Hello Everyone!! I can’t believe we are at the end of July… which also means it’s one of my favorite times of the month: it’s Kindred Stamps Release Week! I am introducing the brand new set Swamp Sidekicks, which is a Part 2 of another brand new set, Fairytale Swamp!
This stamp set comes with 5 characters and 5 sentiments! I just love how fun each of these characters are, and how each image captures their personalities so well!
I’m also previewing 2 brand new dies as well… and they’re scene building dies!! I just feel these are the type of dies that are an absolute must have for your craft stash!
I created a collection of 5 cards, so let’s get to sharing!
Kindred Stamps Products Used:
Swamp Sidekicks Stamp Set
Tree Scene Craft Die
Castle Die
Sentiment Strips Die
Moon & Stars Stencil
Island Breeze Sparkletz
Snowfall Embossing Powder
Kindred Stamps Liquid Adhesive
Other Products Used:
Copic Markers
Blending Cardstock
Distress Oxide Ink: Salty Ocean, Prize Ribbon, Chipped Sapphire
Distress Inks: Black Soot, Vintage Photo, Aged Mahogany, Rustic Wilderness
Silver Glitz Glitter Gel
Card Mat Die
White Acrylic Paint
Liquid Pixie Dust
For my first Swamp Sidekicks project, I created a nighttime sky scene featuring this devious little fairy. I just had the most fun coloring her up with my Copic Markers. If you look closely at her, you will notice some glittery details, which I added by painting some Liquid Pixie Dust (such an appropriate name too).
I wanted to create a scene that looked like she was in the sky, so I only used the bottom portion of my Castle Die Cut and Tree Scene Die, and then used the Moon & Stars stencil to cover the top third or so of the sky! Also, using any sort of glitter paste just makes my crafty heart swoon!
Pro Tip: Don’t be afraid to let die cuts and embellishments cover up any blemishes you may make during the crafting process! I had a little bit of excess Glitter Glitz Gel get onto my card base, which I was able to cover up almost entirely with my Sentiment Strip die!
Kindred Stamps Products Used:
Swamp Sidekicks Stamp Set
Tree Scene Craft Die
Grass Scene Craft Die
Snowfall Embossing Powder
Kindred Stamps Liquid Adhesive
Other Products Used:
Copic Markers
Blending Cardstock
Distress Oxides: Walnut Stain, Tumbled Glass, Peacock Feathers, Forest Moss, Peeled Paint, Mowed Lawn, Twisted Citron, Pumice Stone & Hickory Smoke
Distress Ink: Vintage Photo, Forest Moss, Mowed Lawn & Peacock Feathers
Woodland (Conquer the World) Die
Land of Oz Die
Volcano Builder Die
For my 2nd Swamp Sidekicks project, I used the boot-wearing kitty and crafted up a little forest scene for him! The new Tree Scene Craft Die and Grass Scene Craft Die really made this card come together quickly and easily. I liked layering the grass to give a little bit of dimension to the project!
I did some fun ink-blending on this card to add lots of texture and shading to my forest scene. I just loved the addition of all the ink splattering as well!
Pro Tip: When die cutting, the backside of your paper can be “embossed” with the cuts from your cutting plate. Usually, I just use the flat side… but sometimes that extra texture is nice! For this project, the tree is the cutting plate embossed side, as I felt it added some much needed texture to the tree!
Kindred Stamps Products Used:
Swamp Sidekicks Stamp Set
Castle Die
Sentiment Strips Die
Lavender Fields Shaker Mix
EZ Lights by Pear Blossom Press
Snowfall Embossing Powder
Kindred Stamps Liquid Adhesive
Other Products Used:
Copic Markers
Blending Cardstock
Colored Cardstock
Distress Oxides: Fired Brick, Aged Mahogany, Seedless Preserves, Dusty Concord, Faded Jeans, Pumice Stone, Hickory Smoke & Vintage Photo
Distress Ink: Vintage Photo, Aged Mahogany & Wilted Violet
Land of Oz Die
For my 3rd Swamp Sidekicks project, I wanted to make a light-up interactive card with the dragon image! I loved coloring up this dragon, and it was really fun to add all the scale details!
I used the Castle Die to build a castle that had a tower directly in the middle. My initial goal was to choose colors to make this castle look burnt and destroyed… I didn’t really get the exact look that I was going for, BUT I loved this too much to not use it! The soft edges on the castle are just the perfect little storybook look!
Making this card light up is also so easy with the EZ Lights by Pear Blossom Press. There is no copper tape involved… you just put a provided battery in the battery holder, which already has a button, and the lights turn on when pressed! I move them into place and secure them with tape, and it’s ready to go!
Pro Tip: Want to control what color appears when your card lights up? If you use vellum over your light opening, you can color directly onto the vellum with markers! This alters the color of the light to the one you want!
Kindred Stamps Products Used:
Swamp Sidekicks Stamp Set
Card Basics Die Set
Sentiment Strips Die
Christmas Sweater Stencil
Magical Adventures 2 Enamel Dots by Echo Park
Snowfall Embossing Powder
Kindred Stamps Liquid Adhesive
Other Products Used:
Copic Markers
Colored Cardstock
Distress Ink: Vintage Photo
Glitz Glitter Gel: Red Velvet
For my 4th Swamp Sidekicks project, I made an easy easel card using the little cookie man! He definitely gives me some Christmas vibes, so I paired him with the Christmas Sweater stencil. I just adore this sentiment choice for him, and think its so cute to give to someone who enjoys a little bit of sass, or that you may had to end up sending a belated birthday card to!
Pro Tip: I used an offset technique with the Christmas Sweater stencil to create a shadow. I first blended with Vintage Photo Distress Ink, slightly moved the stencil, and then applied a solid layer of Red Velvet Glitter Glitz gel. It gives the illusion that the stencil pattern is casting a shadow!
Kindred Stamps Products Used:
Swamp Sidekicks Stamp Set
Card Builder Basics Die Set
Flash Stencil (retired)
Candy Cane Stencil
JJ’s Rainbow Enamel Dots by Waffle Flower
Snowfall Embossing Powder
Kindred Stamps Liquid Adhesive
Deco Foil Transfer Gel Duo
Stencil Pal
Other Products Used:
Copic Markers
Blending Cardstock
Colored Cardstock
Gold Deco Foil Transfer Sheet
Distress Oxide Inks: Crushed Olive, Mowed Lawn & Rustic Wilderness
Distress Ink: Rustic Wilderness
For my 5th and final Swamp Sidekicks project, I wanted to feature the Princess on a truly royal feeling card. Whenever I want a project to have a bit of elegance to it, gold deco foil is always a solid choice!
I blended a background using 3 different shades of green Distress Oxide Inks, spritzed it with water, dried it, splattered it with Distress Ink, let it dry again, and then I used Deco Foil Transfer Gel Duo with my Stencil Pal over the Flash stencil. Once the gel had dried, I ran this through my laminator with a piece of Gold Deco Foil, and got such an elegant background!
Pro Tip: Make your own patterned paper easily! For my matted background, I took an A2-sized piece of green cardstock from my stash, put the Candy Cane Stencil on top, and blended a solid layer of Crushed Olive Distress Oxide Ink around the edges! I got a really cool diagonal lines effect, and only used 3 materials plus a blending brush!
And there you have it! 5 Swamp Sidekicks projects that hopefully have sparked some fairytale inspiration for how to use the upcoming July Release!
Speaking of the July Release, here is some information so you can stay up-to-date with everything you need to know:
The entire Kindred Stamps July release will be available Friday, July 30 at 8am PST/11am EST. Be sure to subscribe to the Kindred Stamps blog to see a daily line up of sneak peeks from our amazing Design Team and see the full product release on Friday! Come join the Fan Club and release event to be part of the release fun, and you may just win some Kindred Stamps credit!!
Thank you so very much for stopping by my blog today! Don’t forget, the Swamp Sidekicks set coordinates perfectly with the new Fairytale Swamp set, and you can mix and match characters to your hearts content!
I am so excited to see what you create!
Happy Crafting!
Justin
Be sure to follow me on Instagram at @justanotebyjustin for all my crafting projects!
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