I’ll start by saying that I am definitely not a critters-on-cards type of crafter. Yes, there are a handful of critter stamp sets in my stash from my early days when I was just getting started with card making, but that was also when I thought I might get into Copic coloring like so many of the crafters I discovered on Instagram. As it turned out, Copics and critters just weren’t for me, and since then I’ve been more of a florals and geometric patterns sort of gal. But….
…very recently, I made an exception. When I saw The Stamp Market’s Fintastic Stamp Set and Sardine Dies, it was an instant add-to-cart. You see, when I was growing up, my dad loved several foods that I absolutely despised. Avocados, beets and sardines were three of them, but today, these are some of my FAVORITE things! With Father’s Day coming up and with the new goodies TSM recently released, I have to say that I’ve never been quite so excited to make a card for this occasion.
To get started, I stamped a whole bunch of sardines from the Fintastic Stamp Set with clear embossing ink on colored cardstock, then heat embossed them with white embossing powder. While I was at it, I also embossed the ‘so stinkin’ awesome’ sentiment from the The Stamp Market Sardine Greetings stamp set. Once complete, I used the Sardine Dies to cut them out, along with the other elements for the can, label, pull tab, bowties and fins. Conveniently, I had a bunch of leftover silver satin-finish cardstock from the holidays which worked perfectly for this!
I stamped the ‘preserved with love’ label with a combo of Navy, Citrine and Tropic Teal inks, then broke out the adhesives to start putting everything together. It’s not super obvious in the photos, but to create dimension I backed the orange and teal sardines with a strip of foam tape, which allowed them to pop up higher from the yellow one underneath. I also put foam tape under the lid part of the can, and under the sentiment before adhering everything onto my trimmed card panel.
As you can see, I couldn’t just stop at one, so I also designed a sparkly birthday version for one of my dearest, sardine-loving friends too.
And now, I need to know: What’s your stance on sardines? Clearly I’m very much pro, but would love to hear what side you’re on as I know they can be very polarizing!