Oh my, our weather certainly has been erratic, so cold last week people were lighting their fires, and so hot yesterday you could fry eggs on the pavement.  I do prefer the heat to the cold though and it made me want to create a project using the Tropical Escape 6″ x 6″ Designer Series Paper (DSP) stack from Stampin’ Up! (one of the packs included in the buy 3 get 1 promotion this month).  While I was at it I thought I’d also show you a die you may have overlooked.

But first the stamping.  Both the sentiment and the giraffe image come from the Animal Outing Stamp Set.  I stamped the sentiment onto a piece of Soft Sea Foam Card using Shaded Spruce ink and then mounted it onto some Shaded Spruce Card using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow).

The giraffe was stamped using Soft Suede ink onto the front of a Whisper White Medium Envelope, a layer of Whisper White Card cut to fit inside my card base, and finally onto a scrap of Very Vanilla Card.  The spots on each of the giraffes were coloured in using a Blender Pen and Soft Suede ink picked up from inside the lid of the ink pad.  The giraffe stamped onto Very Vanilla Card was then cut out using my Paper Snips.

Alternate option – There is a coordinating set of dies for the Animal Outing Stamp Set called Animal Friends Thinlits that you can buy separately from the stamp set, or as a bundle (saving you 10%).  I was given my stamp set for free at a Stampin’ Up! event (one of the perks of being a Demostrator) and so don’t yet have these dies, hence my fussy cutting.

From the Tropical Escape DSP pack I chose two contrasting designs.  I cut the large leaf piece, mounted it onto a layer of Shaded Spruce Card and then wrapped three lengths of Whisper White Solid Baker’s Twine around the layers, holding them in place on the back with a little Tear & Tape Adhesive.

To add a little extra interest I took the pink DSP piece and cut out some decorative holes using my Big Shot and Magnetic Platform with the long die from the Beautiful Layers Thinlits.  With that done I could mount the DSP to a layer of Shaded Spruce card and then add the fussy cut giraffe.

The card base is a piece of Thick Whisper White Card cut and scored using my Stampin’ Trimmer, folded along the scored line and the crease sharpened with a Bone Folder.  The background layer was fixed to the front using liquid glue with the other two layers added on top with Stampin’ Dimensionals.  Finally liquid glue was used to fix the stamped Whisper White piece to the inside.

As I’d already stamped and coloured the giraffe image on the front of my envelope I could have stopped there, but I had one more task to do.

I took another piece of the large leaf design DSP and trimmed it down so that it was 5-5/8″ wide by 6″, then I went back to the Beautiful Layers Thinlits Dies.  You see, in that set of dies is one that can cut the top for an envelope liner to fit a medium envelope (for a 4-1/4″ x 5-1/2″ card)!

I placed the die in the centre of one of the 5-5/8″ sides of the DSP right at the top and ran it through my Big Shot.  Then using Paper Snips I snipped in either side of the DSP where the die stopped (it’s a little narrower than 5-5/8″).

With the DSP cut I slid it into my envelope as far as it would go with the shaped end at the top.  I folded over the flap of the envelope and sharpened the crease with my Bone Folder to crease the DSP underneath.  Opening the envelope flap I put a little liquid glue on the back of the DSP just in the flap area, and then closed the envelope again, pressing down firmly.  My envelope liner was done.

Those of you who have followed my blog for several years will know that there used to be a set of dies that cut liners for envelopes and I used them all the time.  I was so disappointed when they retired.  I can’t tell you how excited I am to have this option again.

There’s ten different packs of Designer Series Paper included in the Buy 3 Get 1 promotion that is running throughout July, and there’s no limit on the number of packs you can buy.  Just one point to note however, when placing your order online make sure that you enter the item number for your free pack completely separate from the numbers you are entering for your paid packs, otherwise the system won’t be able to zero out the price.

You’ll find all 10 packs of Designer Series Paper that are included in this offer in my online store in the dedicated Buy 3 Get 1 Free DSP Sale page.

BUNDLE BONUS

I already mentioned that you could save 10% buy buying the Animal Outing Stamp Set in a bundle with the coordinating Animal Friends Thinlits Dies.

Also available in a bundle is the Beautiful Layers Thinlits dies I used today.  That set of dies coordinates with the Beautiful Promenade Stamp Set (not used today).

You can choose whether to get just the stamp sets or just the dies, but as buying coordinating items using a bundle code saves you 10% off the price of buying the same items separately I’ve included links in my product list below.  That way you have the opportunity to look at this option in more detail if you are interested.

Product List