Nine Lives

Hi, stamping friends! Today’s card is from a challenge from one of our Stampin’ Up!® demonstrator team meetings.

The challenge: Each of us brought a returning stamp set (i.e. – a set that had been in either the 2018-2019 Stampin’ Up!® Annual Catalog, or the 2018 Holiday or 2019 Occasions catalog and carried over to the 2019-2020 Stampin’ Up!® Annual Catalog) to trade with another member.

I missed the June meeting when we traded sets, because I was in Florida. But the set that was chosen for me was Nine Lives.

This was hard. I love the set, but I have a hard time using it. “Cute” sets draw me in, but then throw me when it’s time to use them.

Fortunately, I saw a card from my dear friend and fellow demonstrator Pam Irwin. She used the Happy Tails Stamp Set and the Dog Builder Punch, but it was easy to switch to Nine Lives and the Cat Punch. Or so I thought…

If you have the Cat Punch and the Nine Lives set, you know that the cat faces the other direction. I had already laid out my card, so it was easier to flip the cat than to move the other elements. I used the Silicone Craft Sheet and Stamparatus to flip the cat image.

First, place the Silicone Craft Sheet into the Stamparatus. Adhere the cat outline stamp to the Stamparatus plate, then ink with Early Espresso Classic Ink and stamp on the craft sheet. Carefully place Whisper White Cardstock into the Stamparatus over the craft sheet, then stamp again. (Your image on the side you’re seeing doesn’t have to be perfect. It’s just a guide.) You want to be sure the image from the craft sheet gets totally transferred to the back side of the cardstock. You may want to ink and stamp twice.

Open the Stamparatus, remove the cardstock and cat stamp, then position the cat detail stamp into the Stamparatus. (Note: You may need to stamp the cat outline one more time on the craft sheet before removing the stamp if it’s too faded to be able to place the cat detail stamp correctly.) Ink the cat detail stamp with Calypso Coral Classic Ink, then stamp on the Silicone Craft Sheet. Place the card stock back into the Stamparatus, reink the cat (if you need to), then stamp again to transfer the Calypso Coral ink to the reverse side of the card stock. Carefully remove the cardstock, and you should have identical images on both sides so you can easily punch the cat. Then flip it over and use the back side of the card stock for the cat image. Purr-fect. (Sorry; couldn’t help myself!)

If you’re more of a visual person, here’s a video that will help you understand the reverse stamping process.

For the rainbow, I used 2018-2020 In Color Cardstock (Lovely Lipstick, Grapefruit Grove, Pineapple Punch, Call Me Clover, and Blueberry Bushel) along with Gorgeous Grape Cardstock. I used the Layering Circles Dies and circle punches (1/2″, 1″, and some retired ones). After I glued them together, I cut them in half along the diameter to get two rainbows from one circle grouping.

My cloud dies are retired, but you can use the Pretty Label Punch or the Layering Ovals Dies (especially the small scalloped ones) for cute clouds. Sponge a little bit of Smoky Slate Classic Ink on the edges. The sentiment (from the Happy Tails Stamp Set) is stamped in Early Espresso, and I added a little “ground” in Crumb Cake. This way the cat can be heading over the rainbow bridge, or it can be remembering a friend who passed over.

This card is perfect when someone loses a fur friend, but it can also be a thinking of you card, or even a sympathy card for an animal lover.

Thanks for stopping by Stamping with Buffy. Have a lovely day!

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