A Couple of Kitty Cards

 

I love cats so when the Nine Lives stamp set appeared in the spring/summer catalogue, I had to have it. I like that you can use just the outline kitty or stamp different fur pattern effects on top.  There’s a coordinating punch too which has been out for a while that saves some fussy cutting!

At a recent Stampin’ Up! team event, I watched a demonstration on mirror stamping.  This technique does what it says on the tin in that it allows you to create a mirror image of the stamp.  It works best using line images rather than solid ones and needs a Stamparatus or other stamp positioning tool and a silicone mat.

I thought the outline cat stamp would be suitable for this technique so to begin with, I mounted the stamp in the Stamparatus and stamped the image onto the silicone mat.

Carefully place the card face down onto the mat and close the Stamparatus plate to use the stamp to transfer the ink from the silicone mat onto the card using firm pressure over the image.  Next turn the card over and stamp the image as normal and you should have the image and its mirrored counterpart next to each other!

The left image is the normal stamp, the right is the mirror image stamp

It took me a few practices to get the pressure right so that I didn’t smudge the image or only partially transfer it.

I had hoped the cats would look like they were friends but they don't look overly friendly.  Anyone who shares their home with cats will know that they have their own agenda and will do exactly as they please! It seems that stamped cats are exactly the same!! I added some hearts from the same set and a couple of linen thread bows in a desperate attempt to make it into an anniversary card.

For my second card, I wanted to use the punch to make a ‘fun pun’ card.  After punching a cat silhouette from basic grey, smoky slate, basic black and silver foil card,  I cut a square card front, marked the half way points and placed a cat in each quarter.  I used a black marker to write the French numbers un…deux…trois  and then CAT rather than quatre for a bit of fun!  Some paw prints and a dashed line finished the front which was mounted on a Basic Grey card base.  Très jolie!