Let It Ride

Yesterday I had three parcels in transit from Stampin’ Up! Two had a single item in and one was my big order from the 2019 Occasions Catalogue. Two parcels got held up at the border, but not the big one!! So I’ve got lots of new goodies to play with starting with Let It Ride.

For you card with horse head image and trees from the Let it Ride Stamp Set from Stampin' Up!

THE HORSE

I’m not an artist by any stretch of the imagination, which is why I love stamping. I chose to start with the horse head image stamped with the help of my Stamparatus onto Very Vanilla Card using Crumb Cake ink.

Below the horse’s I then stamped the ‘for you’ sentiment with Soft Suede ink.

Next I took an Aqua Painter and very roughly coloured in the horse with Crumb Cake ink pressed onto the lid of the ink pad. Then I added some Soft Suede ink very roughly over the top. Very Vanilla Card is not really designed to get wet so I worked quickly and with only a little water. Once that was done I set it aside to dry thoroughly.

Horse head image from Let It Ride Stamp Set painted with ink before being over-stamped.

Meanwhile I stamped the horse head in the bottom right corner on the front of a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope. Then I did the same on a layer of Very Vanilla Card that I’d use on the inside of the card.

THE CARD BASE

Next I cut and scored a piece of Thick Very Vanilla Card using my Stampin’ Trimmer. Then I folded the card along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder.

The horse would definitely be my focal point but I still wanted something in the background. I decided on the gorgeous stand of trees also from the Let It Ride Stamp Set.

I inked up the image with Shaded Spruce ink and then ‘stamped-off’ onto some scrap paper. Next, without reinking the stamp I stamped the image on the left side of the folded card base. Then I reinked the stamp, stamped-off and stamped again on the right side of the card base.

Once that was done I used Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) to fix the separate Very Vanilla layer to the inside of the card.

ALMOST DONE

When I was sure that the painted horse was completely dry I was able to finish the project. The process of painting the horse with water had meant that the detail of the image was now blurred. This wasn’t unexpected and was the reason I needed to use my Stamparatus to stamp the image.

Now I could put the image back onto the Stamparatus platform and restamp the image. I’d deliberately left the horse head stamp attached to the Stamparatus plate, but this time inked it up with Soft Suede ink.

I stamped the image onto my painted piece and suddenly all the features were crisp and clear, but on a watercoloured horse.

Using liquid glue I attached the horse to a layer of Soft Suede Card. Then I added a length of Very Vanilla Solid Baker’s Twine and bow around the bottom. Finally I fixed the completed panel to the card front with Stampin’ Dimensionals.

Oh my goodness. I can’t believe how well this project turned out. I’ve been asked many times for projects featuring horses and until now I had nothing to offer. Not any more. Although I’m not a ‘horsey’ person I am totally in love with this stamp set. You’ll definitely be seeing more horse projects between now and June.

You’ll find the Let It Ride Stamp Set on page 45 of the Stampin’ up! 2019 Occasions Catalogue.

It’s a 9 piece cling-mount red rubber stamp set. In addition to the trees and horse’s head, there’s a pair of grazing horses and one galloping.

The set has 5 sentiments including the ‘for you’ I used on my project today. The other sentiments are quite inspirational with ‘Let it ride’, ‘Take life by the reins’, and ‘go for it!’. But I think my favourite is ‘Live as if someone left the gate open’.

Well I have a nice pile of new products to explore, so I’m heading back to my craft studio. I hope you’re able to fit a little crafty time into your day too.