My process for designing new projects varies. Sometimes I just sit and start creating something with no real idea where I will end up. Other times I have a definite plan and everything comes together just as I had imagined it would. Today’s project however didn’t go quite so smoothly. You see I’d planned to use the Elephant Parade Stamp Set along with the coordinating Elephant Dies. But I ended up ditching the dies in favour of fussy cutting with Paper Snips. All because of the colouring technique I’d used.
ELEPHANT ISSUE
Everything started off fine. Using Basic Gray ink I stamped the sitting elephant onto a scrap of Thick Basic White Card. Then using a Blending Brush I added a light layer of Basic Gray ink over the whole image.
I’d already decided this little guy would adorn a Post-It® Note pad and the Elephant Stamp Set had the perfect sentiment. Well almost perfect. Using Basic Gray ink once again I stamped “I’ll never forget your kindness” onto a scrap of Thick Basic White Card. Then I used my Paper Snips to cut around just the “I’ll never forget” part.
All I had to do now was use the coordinating die to cut out the little elephant and I was ready to move on.
I wanted to create a little scene, so from the Splendid Day 12″ x 12″ Specialty Designer Series Paper (DSP) I found a subtle leafy design. I cut a 3″ x 3″ piece and placed the elephant on top. But he looked like he was floating so I grabbed a 5/8″ strip of Soft Sea Foam Card to create some ‘ground’. Next, instead of cutting a gentle curve I repeatedly cut into one long edge to create ‘grass”. Then I trimmed the strip to 3″ wide and fixed to the bottom of the DSP using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow).
However when I went to attach the elephant I didn’t like the area around the die-cut piece which now looked a dirty gray. So I picked up the Paper Snips and trimmed close to the stamped outline. That was much better and so I added him to the scene using Stampin’ Dimensionals.
POST-IT NOTES COVER
Now all I needed was to create the cover for the 3″ x 3″ Post-It Notes pad.
I began by cutting a 3-1/4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Soft Sea Foam Card (although it actually could have been a little shorter). Then with the long side at the top I scored it at 3-1/4″ and 3-3/4″. Next I folded it along the scored lines and sharpened the creases really well with a Bone Folder. With that done I wrapped the card around the top of the Post-It Notes Pad and glued it to the back.
Keeping with my simple colour scheme I cut a 3-1/2″ x 3-1/2″ piece of Basic Gray Card. Then I glued the wrapped Post-It Notes pad on top.
Next I cut a 3-1/8″ x 3-1/8″ piece of Basic Gray Card and mounted my little scene onto that before adding it to the top of the pad.
Finally I attached the sentiment with pieces of Stampin’ Dimensionals and my sweet project was complete.
You know the little border around the stamped image normally doesn’t bother me. In fact often I like that white area. But today it just looked so wrong, probably because it was grey. Oh well, like most crafting issues there’s always a way to work it out, don’t you think?
For a couple projects where I actually used the coordinating dies, see these earlier blog posts:
PRODUCT LIST
BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Elephant Parade Stamp Set in a bundle with the coordinating (but not used today) Elephant Dies (I still don’t like that name!). Buying them using the single “bundle” item number saved me 10% off the cost of buying the two products separately. For this reason I’ve included a link to the bundle in case you want to explore that option.
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