Today I’m continuing with my quest to revisit older but still available Stampin’ Up! products. In the end I used two stamp sets. The first, Hippo Happiness, is very likely to be on the Annual Catalogue retiring list that’s revealed next month. The other, Through It Together, is from the January to June 2022 Mini Catalogue. It’s a very versatile sentiment only stamp set and hopefully it will make it into the new Annual Catalogue. With stamps, ink and paper close at hand I sat down and began to play.

HIPPO HAPPINESS

This card all began as when I came across the Hippo Happiness Stamp Set. It’s a fun set with a hippo, horse/unicorn. sheep and butterfly images that are designed for two-step stamping. It also has some smaller images and some assorted sentiments. I thought that the sheep looked like it was offering a hug and an idea popped into my head.

After a testing with a few different colours I decided to use Sahara Sand ink for the sheep. I cut a 1-7/8″ x 2-3/8″ piece of Basic White Card and stamped the complete sheep image near the top. Then I took the second image for the sheep, the ‘coat and hat’, and stamped that over the top. The stamps are made from see-through photopolymer so it was really easy to line them up.

Next from the Hippo Happiness Stamp Set I chose one of the ‘faces’ and stamped that onto my sheep using Early Espresso ink.

Finally on a scrap of Basic White Card I stamped the small bow image with Magenta Madness ink. Then using Paper Snips I cut out the bow and attached it to the sheep with Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow).

After mounting the image onto a 2″ x 2-1/2″ piece of Magenta Madness Card I set the layers aside while I worked on the rest of the project.

THROUGH IT TOGETHER

For my sentiment I went straight to the Through It Together Stamp Set. I’d noticed the reference to a ‘paper hug’ as soon as I saw this set in the catalogue and it was perfect for this project. Using Early Espresso ink I stamped the sentiment onto a 5/8″ x 3-5/8″ strip of Basic White Card. Then I mounted it onto a 3/4″ x 3-3/4″ strip of Magenta Madness Card.

At this point I was starting to think about a background for the design and initially looked for some grassy patterned paper. Eventually though I decided to use more of the ink and the Saran Wrap Technique came immediately to mind.

LAST MINUTE PUN

The Saran Wrap technique is one that even a beginner stamper can do. I took some Saran Wrap and scrunched it up into a loose ball. Then I tapped it lightly onto the Magenta Madness ink pad before tapping it onto a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Basic White Card. I continued this process, turning the card a little each time, until the piece was covered. After preparing a fresh ball of Saran Wrap I swapped to Sahara Sand ink to complete the two-tone background.

This was when I thought that the background effect would be great as the coordinating feature for the rest of the project. So I cut another 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Basic White Card and covered all but a 1″ strip down the right-hand side with scrap paper. Then I used the Saran Wrap to colour the visible strip. Once I’d finished on the card, I continued over the flap of the envelope. With that done I was ready to put everything together.

I began by using my Paper Trimmer to cut and score some Thick Basic White Card for my card base. Then I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder. On the front of the card I first glued a 4-1/8″ x 5-3/8″ layer of Magenta Madness Card, followed by the custom background layer. Then the second Basic White layer went on the inside of the card.

Two pieces remained and I used Stampin’ Dimensionals to attach the layered sheep piece onto the background. That just left the sentiment, but then I had another idea… I reached for the Magenta Madness marker from the 2020-2022 Stampin’ Write Markers pack. Then using the writing tip I crossed out the word “you” on the sentiment and wrote “ewe” above it. Now with Stampin’ Dimensionals on the back I fixed the sentiment across the sheep layer and my project was complete.

I had no idea what I was going to make today but I love how this bright and cheerful card turned out. Who wouldn’t appreciate a hug, even if it is the paper kind?

PRODUCT LIST

You might be interested to know that the images in the Hippo Happiness Stamp Set can be cut out using the Hippo & Friends Dies. This die set contain 25 dies including three sets of laying label style dies. I suspect this set will also be on the retiring list next month so do check them out while you can.