As you might expect the Snailed It Stamp Set contains a number of snail images and the Snail Dies coordinate with them. But there’s also some other dies in the set that I love by themselves. One of them is the large postage stamp die and that features prominently on today’s project. Avoiding the snail images entirely, I also chose the toadstools to brighten up this very simple birthday card layout.

PAPER TOLE TOADSTOOLS

I began this project with the toadstool image and a Tuxedo Black ink pad. First I stamped the image in the bottom right-hand corner on the front of a Whisper White Medium Envelope. Next I stamped the toadstools in the bottom right corner of a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Whisper White Card. Then I took a piece of Thick Whisper White Card and stamped the toadstool image five more times.

Now I was ready to begin colouring the images using Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers. I wanted them to be really bright so chose: Poppy Parade, Highland Heather, Granny Apple Green and Ivory. I also used the Mango Melody Stampin’ Blends which is retiring and now only available while stocks last.

TIP – alcohol ink is designed to soak into the card or paper so before starting I placed some scrap paper inside the envelope. This way the ink won’t bleed through to the back. I just have to remember to remove the scrap paper when I’m finished.

TIP – I used the Ivory Stampin’ Blends to colour the stalks and underneath the caps. There’s no light and dark version of Ivory so to add shadows I simply darkened it by colouring over a second time with the same marker.

With all the images coloured I was ready to cut some of them up using Paper Snips. Of course it was only afterwards that I thought you might like to see the various layers. So here’s a second set (not coloured). In addition I had one image that was cut out exactly as stamped so it could form the base of the layers.

After colouring and cutting the pieces I stacked them on top of each other using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow). The tall toadstool (at the bottom) was a bit of an afterthought and simply fixed to the back of the main image.

SNAIL POSTAGE STAMP

With the bulk of the work done I was ready for my sentiment. For this I chose “Happy birthday” from the Happy Thoughts Stamp Set.

Using VersaMark ink I stamped the sentiment onto some Basic Black Card. Then I sprinkled it with White Stampin’ Emboss Powder and tapped off the excess. After removing some stray specks I melted the rest using my Heat Tool set on 2 (high).

Next I pulled out my Mini Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine and the postage stamp die from the Snail Dies set. This was a perfect fit for the sentiment and I left plenty of room towards the bottom of the die-cut shape.

To complete my project I used my Paper Trimmer to cut and score some Thick Whisper White Card. I folded it along the scored line and then sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder to create the card base.

On the front of the card I used liquid glue to attach the die-cut sentiment. Then I glued the layered toadstools on top. Finally I glued the remaining Whisper White layer on the inside and my project was complete.

I love the subtle 3D effect I can achieve simply by stacking layers of card. It’s a technique that works well when parts of the image are too narrow to pop up on Stampin’ Dimensionals.

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Snailed It Stamp Set and coordinating Snail Dies using a single ‘bundle’ item number. This meant I saved 10% off the cost of buying the two items separately. I’ve included both options below in case you want to compare them.

RETIRING PRODUCTS – The Mango Melody Stampin’ Blends alcohol marker is now reduced by 20% and only available while stocks last. The White Stampin’ Emboss Powder is being reconfigured and from May 4th will only be available as part of a three pack (with black and clear). For these and all the other retiring products that are still available, see the Last Chance section of my online store.