Maria Giselle's Creative Cuts: Lunar Animals One Layer Greeting Card

Wednesday, July 31, 2024

Lunar Animals One Layer Greeting Card

Hello! Welcome back to my blog. I am glad you are here. I will be taking a month long break from blogging and creating. I hope you like my last project before my August hiatus.

Mama Elephant is one of my favorite brands. The are searching for Guest Designers. So exciting, right? I certainly want to give this a try.

My card was inspired by a card I previously made with a similar design. Please check it out if you have time (Almost a One Layer Card).

To create the layout, I arranged the lunar animals from the Mama Elephant Lunar Animals stamp set based on its order on the Lunar Calendar. I have several pieces of stamped and die cut images left from a previous project that I used to plan the layout. For the animals that are lacking, I die cut scraps of cardstock with the coordinating dies. I used these die cuts as guide for placement of the stamp on a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" scrap paper. Once I am happy with the arrangement, I picked the die cuts with a Glad Press N' Seal.

Using the Misti Stamping Tool, I positioned on a corner a top folding heavy weight A2 note card. I positioned the Glad Press N' Seal over the A2 note card. I matched the animal stamp with the die cut. I picked the animal stamps with the door of the Misti then carefully removed the Glad Press N' Seal. I inked the stamps with Memento Black Tuxedo ink since I will be coloring the images with Copic markers. Without re-inking the stamps, I stamped the images on a Post-It Note which I die cut later on using the coordinating die.

I cleaned the stamps, then returned it back to the clear sheet. I placed the Glad Press N' Seal again over the note card, then repeated the process of lining and stamping the stamps. I stamped one row of animals at a time.

I created a DIY stencil with a re-purposed plastic from a broken accordion file. I die cut a square on this plastic film using a square die that is large enough to fit the lunar animal stamp. I applied large Post-It Notes inside and on the back of the notecard to protect it from any stray ink.

I covered each lunar animal with the coordinating Post-It Note die cut to act as a mask. I positioned the DIY stencil over the panel with the square opening over the stamped die cut mask. I blended different Tim Holtz Distress Oxides on each lunar animal. I blended a color on the square opening, cleaned the DIY stencil and re-positioned the stencil on the next lunar animal. I repeated this process until I have blended inks on all of the lunar animals. I flicked some water droplets over the panel and picked the extra water droplets with a dry paper towel.

My most favorite part about masking is removing the mask and unveiling the image underneath it.

I colored the images with Copic markers. I stamped a simple message on the panel using a sentiment stamp from Mama Elephant Sunday Sentiments stamp set. I stamped the sentiment using Versafine Onyx Black ink. I poured clear embossing powder over the wet ink then heat set it until the powder is melted.