Hot Pink Zebra

Edited to include a forgotten blog post link.  Oops!

Hi there!

It's a busy time of the year.  Lots going on with the end of the school year, graduations, and preparing for the Summer fun season.  What's not to like?  Recently I was commissioned to make a few cards for my sister-in-law for some important events in the lives of her teen grandchildren.  Here's the first one:  a birthday card for her youngest granddaughter who will be turning 14 in July.

(click on card to see larger image)

When you think of young teen girls these days, you immediately think of bright colors and lots of bling.  When I asked my sister-in-law what colors her granddaughter preferred, she mentioned that her bedroom had hot pink and zebra print in it.  I quickly realized that this card was going to need some special attention--My Digital Studio to the rescue!  What is My Digital Studio, you may ask?  It's not something that I've blogged about before, but it's Stampin' Up!'s digital paper crafting software.  I've been using it since it was released and I just love it!  So where are the projects you've completed, Mickey?  Well, I've been focusing on the techniques up to this point and don't really have any completed projects to show you until now.

Unfortunately, Stampin' Up! hasn't released a digital download with animal prints, so I put the search term "Digital Animal Prints" in my internet browser and found a digital download with not only a Zebra print, but a HOT PINK Zebra print!!  Woohoo!  So I purchased the download and added it to my My Digital Studio/Components/Backgrounds/Designer Series Paper folder.  Isn't it cool that you can use other companys' digital products in My Digital Studio??!!  I added two photo blocks to a blank 8 1/2" x 11" page and sized one to 3 3/4" x 5" and a second photo block to 3" x 4".  Then I selected the hot pink Zebra print as a photo, added it to each photo block, and printed the page from my color printer on glossy photo paper. 

The 3 3/4" x 5" photo block was cut from the glossy photo paper, double matted with Basic Black and Whisper White cardstocks, and adhered to the Basic Black card front.  Pieces of Basic Black and Whisper White cardstock were die cut on the double scallop of the Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die.  I used the Whisper White die cut as drop shadow for the Basic Black die cut and put the two strips vertically side-by-side on the left side of the hot pink Zebra print.  Then I added the two long strips of Basic Rhinestones end-to-end down the center of each of the Basic Black double scallops.

The sentiment comes from the Word Play stamp set.  The stamp was inked with the brush tips of Basic Black and Melon Mambo Stampin' Write Markers and stamped on a piece of Whisper White cardstock (remember to "huff" on the stamp to remoisten the ink before stamping).  The stamped cardstock was punched out with the Decorative Label punch and then double matted with Basic Black and Whisper White cardstock.  You can find information about how to use the Decorative Label punch to make the mats by going to this blog post.  The sentiment was adhered to the card front with Stampin' Dimensionals.  A large Basic Rhinestone was placed over the dot on the "i" in "wish".

(click on card to see larger image)

The inside sentiment area of the card was lined with a piece of Whisper White cardstock.  The 3" x 4" photo block of hot pink Zebra print was cut from the glossy photo paper and then cut into two 1 1/2" x 4" pieces.  [You could also add the print to the double scallop image from the Tasteful Trim digital download from Stampin' Up!; however, I haven't purchased that download--yet.]  These pieces were die cut on the double scallop of the Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die and adhered near the top and bottom edges of the liner.  The number image from the Bring on the Cake stamp set was stamped at the upper center of the liner using Melon Mambo ink.  The numbers "1" and "4" were colored in with the writing tip of the Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker.  The "th" was circled using the writing tip, also.  (You don't see the actual coloring because the card I photographed is the sample I made for myself.)

(click on envelope to see larger image)

The sentiment from Word Play was inked up one more time with the Basic Black and Melon Mambo Stampin' Write Markers and stamped at the lower left front corner of the Medium Whisper White Envelope.  Since this card wasn't going to be mailed, I added a large Basic Rhinestone to dot the "i" on "wish" here, too!

The cards I made reached California over the weekend and I spoke with my sister-in-law yesterday.  She was so tickled with how all the cards for her grandchildren turned out.  I hope they enjoy them, too!  I'll be sharing more of the cards I made for the teens in the next couple of weeks.

I'll be back soon with a project from this weekend's SASS Stamp Club featuring some products that will be retiring on May 31st.

Stamps:  Bring on the Cake, Word Play; Inks:  Melon Mambo; Stampin' Write Markers:  Basic Black, Melon Mambo; Cardstock:  Basic Black, Whisper White; Embellishments:  Basic Rhinestones; Adhesives:  SNAIL, Stampin' Dimensionals; Tools:  Paper Cutter/Scorer, Paper Snips, Bone Folder, Decorative Label punch, Big Shot w/XL Cutting Pads, Tasteful Trim Bigz XL die, My Digital Studio; Other:  Medium Whisper White Envelope; Non-Stampin' Up!:  Animal Prints Digital Download, Glossy Photo Paper, Computer & Printer

Comments

[Yapha]

That is so fun!! What a great hybrid card!!

[Mary Jo Price-Williams]

I love it, bright colors, animal print and bling! Wonderful card!

[Heidi Michel]

My daughter would LOVE this card!!! Shes a zebra fanatic. Great card idea!!

[lynn koepke]

I know some big girls who would love this card too!

[Adriana]

This is so cool ~ she is going to love this card! Thanks for the details, especially where you stored the files for easy access with MDS. Incidentally, I purchased BRING ON THE CAKE in it's digital format. Love being able to resize the sentiments and print a bunch per page. You and MDS rock ;)

[Katherine]

This really is the coolest background! I never knew you could download other papers and save to MDS - how cool is that??

[Candace Lawlor]

This is very neat. Love the colors and and zebra print is so cool!