Wanna’ see something cute? Of course you do! The Kind Koala stamp stole my heart during my first pass through the 2014-2015 Annual Catalog. Today, I’m using my Blendabilities to shade in the little marsupial. I also made some changes to the image – can you tell what’s different?
Tips, Tricks and Reminders
- Personalizing Koala. Personalizing Koala – sounds like a great Independent Film, doesn’t it? 🙂 This single stamp comes with the sentiment “thinking of you,” and he’s holding a cute flower in his paws. I couldn’t imagine a time when I would ever send a “thinking of you” card with such an adorable image (in my dream world, thinking of you cards are filled with landscapes, sunsets and beautiful flowers). So…I simply trimmed off the words before I mounted the stamp. I didn’t cut off the flower, but I did mask it before stamping it here. I added some Crystal Effects to his nose to give it a shiny texture (probably closer to the nose on a child’s stuffed animal than an actual koala).
- Blendabilities. I’m no expert with the Blendabilities, but I’ve played around with them just enough to feel happy about my creations. The kola is colored with three of the Skin Tone Markers (Nude, Ivory and Blush). I then used the Color Lifter Marker to highlight his back and head. The balloon, from Sketched Birthday, is colored with the two lightest markers from the Rich Razzleberry Assortment. Oh! I also used the fine tip of the lightest color in the Rich Razzleberry Assortment to color the border around the Happy Birthday sentiment. There’s more about the Blendabilities below! Yippee!
- Cropping the Centerpiece. Once I had the koala and balloon in place, I used the Project Life Framelits to crop the whole picture. What a great tool to have when building a centerpiece for a card! Everything else just worked its way around this framelit.
Stamp Sets: Kind Koala, Sketched Birthday Inks: Memento Tuxedo Black, Blendabilities (Rich Razzleberry Assortment, Skin Tone Assortment) Papers: Rich Razzleberry, Very Vanilla Accessories: Project Life Cards & Frames Framelits, Project Life Corner Rounder, Stampin’ Dimensionals, Decorative Dots Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, Bitty Banners Framelits
Thanks for stopping by today!
Brian
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TOMORROW IS A BIG DAY. July 1 is a BIG DAY! Not only are customers able to buy some of the Blendabilities (you will be able to purchase Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, Coastal Cabana, Cherry Cobbler, Daffodil Delight, Old Olive, Pumpkin Pie, Rich Razzleberry, Skin Tone Assortment and Color Lifter), but Stampin’ Up! will start a Buy Three, Get One Free Designer Series Paper Promotion. I’ll have a link for both of these tomorrow! Woo hoo!
Brian your card is so cute. The layout and details are perfect. Your use of the blendabilities is artistic. The color lifter makes a difference! The balloon is a nice addition to this birthday card. Shifting gears, I gasped when I read that you cut the sentiments off the stamp. But it makes sense. As long as no Koalas were hurt in the process, then I am ok with this. LOL.
So cute with that shiny nose ! I am talking about the Koala ! Love the balloon and I would have snipped away the words also …Kelly`s comment was too funny ! I have this bear on the list because he or she is cute and perfect for a one image card .
How about having this cute thing hold an American flag for the 4th ?
I love it, Sonny! See how taking away that sentiment opens this guy up for lots of other presentations?
Who wouldn’t love receiving this shiny-nosed Koala bear with his “Happy Birthday” balloon and wish! Very nice work with the Blendabilities, Brian!
I have had a crush on Koalas and Pandas for years. I mean they are too sweet for words and this Koala stamp is way beyond cute! I really like the way you managed to substitute the balloon for the flowers, so clever. Now those are the kinds of things I never think to do. Evidently I’m not gifted enough to “think outside the box” (a saying by the way that drives me nuts)! LOL The best part of this stamp is that it’s versatile enough and cute enough to be used on kids cards AND both male and female cards. Pretty delightful if you ask me. I also really like the way your image panel is placed off center and toward the right. It really makes this composition exceptional. Wishing you a Majestic Monday oh King of Stamping!
Koala has just moved up my list! Cute card. (You wouldn’t send a thinking of you card?)
Dianne, Of course I would send a “thinking of you card” – I just think of those as more formal and beautiful. This koala is (in my opinion) more whimsical and fun. The word “you” was just so close to bottom of the koala, so it was better to snip than try to mask. 🙂
Hey Good Morning Brian, Great card. Love that you cut off the words. I’ll have to remember to do that too. I just think it will be much more useful that way. Love the circle framelits match the balloon. Have a great day. 🙂
Great Personalizing!!!
Thanks for the ideas!
OMG so lovely and cute Brian ,
Love him,
Hugs frenchie ,
Sweet! : )
He’s just so cute! Great job with the blendabilities and thanks so much for sharing.
Super cute card Brian. Thanks so much for all the great tips
Adorable! ! This little koala is on my list. GREAT idea to trim off the words. I livey how you changed it to a balloon too!
Oops. I mean I love how you changed the flower to a balloon.
Brian,
I did the same thing removing sentiment and replacing with a thank you….lots of cards when school was out.
What is the easiest way to block out the sentiment when stamping image?
I was trying to do it with a post-it.
Cumbersome at best around corners.
Thanks,
Beth
I have found that scotch tape works perfectly – simply press the sticky side of the tape over the part you want to mask, ink up the stamp and then remove the tape. You just have to make sure you have a plan for grabbing the tape afterwards – I use a paper towel to grab the tape quickly before the ink starts to dry.
I’m over-the-moon in LOVE with your version of the Koala. He stole my Heart too! Thanks so much for sharing your version with us! I am definitely going to try many different ways to create new Koala’s.
How hard was it to cut off the YOU? In the picture it looks like the bottom of the bear is touching the word. I am afraid I will cut off the bottom. Were you able to save the words?
Sue – it was a bit tricky. I actually used my paper snips to trim close to the koala.
Love this stamp, probably cause I love Koalas. Very cute card. love your colors
Nicely done! Love the way you took the Koala stamp and made it your very own. Great card, love your colors and sentiment 🙂