Looking back on my childhood (through my adult eyes), I realize that I had it pretty darn good. I was lucky enough to be able to travel pretty much the entire West Coast (not in one trip) – Mexico to Canada. I got to experience the beauty of the Pacific Coast Highway, the majesty of the Redwood Forest and the breath taking views of Crater Lake. When I think about those trips they make me smile; every single time. It also makes me realize sometimes we (I) can let life bog us down and we forget to smile. We forget to smile at or about the little things like the way the air smells after rain, or just how amazing nature is or just how lucky we are to just be here.
That my friends is the inspiration behind this card. My hope is that when you see it, that you will remember that there is ALWAYS a reason to SMILE. I realize that we all have troubles (my 2018 would make an awesome Lifetime Movie), but at the end of the day we have to take a step back and see all of the good that we are surrounded by. When we do that, it’s difficult not to smile.
If you need a reminder (to SMILE) or know someone that needs a little nudge, this card IS FOR YOU. Let’s get started!
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The construction of this card begins with the Halftone Smile Stamp and Die set from Altenew. One of the things that drew me to this set was the fact that it has not one but TWO smile stamps. One is a an outline of the word SMILE and the the other is solid (halftone). Another great thing is that the coordinating die cuts out the word SMILE.
I started out this card a bit different than normal. I wanted to get a feel for how the stamps would look so I stamped both versions of the word SMILE and then cut them out using my Cuttlebug and the corresponding SMILE die.
Next I began to lay out my card design onto a 4 1/4 in x 5 1/2 in piece of Neenah Classic Crest 110 lb card stock. I stamped the word SMILE multiple times in different directions using the Halftone stamp and Altenew Permanent Black Ink. I used one of the initial die cuts (and Purple Tape) as a mask to prevent ink from overlapping the center of the card.
The center of the card was reserved for SMILE outline stamp. I wanted to do something to really make the word stand out so I did two things. First, I used Ocean Waves from the Altenew Cool Summer Night Artist Marker set to fill in the area.
After filling in the image, I cut out the word SMILE using the coordinating die. I then used a strong adhesive to mount the card front onto a top folding card base (4 1/4 in x 11 in scored and folded at 5 1/2 in). If you look very closely you can see that the die cut not only cut, but also left an embossed outline around the word.
Next I glued three of the die cuts from above together using a strong liquid adhesive. The SMILE outline was glued on top and set aside to dry for a few minutes under an acrylic block.
Once I was sure that the layers were completely dry, I placed the stack into the negative space left by the die cutting process.
In this picture you can see how placing the die cut into the negative space creates the illusion that the word is popping out from the card.
I also outline the word SMILE using a Wink of Stella Clear clear brush to add subtle sparkle.
The “it looks good on you” sentiment which is part of the set was stamped on to a scrap piece of card stock and die cut using an offset rectangle sentiment strip.
The final step was to place a bit of foam tape on to the back of the sentiment and place it on the card directly under the word SMILE.
I LOVE how this card turned out. It is simple yet bold and conveys a message that I hope is spread far and wide.
SMILE – it looks good on you!
Thanks for stopping by and don’t forget to spread kindness. – Ouma
AWESOME stamping and masking! Love the text background and use of colors! Thanks so much for entering your beautiful work in Altenew AECP assignment Gallery. Beautiful colors and design. Well done!
Thank You!
I love this look! The colors, the font, the layout…awesome!
Thank you! I had a lot of fun with this one.