#TGIFC333 Sketch Challenge Meets 'Hippo Happiness'

 Hello Crafty Friends! 

I'm so glad to be back and feeling more like myself after getting sick for a while without any energy to craft! Yeah, I got the 'Rona'...

Anywho, moving onto this week's TGIF Challenge #333.

As I got to thinking about what my layout should be like, I immediately thought of strips of clouds so I went off of this idea and also wanted to use the alcohol technique for my cloud background, since I hadn't tried it. The alcohol technique is where you spread some color onto a piece of vellum with whatever color you'd like of a Stampin' Blend marker then bleed the colors using at least 91% alcohol.

I feel like the design of the card came together pretty close to what I was imagining in my head so I went with it. In comparison to the sketch challenge, I rotated the card to portrait mode and ended up fitting only two strips instead of three.

This unicorn rainbow card has quite a few elements in it so allow me to share some.. 

Cardmaking Tips:

• The card base is from Balmy Blue cardstock, cut to 11" x 4 1/4" and scored at 5 1/2". The card opens from bottom to top.
• Use a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" piece of vellum and your Dark Balmy Blue Stampin' Blend marker to add some color throughout this piece, focusing on the top and bottom edges. Using a waterpainter filled with 91% alcohol, dab the vellum to achieve the desired look. Let dry.
• Adhere the top and bottom edges of the vellum onto the Balmy Blue card base using some Tombow glue and a sponge, making sure to spread evenly. 
• The rainbow piece was also created using vellum. Use a pencil to sketch the outline of the rainbow (mine measures 4" wide on bottom and is 2 1/2" tall). Use the following Dark Stampin Blend colors from top to bottom of the rainbow: Poppy Parade, Mango Melody, Daffodil Delight, Granny Apple Green, Bermuda Bay and HIghland Heather. Using a waterpainter filled with 91% alcohol, trace the rainbow lines to help blend the colors together. Let dry then cut out with your scissors.
• The clouds were cut from 2 1/2" x 4 1/4" strips of Basic White cardstock using the cloud shape from the Basic Borders dies. Pop them up from the vellum background using plenty of dimensionals.
• Use the same colors you used in the rainbow to stamp the starburst image repeatedly onto the clouds as shown. 
• The unicorn image was stamped onto a piece of Basic White cardstock using Daffodil Delight and Granny Apple green ink. 
• The unicorn was placed onto a separate cloud that was cut out from Basic White cardstock using the Give It A Whirl dies.
• Give the card front some finishing touches with adding some Wink of Stella glimmer to the stamped butterflies and then adhering a strip of the black and white sentiment towards the bottom. 

• Bring in the same vellum background to the inside of the card then cut a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of Basic White cardstock to trim the top and bottom edges using the cloud border die.

Cardmaking Supplies:

The following link includes a list of supplies used for this card: https://s.tamp.in/X3jeyj 

I sure do hope that you have enjoyed reading this week's post and are inspired to create your own card using the TGIF sketch. 

Until next time ...