GUNTHER'S GREETINGS SNEAK PREVIEW!!!!!

Hey All! It's finally here! I get to show you the stamp set that was inspired by my Gunther! I have had such a blast making the 2 projects I'm showing you today. As my last post told you, the stamps were designed by Jami Bova of Stamp Happy with Sgt. Stamper. I am just thrilled with the set, but then I'm a little partial. . .LOL! Are ya ready???? Here is the package of the set, then I'll follow that with my projects. Introducing. . . .Drum roll is playing. . . .Gunther's Greetings:





Now, if you take the above stamp set and combine it with this:




You get this:



When I first saw the stamp set, I knew immediately that I would make a set of note cards. Can you believe the container is a Spam can? LOL A good blogging friend sent me a note card set in a spam can that she decorated and I had always loved it. So, I broke down and bought some Spam. I'm surprised that I still like it because it has been years since I've had it. I like to cut it in thin slices and fry it for a sandwich. Yum! OK, sorry, back to the cards. I love how "Gunther" peaks out over the edge. Here is the whole set out of the can:



The set consists of 6 note cards ( 5 1/8 X 3 5/8 ) each with matching envelope (one shown below) I had so many thoughts when I saw this set, but one of the first things that hit me was "She gave him a bandanna!!!! I immediately knew I could stamp it out on patterned paper and give him an array of bandannas just like he has in real life. (I know, you all are thinking I'm a little too nuts over this). So the note cards were born. As you will see below, the paper matting matches his bandanna on each card:





I then used coordinating ribbon for each. There are 5 sentiments with this stamp set (all adorable plays on dog phrases - see package at beginning of post) so each has a different sentiment inside, and one is just a blank note card. As I said, they also each come with a matching envelope here:





I only had a couple of things that gave me issues with this project. It took me some time to find paper in my inventory that had print small enough to show well on the bandannas. I also had a hard time trying to get the coloring down. It was hard for me to color a "black" dog when the lines had to be stamped in black. Drove me nuts actually. After several attempts, I finally decided to stamp the image in Versamark, then embossed them with fine detail ep. This made a big difference, however I still don't' think I did very well with the coloring. I can't wait to see the others designs to see how they colored him. But I don't think mine look too bad, especially with the bandannas. It's just that Gunther is jet black and it is hard to get that when coloring.

My second project involves a couple of items that I bought over a year ago and have never used. They were such a good deal that I couldn't resist buying them at the time. I also intended to use them for "the boys". When I got the stamp set, I new this was the perfect time to pull them out. Here it is:



It is a glass front memory box (or shadow box). You can either stand it up like I have it in the picture, or hang it on the wall. I bought two - one for each of them. They had been originally $24.99 at Hobby Lobby, and I got them on clearance for $5.00 each. They have hinges so the front part lifts up (see below):




The picture below shows the detail of what is inside:



This was like doing a scrapbook page, and that is kind of what I wanted it to be to remember the stamp set. I have always loved this photo of Gunther. There are so many captions you could put with it. You'll also notice that on this stamped image (and one of the note cards) I added a tongue to him! Of the hundreds of pictures I have of him, I have very few where he doesn't have his tongue hanging out. I also added a bowl of food to this one (Gunther is a chow hound).

So, there you go. My Gunther's stamp set! You can go to Jami's blog or to the 2 Red Bananas' blog to see what they did with the set. They may not have theirs up yet (It is now 2:03 AM - I just couldn't wait) so keep checking back.

Thanks so much for coming to see my Gunther's stamp set. I appreciate you humoring me through all of this. You all are so very sweet! Thank you again for all of your support. You'll never really know what it means to me.

Take good care and have a good rest of the week. I'll see you on your blogs!

Best,

Curt

Stamps: Gunther's Greetings 2 Red Bananas
Papers: The Paper Co., DCWV "The Pet Stack", Bazzill card stock.
Ink: Archival Jet Black
Stuff: Ribbon, 3 D stickers, K & Company Letter, colored pencils and OMS