Do you know what I learned are super fun?
Card Swaps!
And I just participated in my first one earlier this month!
I have to be honest, I panicked after I signed up. The rules were extremely easy: Use 1 Kindred Stamps product in your design (I mean, this card swap was facilitated by Kindred Stamps, so that was a given). I have so many Kindred Stamp sets, and have made so many cards with their products, that I didn’t know how to create something I felt was a new concept. So, I asked the simple question, “What is the best way I can say ‘Hello’?”.
I thought for a while, and while going through my sets, I came across my “Travel Around the World” sets, which is a monthly series that Kindred Stamps started January of this year (because I was late to the game, I’m ONLY missing the Bali set… and hopefully I see it one day :P). I then remembered that each of these sets has a “hello” sentiment written in the featured country’s native language. And then, a lightbulb went on in my head.
I picked the 5 sets that I felt a) still displayed global diversity, b) would fit the best on an A7 card and c) make sure that there were at least 3 characters that would be easy to make a mask of. Now hey, I know the last part sounds lazy, but I was sending this card to another person. I wanted to pick designs that I knew would create a clean end result worth sharing!
So I settled on the following sets, from left to right, with their month’s release in parentheses:
- Egypt (January)
- Ireland (March)
- Mexico (June)
- Japan (May)
- The Netherlands (April)
I was really happy because I knew that I could color these sets to represent a diverse spread of colors as well.
I only created a mask with the 3 middle characters. I stamped the center image first, masked it, then stamped the characters immediately on both sides of the center Mexican Girl, and masked them afterwards as well. I finally stamped the 2 end characters, and I had my line-up of 5 cultural representatives!
The purpose for the masking is that I did want some of the characters to overlap.
After coloring all 5 characters with my Copics, I grabbed a Heidi Swapp stencil from my stash that I got for $1.99 from Tuesday Morning.
Detour #1: So I’ve got 2 quick stories. The first is about the stencil I chose. I really wanted to use a Kindred Stamps Stencil. The reason that I didn’t was because I was making an A7 sized card, and I needed a stencil that was at least 7 inches long on one end. Because the Kindred Stamps stencils are 6″ x 6″, I knew those weren’t an option. The Heidi Swapp stencil I chose was actually the only stencil I had that was long enough on one side to fit an A7 sized card.
Detour #2: Have you discovered the wonder that is the Tuesday Morning Craft Aisle? Growing up, Tuesday Morning was the store I despised the most. Scratch that. The 2nd store I despised the most. The first was Home Depot (I hated home improvement stores, and, unlike Menards, Home Depot didn’t have a candy aisle). I don’t know if Tuesday Morning went through a rebrand or something of the like, but I now find the store much more enjoyable to browse as I feel it’s more organized. Anyways, about once or twice a month, I’ll decide it’s time to check out a local store’s craft aisle. I’m not going to say that everything in that aisle is a steal, because it’s not, but every visit I find something worth buying. My current favorite item is their 6″ x 6″ paper pad selection. I’ve also seen a lot of well known crafting brand products that I rarely, if ever, see at the Big Box Retailers: Tim Holtz Stamps, Vicki Boutin, Amy Tangerine, Heidi Swapp, We R Memory Keepers (actually, this brand can be found several places), & Pink and Main just to list a few.
Anyways, back to the card.
I used the Heidi Swapp stencil and 6 Distress Oxides to create a rainbow ombré at the bottom of the card. It was just the extra detail I needed, and thought it really brought home the idea of diversity.
For my “hello” sentiments, I cut a strip of white paper, mounted it on black paper to give it a little framing, and stamped each sets “hello” sentiment in a coordinating color to the stamped character.
I also made a little mistake on the white sentiment strip where I smudged some ink, and I couldn’t erase it. Instead of starting over, I covered it with some Ranger Ink White Enamel Accent Dots, and ended up putting dots all over this strip. Because I was putting white dots on white paper, it didn’t make the design look too busy and did give just an extra bit of texture that I liked.
Finally, the envelope. Do you ever make something with a rainbow color scheme and struggle to pair it with either a frame or envelope color? Honestly, I hold up whatever colors I’m thinking next to the card and pick the one that works the best. It also helps to pick out an envelope liner before the card color sometimes. This way, since you have more to coordinate, it narrows your options.
It chose a Pool Envelope from Paper Source and paired it with a black and white map-style liner. I thought the map theme went well with the subject of the card, and the black and white didn’t overwhelm the project with color.
I then had my finished product!
What I took away from this card is to never be afraid to mix and match stamp sets. If you’re nervous about this, start by pairing sets from the same company first, as they will most likely have similar styles. The more comfortable you get, the further outside of the box you’ll be able to go!
Hope you enjoyed my story of working through this card!
Happy Crafting!!
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