SKILLFUL STAMPING: Hippity Hoppity....Let's "Welcome Easter" with this cute card.

The new "Welcome Easter" cling stamp set is sure to charm your socks off when you see it. Not only is it wonderful for Easter but great for celebrating the "New Additions" in our families and communities.

I must do a huge shout out to my daughter Deborah who loves card making, hmm, I wonder where she got that from. She is the one who actually came up with this card. She wanted a card that would use up all the scrap pieces of card stock that were left over from her creations. Her end cuts from cards that she could not bring herself to throw away. This card was born from that.

This is my version of her card and my supplies are: Gorgeous Grape Stampin'Up® Ink Pad and Paper, Brights Paper Collection, Whisper White card stock, Melon Mambo Stampin'Up® Ink Pad,

Gray Granite Stampin'Up® Ink Pad, Memento Tuxedo Black Ink Pad, Circle die cuts

Everyday Label Tag Punch, Snail Adhesive, Aqua Painter

1st cut a piece of Gorgeous Grape card stock to A2 size, that is 5 1/2" by 8 1/2 " and fold in half with fold on the right side. Use a bone folder to make a crisp fold. Then cut a piece of Whisper White card stock 5 1/4" by 4".

2nd grab your scrap pieces of decorative paper or make your own strips in different widths or the same size (it is up to you). Lay them across your white card front and test out a pattern color before you use the snail adhesive to glue them down. Then flip it to the back side or wrong side and cut the tails off that are hanging off the edge. This is mine in process. You can see, I thought it was too much blue an added an additional color for interest.

3rd stamp your image in Gray Granite Stampin'Up Ink. Have your Aqua Painter handy because just as you stamp it, you will want to pull color from the stamped lines of the image to make a faint coloring of a Lamb. (This method works because Stampin'Up Ink is a Water-based dye ink and reacts to water) You can also use the Stamp'n'Blends as my daughter did above in hers. I used Melon Mambo for the ears, Memento Black for the nose,and Gorgeous Grape for the Bow. All on Whisper White card stock.

Step 3b Use a circle die to cut out your image and use one size larger (or even two) to cut out a hole in the striped card front you have just made above. When cut, you should see a purple halo from the card base around your lamb when your insert it in the middle. (see my card for reference). Use snail adhesive to glue base in place, then the little lamb in the circle.

4th. Using the Gorgeous Grape Stampin'Up® Ink, stamp Welcome to the World on scrap Whisper White and punch it out using the Everyday Label punch. To "mat" this, use the punch again on the Bold Brights paper, I used the Gorgeous Grape plaid, and then with my scissors cut down the center from the left curve to the right curve. Then tape it about 1/8' from top and bottom of actual tag that I stamped. (refer to photo) Glue in Place.

This is what the tag looks like from the back, there should be a 1/4" gap of white across the middle. You can do this "mat" method with any tag punch and it should work.