Tuesday, April 22, 2008

"Yellow and Blue Make Green!"


Was that from a Ziploc commercial?? Anyway, had to pull out some of my favorite patterned papers in some of my favorite baby colors (SU! hostess DP pack, Wild Wasbabi striped ribbon) to piece this little card which uses FIVE (of the 50!!)* new stamps from "Hip Hop Accessories": a ginormous add-on set (that is great by itself!) for your Just So Hippy (from which I used the larger hippo here) and Just So Hoppy stamps! Now I a have baby card I could send out for a boy or girl!

The hippos (which I used a white gel pen on to fill in their eyes, teeth, and toes) are mounted on dimensionals on top of a classic Nestabilites Rectangle. I cut the rattle in two pieces and mounted each piece on either side of the hippo tail to make it look like it was behind it. :) I took a cue from my focal point and decided three strips of DP for the background would be perfect to represent eahc of their colors, and to balance the colors put the apricot on the left , opposite of the apricot hippo, and the wasabi in the middle, kind of symbolic of their "union". ;) (Do I over think these things??)

VERY IMPORTANT TIP for when your new "Hip Hop" set arrives, this will save you a lot of time: (You've probably never had this many on a sheet**, and you don't want to lose track of a single image or greeting! )

1. Before cutting your rubber, peel off the paper backing.

2. Lay the rubber on the desk face up and go over it with our waterproof ink pad, inking every image.

3. Press the glossy side of the paper backing(which you will later be sticking your stamp onto) down on the inked rubber, smoothing over it to pick up every image and remove. (or use a plain sheet of paper if you plan on keeping this stamps on an acrylic stand) Even with a fast drying ink this surface may resist it a little so blot a few times with scratch paper. It's okay if it smudges, this is just going to be guide for where to put all your stamps!

4. Now you're ready to start cutting away (while you eat your Gina K "thank you" m&m's!) Each and every stamp has a perfect spot mapped out on your sheet, no worrying about trying to figure out where they should all go, it's already done for you. (I had a pic of this but accidentally deleted it, sorry!)

I'm going to start doing this with all my new stamps that arrive, so much easier to stamp it once and make my own image sheet instead of trying to do it with all the cut pieces. Even with a sheet that doesn't have many images and plenty of room to make them fit, it's great to see at a glance which stamp I need to locate on my messy desk and put back where it belongs! I hope this helps you get organized and ready to start playing with your new stamps that much faster! :)

Happy Earth Day! Go recycle some paper or rubber! ;)

*baby hippo, rattle, "to the hippest", "new", "parents"! There is actually room in between the words on "to the hippest" for you to cut this sentiment apart and use them separately if you wish (which makes 52 stamps!) or you can leave them together and just ink up the words you want :)

**I asked Gina if I was crazy to put so many stamps in one set! (I'm not sure I ever heard back, but she probably was thinking,"Crazy, YES, but not for that reason!" LOL!) For the record, though, I had to laugh when I read in Gina K's blog that I had "married the hippies and hoppies and now they've all had babies!" I wasn't over planning animal weddings or anything!! But now that she said that I feel somewhat compelled to show you all the couples! ;)

25 comments:

  1. I love the HIPPO family! too cute with all the DP colors to match them. thanks for the tip with the image sheet!

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  2. Awesome...and I am sure there will be many more families! Can't wait to get my set! I got a shipping notice already yesterday morning!

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  3. Love the 'union' of the hippos! I like how you used DP on the background and for paper piecing--it flows well! I just love the babies in your set. . .I want this set!

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  4. this is just too adorable. Love these images and sentiments. I am going to have to place an order.

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  5. I can't wait for my order to get here! What wonderfully versatile sets! ~chris

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  6. This card looks so cute! I love the papers you used and the way you used them.

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  7. This is SO cute! I love the hippos and they look so great with your choice of dp!

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  8. If these aren't the cutest darn stamps ever!! I love it! And thos hippos -- my daughter would just have a fit over them! I think I need this set to make some alphabet flash cards for her. Thanks for the terrific inspiration!

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  9. Soooo cute! Perfect for my little family. :o)
    Thanks for the storing tip... I actually use a very thick transparency sheet to keep my hoppy set on... works really good.

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  10. This is another Melanie Favorite! I love how you "overthink". GREAT card.

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  11. I LOVE this card and how you put it together. TFS great tips on storing all these stamps - I cannot WAIT for mine to arrive:)

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  12. Ohhh this was definitely one of my fave sneak peeks!!! The dp is sooooooooooo fantastic!!! Hmmm..........weddings?? I see a wedding card coming up for one of my friends using the Hippys and Hoppys!!!! LOL You're just the best Mel!!!

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  13. By far, my most favorite card!!!! I cannot wait for my set to arrive; I promise to be nice to the postal worker. Repeat to self "do not rush the postal worker, do not rush the postal worker" - LOL

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  14. Soooo adorable!! I love your tip about mounting!! I will have to do this when my set arrives. :D

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  15. What an adorable card! I love it! Mary Pickett

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  16. Thanks so much for putting together all these family cards...such an inspiration and can't wait for my sets to get here!!!

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  17. This is so adorable - I think it may just be my favorite hippy hoppy card I've seen you post (maybe because I have babies on the brain!). And what a great tip - I never thought to ink them up as one big block like that, so smart!!!

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  18. Oh my gosh...that sentiment made me laugh right out loud! THAT IS SO CUTE!!!! What a neat idea. Makes me want to order it all just to make that card right there. LOL

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  19. This is so stinkin cute!!! Love it, and I love the tip for the image sheet!

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  20. This is too cute, love the kangaroo card too!! Between you and Donna, I had to have these. Thanks for the tip!

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