Hello, Crafters.
I’m pleased to say the lovely sunny we had last weekend is still with us and long may it continue!! Today I’m off to see Sharon to have my nails done and then I’m meeting up with my daughter, Vicki, and we’re off to have lunch together. This is the first time we have been able to do this since March last year!! Wahoo!!
As soon as I saw the Big Cats Stamp Set in the new Annual Catalogue, I knew I just had to have it. I love cats although we don’t own one or two. Vicki is very allergic to animal hair and I don’t want to be in a position where she can’t come over to see me! An easy sacrifice to make! Anyway, I digress. When I started to play with this stamp set I wasn’t disappointed! As usual, Stampin’ Up! have done an amazing job designing versatile stamps. For example, depending on which stamps you choose to use, the cats can be either tigers or leopards. There is a face for both types of cats and each of the two face stamps fit the standing tiger and the sitting tiger (or leopard). Also, the stripes for the tiger’s body also fits both cats; you just turn the stamp into the correct position and it fits!
There is also a co-ordinating Designer Series Paper (DSP) called In The Wild. The pack contains two sheets that have some images that can be die-cut with the two cat dies. Once you see the DSP you can recognise differences between the stamped and printed images. For example, the two tigers on the front of my card have been stamped but the tiger inside my card is from the edge of the DSP sheet. I saw a card on Pinterest which looked as if the creator had done some masking and added extra stripes to her tigers. It wasn’t until I started die-cutting images from the DSP that I realised the printed tigers do have more stripes than the stamped images.
When I started making my card I felt disappointed with myself because I had decided against ordering the matching Animal Print 3D embossing folder (EF)!! Before I started working on cardstock, I stamped some images of the cats on scrap paper using Bumblebee so I could practice lining up the stripes. Initially I had some very odd looking tigers but I slowly recognised how to position the stripe and face stamps to achieve the best results. When I started stamping on my cardstock, I stamped three each of both cats and they were all successful – ready for future cards!
As I’m sitting here, I keep getting distracted by this small pile of die-cut cats and have an idea for another card! The Wild Cats Stamp Set is one of those sets that will give plenty of mileage with different designs. I heard a fellow demo say that before she decides to buy a stamp set she has to be able to think of five card designs she can use the set for which I think is very sound advice. I don’t do it but it is good advice!!
The colours I have used for my card are Evening Evergreen for the card base and for the DSP layer, Bumblebee for the middle layer and Soft Succulent for the top layer inside the card. The middle layer on the front of the card has been embossed with the Bark 3D EF and the greenery that the tigers are hiding in is Soft Succulent. If you haven’t considered buying this bundle, you may like to have another look at it – I think you may be pleased you did!
Before I go, I hope you remembered the Last-Chance Products sale started yesterday evening European Time and have been able to get products that were on your wish list. That’s it from me today. Take care and stay safe and I’ll be back at the weekend. Happy crafting.
JanB. xx
Products used for this project: please click on any of the links to be taken to my 24/7 online Stampin’ Up! shop. The Hostess Code for JUNE 2021 is SDKKYXRC Thank you. xx
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Cardstock Layer Sizes: A4
Card base 8¼” x 5¾” scored and folded at 4 1/8”
Middle layer: 2 pieces 3 7/8” x 5½”
Top layer: 2 pieces 3¾” x 5 3/8”
Cardstock Layer Sizes: Letter-size
Card base 8½” x 5½” scored and folded at 4¼”
Middle layer: 2 pieces 4” x 5¼”
Top layer: 2 pieces 3 7/8” x 5 1/8”
It is beautiful, Jan! I love the subtle colors used (I’m partial to the new greens, as well).
I loved the big cats as soon as I saw them. I haven’t had cats for several years, but I do have a dog that isn’t really warm toward the felines. I do, however, support a big cat rescue and sanctuary in the US, and this just fits so nicely.
Fortunately, I did get the embossing folder, but I haven’t used it yet. I don’t have the bark EF, but I’m still using the Old World EF, as I always thought it could be used as bark! xx
Many thanks, Kimy. I wished I’d done that as well! xx