The Stamps are Coming, the Stamps are Coming!

I am soooo excited to hear that shipments from Gina K's last release are arriving! (My order came yesterday, I can't wait to play with the Doctor and the rest!) This means I will be seeing little fannies popping up everywhere, what a fun thing to be on the look out for each day! ;) There are some absolutely adorable cards in SCS's Just So Hippy Gallery already, check them out! (It's really fun to see people clearly spending SO much time to craft these lovely, VERY detailed cards, I have to admit, unless I have a real brainstorm or a big chunk of time to work, I'm usually a pretty lazy stamper!)

Here is a card I made with the hippo. I used a birthday greeting but these colors and layout could easily work for a Valentine, they don't always have to be red! Although, I like him colored "solid", I really enjoy giving him a "speckled" back by just dotting on a bit of color with my trusty Aquapainter and watercolor crayons. I picked blue, brown, turquoise and even a little pink to do this which I think really sets off the background paper nicely!* You may have noticed but I always like to give the animals a little blush to their cheeks (and by "cheeks", I mean faces, just to be clear! LOL) I inked up just the hippy on the greeting stamp, and cleaned it before doing the birthday so I could have it fit in my oval tag.** I chose the "You" Cuttlebug folder with lots of words on it, if you enlarge the image, you'll see "wild" on the side, this was intentional! It's subtle, but I think even if you don't realize it, I'm sending you a subliminal message hee hee! This layout (or something similar) is very popular, with part of a circle on the side. looks great With polka dots and definitely works with the pleasingly plump shape! Had I followed my own rule about "unity" from a few posts back, I should have used circle punches instead of ovals, but sometimes I gotta break the rules, even my own!

Have great day! Check back tomorrow for a 3-D valentine project with candy and "clippies"...!

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* I think the hippo and giraffe look really cute in a number of colors, other than colors nature has given them! I'm really enjoying giving them a shade to match a variety of color schemes. That monkey, though, I don't know, I haven't managed to break out of the neutrals with him! Maybe because of his hair, which in my world ranges from blond to black! Can anyone sell me on another color for this little guy? Purple, blue? Anyone???

**If you haven't tried it, I really like using the small and large oval punch together better when the greeting is on the back layer showing through the window, rather than mounting a small oval on top of a large one, it makes it look more like a hodge podge frame. To do this, stamp your greeting on CS and punch with the LARGE Oval. This will make the window easy to adhere. Then take the CS you want for the frame, and punch the SMALL oval first, and then center your LARGE oval around it and punch. A perfect frame! You will frustrate yourself to no end if you try this in reverse, and it will not come out right! For a more whimsical or retro look, offset the large oval so you have an uneven border, rather than a classic symmetrical frame. See my "Pumpkin Bloom" card in my "Random Post" for an example of this...