Less than a week to go before the new Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalogue is revealed and I’m getting quite excited. I’m excited to see all the new products and materials we’ll get to play with, even if I can’t afford to get them all. Of course this year is slightly different as far as new products is concerned with the introduction of the Online Exclusives. Today’s cute birthday card project uses three Online Exclusive products; the Rhino Ready Stamp Set and coordinating dies, as well as a resurrected circle punch!

RHINO READY

I began by exploring the images in the Rhino Ready Stamp Set, starting with the combined rhino and bird image. Using Tuxedo Black ink I stamped the image onto some Thick Very Vanilla Card. Then using a Blending Brush I added some Gray Granite ink to the rhino. I wasn’t entirely happy with the result so I went over the rhino with the dark and light Gray Granite Stampin’ Blends (alcohol markers). That was much better. Then I coloured the bird using the light and dark Parakeet Party Stampin’ Blends. With that done I simply cut out the image using the coordinating die from the Rhino Ready Dies set.

Next I cut a 3-3/4″ x 5″ piece of Very Vanilla Card. Using Granny Apple Green ink I started by stamping the grass image all across the bottom edge. Then I coloured in the grass using the Parakeet Party Stampin’ Blends,

For the sky I kept it really simple, using a Blending Brush to add a light layer of Starry Sky ink. In fact it was a really quick process as I thought the uneven distribution of ink made it look more sky-like.

I definitely wanted to use a rhino image as my coordinating feature but decided to use one of the other two in the set. So using Tuxedo Black ink once more I stamped the standing rhino in the bottom right corner of a 4″ x 5-1/4″ layer of Very Vanilla Card. Then I stamped him in the bottom right corner on the front of a Very Vanilla Medium Envelope. Both rhinos were coloured using just the light and dark Gray Granite Stampin’ Blends, before I used the dark Parakeet Party to scribble on some ‘ground’.

WILD SENTIMENT

For the sentiment I went back to the Rhino Ready Stamp Set and chose “hope your birthday is wild!”. After stamping it onto some Thick Very Vanilla Card using Tuxedo Black ink I went looking for a punch. Then I remembered that Stampin’ Up! have brought back a couple of previously retired circle punches as part of their Online Exclusives. So I punched out the sentiment using the 1-3/4″ Circle Punch. Now all I had to do was turn my stamped pieces into a card.

I began by using my Paper Trimmer to cut and score some Granny Apple Green Card. Then I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder to create a card base. With that done I used Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow) to fix the standing rhino layer on the inside of my card base.

Next I cut a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Parakeet Party Card and glued my background scene onto it. Then using Stampin’ Dimensionals I quickly added the die-cut rhino and punched sentiment.

Finally I used more liquid glue to mount the assembled layers onto the card front and my project was complete.

Did I ever tell you that I’m a sucker for cute animal images? These rhinos make a great addition to my menagerie and I know I’m going to have a lot of fun playing with these. What do you think?

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Rhino Ready Stamp Set and coordinating Rhino Ready Dies together using a single ‘bundle’ item number. As well as making ordering easy, using the bundle item number meant I also saved 10% off the cost of buying the two products separately. I’ve included links for both options so you can explore these for yourself if you wish.

ONLINE EXCLUSIVES – these are products that will not be found in any Stampin’ Up! Catalogue and available while stocks last.