentiment (from the same stamp set as the Unicorn) stamped with Misty Moonlight Ink and punched using the Lovely Labels Pick a Punch.
The inside of the card has a stamped message from the stamp set, including a birthday wish at the end.
And a Quick Look at a Second Card
I actually found another stamp set with unicorns this year. As new unicorns seem to appear every year, I decided to go ahead and use this stamp set for a second card. It’s so different from the first card, but I also had a blast creating it.
All of the papers and inks, as well as the Rhinestone Basic Jewels and the Wrapped In Texture Embossing Folder are from Stampin’ Up! I especially love the new Balmy Blue Glimmer Paper that’s in the Stampin’ Up! August – December 2020 Mini Catalog. I wish the other glimmer paper was still in the catalog. But I did keep some of that around when it retired.
The Bottom Line
I may not always be able to find the exact image that I want for really special projects. But Stampin’ Up! products really make anyone’s stamp sets shine the best!
