After making a lot of cards over the weekend it was nice to do something else today. Making 24 cards using lots of different products and techniques reminded me of some of my favourites. Some things I’ve not used in a while and some I still didn’t have a chance to use. So today to put that right I pulled out the Senior Years Stamp Set. The images and sentiments are such fun and a joy to colour.
STAMPARATUS
I began today’s project with my basic bookmark base. This is a 2″ x 5-1/2″ strip of Thick Very Vanilla Card that will fit into any of my Tag Topper Punches.
I really wanted to use a particular pair of sentiments from the Senior Years Stamp Set but I knew they’d be a tight squeeze. As the stamp set is made of traditional red rubber I couldn’t look through the image to get the placement right. So instead I used my Stamparatus…
First I placed a sheet of the Small Grid Paper on my Stamparatus platform. Then I put the plain bookmark on top, kind of in the centre but with the top up against the top edge of the platform. I decided to start with the bottom sentiment as this was the longest of the two. I placed it on top of the bookmark at the level I wanted it and tried to centre it between the edges of the card. Then I closed and then opened the plate to pick up the stamp.
To check that everything was in the right place I then removed the bookmark from the platform. I inked up the stamp using Tuxedo Black ink and stamped the sentiment onto the grid paper. Then I brought back the bookmark and held it below the stamped sentiment. Doing this allowed me to judge where to place the card so the words would be centred. Having lined it up I slid the card up to touch the top of the platform and held it in place with a magnet. Finally I reinked the sentiment again and this time stamped it onto the card.
With the bottom sentiment done, I simply repeated the process to line up and stamp the top one.
SENIOR YEARS
Now I was ready to stamp my image and there are a choice of two in the Senior Years Stamp Set. I went with the lady, stamping her between the sentiments with Tuxedo Black ink. Then I also stamped her onto a Full-Adhesive Post-It® Note so I could create a mask.
Using Paper Snips I carefully cut out the lady from two Post-It Notes at the same time. This would give me one mask to use today and leave one for another time. Once I’d finished I placed one of the masks on top of the image stamped on the bookmark. At least all the hard work had been done and it was time to get creative.
First I used some Stampin’ Sponge to lightly add Seaside Spray ink to the top part of the bookmark. Then I sponged the ‘ground’ using Sahara Sand ink. With that done I removed the mask to reveal the image beneath.
I love having a contrast between the background and the main image and chose Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers to do this.
For her hair I used Smoky Slate, while her glasses, and jewellery were Poppy Parade. I chose Balmy Blue for her top with Pretty Peacock for the skirt. Her shoes were coloured in Bronze, with Ivory for her skin. Finally I scribbled a little Smoky Slate on the ground just to add some extra interest.
TIP – Notice how I coloured in once of the lenses half in Ivory and half in Smoky Slate. It looks very odd if you colour the whole thing in Ivory (don’t ask me how I know…).
FINAL TOUCHES
With the colouring complete I shaped the top of the bookmark using the Delightful Tag Topper Punch. I chose this one because it kind of reminded me of her hair. Then I cut two pieces of Poppy Parade / gold ribbon from the All The Trimmings Ribbon Combo Pack. After folding the two pieces in half I threaded the ends through the hole at the top of the bookmark. Then I passed the ends through the loop in the ribbon and pulled tight to secure them in place.
Just one last little touch was needed. Using the Clear Wink of Stella Glitter Brush I added some shimmer to the lenses of her glasses. With that my fun bookmark was done.
For more ideas using the Senior Years Stamp Set see these earlier blog posts:
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