It’s almost the end of September and there’s only two more days until the Sale-A-Bration promotion finishes. My regular readers will know I have a soft spot for cute animal stamps and so this will probably be one I’ll keep. So I decided to give the free Counting Sheep Stamp Set one last outing and paired it with the coordinating free Sheep Dies. Today’s project uses some products I haven’t used in a while, the new Kraft Paper and a Stampin’ Chalk Marker. All-in-all I’m quite happy with the result.

FIRST STAMP YOUR SHEEP

From the choice of three images in the Counting Sheep Stamp Set I went with the one that was leaping. I’d already decided that this would be my coordinating image so I started there with a Gray Granite ink pad.

First I stamped the sheep on the flap of a Basic White Medium Envelope. Then I stamped him in the top left corner of a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Basic White Card.

Finally I changed to VersaMark ink and stamped the sheep on a scrap of the Kraft Paper. Next I sprinkled the VersaMark ink with white Stampin’ Emboss Powder and tapped off the excess. Then after removing a few stray specks I melted the rest with my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

While I had the Heat Tool nice and hot I thought it would be a good idea to stamp and emboss my sentiment too. I chose “You’re amazing” from the Counting Sheep Stamp Set and with VersaMark ink I stamped it in the bottom right corner of a 3″ x 3″ piece of Kraft Paper. After removing some stray specks of powder I melted the rest and set the piece aside.

Turning now to the Sheep Dies I found the one that coordinated with my embossed image. Then using the Mini Cut & Emboss Machine I cut it out. If course the sheep still needed to be coloured and that was an easy task using the Stampin’ Chalk Marker. To give the impression of a woolly coat I simply tapped the tip of the marker onto the image rather than scribbling it over the surface. Once that was done I set the sheep aside while I worked on the rest of my card.

PLAIN(ISH) LAYERS

I wanted to keep the layers fairly plain and gender neutral but without being boring. I started by cutting a 3-1/4″ x 3-1/4″ piece of gold Brushed Metallic Cardstock and a 3-1/2″ x 3-1/2″ piece of Early Espresso Card. Then using liquid glue I fixed the two layers together and topped them with the sentiment piece. With that done I added my die-cut sheep using Stampin’ Dimensionals.

For my card base I chose Soft Succulent Card. Using my Paper Trimmer I cut and scored the card, then folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder. After that I glued the stamped Basic White layer to the inside of the card base.

Now I wanted to add little more texture to the project. In my card scraps I discovered a 1″ strip of Soft Succulent Card so I cut this down to 5-1/2″ long. Then I placed it inside one of the two embossing folders in the Greenery pack and embossed it.

With that done I used liquid glue once again and mounted the embossed strip onto a 1-1/4″ x 5-1/2″ strip of Early Espresso Card. Then with liquid glue I fixed the strips to the card front.

Finally using Stampin’ Dimensionals I mounted the assembled sentiment piece onto the card front and my project was complete.

I’m really pleased with how this project turned out and that Stampin’ Chalk Marker has given me some other ideas for projects. But first… coffee.

If you like your sheep a little more colourful, check out my blog post Sheep stamp set and dies sneak peek.

END OF SALE-A-BRATION

As I mentioned Sale-A-Bration ends on September 30th (that’s Thursday). So you still have time to place a qualifying order and earn some great free products. Choose a Level 1 item with a $60 order (before shipping and taxes) or if your order is $120 you can also choose from the level 2 items. The Counting Sheep Stamp Set and Sheep Dies are both Level 1 products so you could get both with a $120 order. At the time of writing everything in the Sale-A-Bration Brochure is still available except the Be Dazzling 6″ x 6″ Specialty Paper.

If you have a bigger order ($375 before shipping and taxes) you’ll also get an extra special stamp set called In Your Words. This 10 piece sentiment only set is in addition to all the free Sale-A-Bration items you’ll earn with your order. You’ll find all the details for this on page 17 of the brochure.

The final part of Sale-A-Bration is the joining offer. Here you can choose from one of 12 bundles selected from the July to December Mini Catalogue and add it to your Starter Kit for free. This is in addition to the usual benefits you’d get for joining. So for just $135CAD you could get over $276 of product AND pay no shipping too. It’s definitely worth taking a look at my Join Stampin’ Up! page for all the details, as well as answers to the most frequently asked questions. Whether you want to start your own business, or are simply looking to save money on your craft supplies I’d love to welcome you to my Crafty Canadians team.

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