A Moveable Digger

My original plan for this card was to use the Dinoroar stamp set. I need birthday cards for two soon-to-be 3-year-old boys. But then, as I was looking through my stamps, I remembered a card that one of my downline, Tara, made. She cut apart the arm of the big digger in I Dig You and made it moveable with small Mini Silver Brads. So I took her idea (thanks Tara!) and used it on my own card.

For the sketch, I used this week's Freshly Made Sketch. I flipped the sketch to suit the digger image and turned the two strips in the sketch into grass/field.

 

I will warn you, this card is very labour intensive. But I think it's still 'clean-looking' and fits the bill for a 'fresh' card. The digger needs to be stamped three times - you need to first cut out the digger base and the shovel (from the first stamped image), and the two parts of the arms (second and third stamped images). But it's so fun when it's done! What little (or big!) boy wouldn't love this?

Tips & Tricks:
*I love making my own grass out of card stock because it's so simple! Just take a strip of card and snip away at irregular but small intervals with your Paper Snips. Just be careful to not snip right through the the card stock ;)

*I made the dried (yellow) grass out of So Saffron card stock and sponged it with Daffodil Delight to give it some dimensions. I sponged the Lucky Limeade grass with Lucky Limeade ink.
*I love using markers on my stamps to get two colors. But sometimes, it can look streaky. For my digger, I stamped the whole image in a Daffodil Delight ink pad and then I used Basic Black marker on the shovel and the digger's track. Voila! No streaks!
*I love how the Lucky Limeade Baker's Twine adds just a little touch of color!
*I free-handed the rock with my Paper Snips and then sponged the Basic Grey card stock with the same color ink. I was pretty pleased with the result!

Wow - that's a lot of tips & tricks! I hope the birthday boys love this card. And I hope you love it too. Don't be scared away by all the cutting, the result is most definitely worth it. 'Til next time, keep letting stamps bring out your creativity!