In the Spotlight

Stampin’ Up!® Demonstrator Karen Robinson | In the Spotlight

Today I’m sharing another Sale-A-Bration project made with the, oh so sweet, Party Pandas. Now, I have to admit, I didn’t fall in love with this set at first sight, but after I’d seen so many gorgeous projects using this fun set it jumped onto my wish want list 🙂

The design for today’s card was inspired by this week’s CAS(E) this Sketch #256 challenge. I did find this sketch a little daunting at first, but after seeing the design team’s ideas the creative mojo started to flow and this is the result.

I started with a Thick Whisper White card base and added my pandas in little frames tumbling down the front of my card. To created the frames I used the two smallest Stitched Shapes squares and adhered a panda behind each one.

I stamped the pandas in Basic Black Archival ink to get the dark, rich colour I wanted and I have to admit it took a few tries to get the coverage I wanted. Here are a few tips I found that worked for me:

• Make sure your ink pad has plenty of ink, re-ink if necessary
• Check your coverage before you stamp – I inked them up several times to get the coverage I wanted
• Apply firm pressure to your image – not the balloon part though as it may have picked up ink in the centre – for about 10 seconds, release the pressure, pause and slowly remove your stamp.

I added a few pops of colour using my Stampin’ Markers to the hat and envelope and used Stampin’ Blends to colour in the balloon. Note: Stampin’ Up! recommends using Momento Black ink with the Blends and I had to be very careful so the balloon outline didn’t smear.

It seemed such a shame to lose the balloon from my middle panda so I made a smaller frame using the smallest Stitched Shapes square and the smallest square from the Layering Squares Framelits. I coloured my balloon using the Light and Dark Cherry Cobbler Blends Markers and used the Colour Lifter to create the highlight.

A little string of Basic Black Baker’s Twine link the two together and I used Fine Tip Glue Pen to adhere it in place – fiddly, but worth it 🙂

A white, heat embossed sentiment on Basic Black cardstock stayed with the black and white theme of my project, but reversing them added a nice contrast.

A smattering of Glitter and Clear Epoxy Shapes added some subtle sparkle and shine to my project and their tiny size was perfect for my card – I really hope these make it into the next Annual Catalogue 🙂

I added a black and white layer inside with another panda in one corner. I coloured the balloon the same way as the front and used the Light Pool Party Blends Marker to help ground him on this layer. The little enamel heart is cute, but a cover up as well, I got too close with my Blends Marker and smeared the ink a little, the perfect excuse to embellish 😉

 

I hope you like my project today, I really enjoyed making this one and it turned out just as I’d pictured it in my head – a rare occurrence 🙂 If you’d like to add this cute stamp set to your collection it’s only available as a FREE reward choice with any $90+ order in my Online Store and if you’d like more ideas on how to use this set, pop on over to my SU Occasions and SAB 2018 Pinterest Board for loads of inspiration.

Cheers,
Karen

If you’d like to purchase any of the products I used today, please visit my Online Store. I’d love to be your Stampin’ Up! Demonstrator in Australia and remember to use January’s Host Code: MMSK4KWB  when you shop with me to receive your Customer Rewards.