Meercat Umbrella Card

Today I paired a stamp set from the January-June Mini Catalog and a Sale-a-Bration stamp set to make this adorable Thinking of You card.

I used a base of Whisper White (8.5" x 5.5", scored on the long side at 4.25") and a mat of Pool Party (5.25" x 4").

Next, I used Memento Tuxedo Black to stamp the Meercat from The Gang's All Meer and the handle of the umbrella from Under My Umbrella onto a 5" x 3.75" piece of whisper white.  I colored in my Meercat with Light & Dark Grey Granite Stampin' Blends.

I then took a scrap of the blue confetti DSP from the Birthday Bonanza DSP and stamped the boots from Under My Umbrella.  I used my Light Basic Black Stampin' Blend to color in the top and bottom edges of the boots, so there was some nice contrast.  After fussy-cutting the boots from the DSP, I adhered them over the Meercat so he looks as if he's popping out to say hello.

For the next step, I used the Umbrella Builder Punch to cut out the floral umbrella from the Sale-a-Bration Coordination DSP, Pleased as Punch.  The colors compliment the boots nicely.  I adhered this umbrella using Stampin' Dimensionals.

Using my Stamparatus, I stamped the sentiment under the boots in Bermuda Bay.  I chose to use the darker color because I wanted my sentiment to POP on the front of the card and I was afraid that Pool Party would be too light.  I love the result, it really pulls out the dark design in the boots.

At this point, I felt that the card needed a little something more, so I carefully stamped some rain drops in Pool Party above the umbrella and also added the adorable little lizard to the bottom left corner.  I colored him using Light Pool Party and Light Bermuda Bay Stampin' Blends.  I was now satisfied with the design and adhered the panel onto the Pool Party that had been placed earlier.

Since I didn't use Thick Whisper White for the card base, I wanted a panel on the inside to add strength to the card.  A white panel just wouldn't do - you wouldn't see it.  So I chose to add a Pool Party panel, to go with the design on the front of the card.  In the stamp set The Gang's All Meer, there is a sentiment that says "Happy Birthday to a stand-up friend".  I love that sentiment, but didn't want to make a birthday card, so I did some masking.  Have you masked before?  I think I'll make a short video to demonstrate masking for a future post!  Basically, I placed a Post-It over "Happy Birthday" before putting my stamp into the Bermuda Bay ink - then I removed the Post-It and stamped with the partially-inked stamp, leaving me with just "to a stand-up friend".  Masking adds so much more possibility to your creativity because you can alter stamps to fit your needs!!

Finally, I added the little Meercat who is popping up out of the ground to the bottom right corner.  These Meercats are too cute for words!!

Today's Featured Colors

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