I felt extremely priviledged to be asked recently to be a guest designer for Outlawz Challenges “Saturday’s Paper Ala Mode” this week.

The theme for the challenge this week is ‘welcome’ and immediately ‘baby’ came to mind.

This was a very simple card to make, and apart from the colouring and ‘fussy cutting’ of the giraffe, it was relatively quick.

I started by stamping white cardstock with the giraffe image in Jet Black Ranger Archival Ink. Because I’d intended to colour the image using Distress Inks, the stamped image needed to be done with an ink that wouldn’t run. (Stazon is also suitable for this purpose.) The image is from the Gina K Designs Just So Hippy stamp set. (Unfortunately, this set is now retired.)

I used Dried Marigold distress ink for the main colour, but found it dried too pale, so went over it again using Spiced Marmalade once the first layer was dry.  Last year I bought the full set of the Ranger Distress Markers, so I’m very lucky to have the full range of colours available to me. Sometimes I use the markers directly onto the image, but in this instance, I scribbled the brush end onto an acrylic block, and used an aqua pen to ‘paint’ the colour onto the image.

For the darker areas, I used Tea Dye distress marker.

Put that aside to dry completely, or if you’re in a hurry, you can use a heat gun.

You’ll need a white cardbase then cut a slightly smaller contrasting colour ‘topper’ – in this case I used orange, to match the coloured image. Then I embossed a piece of white cardstock that was cut slightly wider than half the width of the card-front, but also slightly shorter. (See image above.)

Next I chose ribbon from my stash, and tied it into a double bow. Taking the orange cardstock, I ran a line of double-sided glue across the sheet where I was going to place the ribbon. Laying the bow into position, I then added the rest of the ribbon, leaving enough ribbon on each end so it could be tucked in underneath and out of sight.

Then I added the embossed white card that was prepared earlier. That was secured over the top of the ribbon, on the left of the card, ensuring the bow was over the top of the card, and not glued down.

My next step was to add the orange card topper to the cardbase. This needed to be done at this point, because once the giraffe was added, it would be pretty bulky.

Then I stamped the greeting on a scrap of white cardstock – I used the ‘Welcome Baby’ stamp from Stampin’ Up! This is from the Sale-A-Bration Punch Bunch set, which I bought a couple of years ago. No idea if it’s still available or not. (Sorry!)

I also used Archival Ink to stamp that image.

Next, using my guillotine, I trim all the way around the greeting, leaving a narrow outline. I had initially intended to add a small hole and tie it to the ribbon with some thread, but at the last minute decided to just glue it directly onto the orange cardstock.

Last but not least, I fussy cut the giraffe, keeping the outlines as perfect as possible. I then lightly sponged the outside edges with Black Soot distress ink. This was to cover up any white edges that might now be showing.  Once done, I added dimensionals all over the back of the giraffe to give it some height. It was then added to the white embossed card.

I did think about adding some pearls, but after doing a dry run, decided it didn’t add anything to the card, and in fact, I felt it took something away from it.

Thanks for looking, and I hope you enjoyed my card!

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