Whattttt??? Is this the CUTEST little guy ever?!! So cute, he needs a name! Stanley! That’s it! I spent ALL day yesterday going through some family old papers and my brain was pretty fried so when I saw this darling stamp set with Stanley and his ADORABLE perky little face, I knew he was the perfect choice to shake off the melancholy.

Measurements:

• Crumb Cake Card Base 4 1/4″ x 11″ scored at 5 1/2″
• Layer of Old Olive Card Stock  4″ x 5 1/4″
• Birthday Bonanza DSP 3 3/4″ x 5″

Details:

• I built a little scene with the ostriches in keeping with the sketch layout and pulled out a whole slew of Stampin’ Blends to color Stanley and his companion (who’s pretending if we can’t see him, it can’t possibly be his birthday). I started with Light Gray Granite and then worked in layers of Light and Dark Crumb Cake and Light and Dark Soft Suede for their bodies. Legs and necks were a combination of Light Petal Pink and a Shin-Han Twin Touch Marker in Straw Yellow for the shading. Stanley’s beak is a base of Light Gray Granite with Light Pumpkin Pie layered over it and just a bit of Dark Pumpkin Pie for depth. I added strawberries to Stanley’s cheeks with Dark Petal Pink.
• Oliver (it’s his birthday) is hiding his head in a pool of water stamped in Pool Party. Stanley is standing in Sahara Sand sand and the little flecks of grass were die cut in Old Olive, colored over with Light Gray Granite and touches of Wink of Stella at the tips.

• I used Honeybee Stamp’s Sentiment Banners to help me get my stamped sentiment stamped correctly (and straight), and then cut the banner ends off – they were too distracting. I added another strip in Pretty Peacock to stay with the sketch and to bring out the pretty DSP. I also stamped a companion ostrich on the envelope – hey, I needed coloring practice! – as well as another on the inside of the card:

• I layered the white panel over a SUPER pretty piece of Tropical Oasis DSP, stamped the sentiment and ostrich, and then, because I just happened to have a scrap of the DSP from the front of the card laying around, I added it to the inside as well. I love that the scrap was cut in such a way that the candles are perfectly displayed!

I can’t even stop smiling at Stanley and Oliver, they are SO stinking’ cute! I purchased this stamp set on a whim simply because I had an email in my inbox a few weeks ago from MFT Stamps with a pop up sale on a few retiring items – I’m so happy that I indulged in this set! Thank you Kim for your awesome sketch this week over at Freshly Made Sketches – it made my stretch my comfort zone a bit and design a scene instead of just using one image! And a BIG thank you to Amy for picking my card last week!

Thank you for stopping by!!

Supplies (all Stampin’ Up! unless otherwise noted):

Card Stock: Crumb Cake, Old Olive, Pretty Peacock;  Neenah Solar White Classic Crest 80#

DSP: Birthday Bonanza and Tropical Oasis

Specialty Paper: None

Ink: Versamark Onyx Black & Memento Tuxedo Black; Pool Party and Sahara Sand

Stamps: Oh MY Gostrich by MFT Stamps

Alcohol Markers: Light Gray Granite, Light & Dark Crumb Cake, Light & Dark Soft Suede, Light & Dark Petal Pink, Light and Dark Pumpkin Pie; Shin-Han Twin Touch Y223 Straw Yellow

Dies: Sentiment Banners & Grass Border by Honeybee Stamps; Pierced Circles by MFT Stamps

Tools: Big Shot, Stampin’ Trimmer (both retired)

Embellishments: Wink of Stella 

Other: Whisper White Envelope