One of the cutest images in the Stampin’ Up! Occasions 2015 catalog is From the Herd. The animals’ faces are so expressive that it seems as if they are real. I’ve seen a lot of clever ways to use this stamp, and I took several ideas and put them together in this card for my in-laws. They are both special to me and are having some health issues. so it seems appropriate for the little herd to check in on them and convey my wishes to them.

Delys Cram had the clever idea to cut out circles for the animals to peek through. I tweaked her design by using my new woodgrain background stamp so that it appears as if they are behind a fence. Anyone who has been around goats will know how appropriate it is that this little fella has pushed his head all the way through a small hole in the fence while his friends are merely peeking through.

I stamped the image onto watercolor paper (thanks for that tip, Deyls!), colored the animals with markers, and then did a LOT of fussy cutting. By the time I cut out the third animal, I decided that this card is a labor of love and would never be one I could make to sell! The effort was more than worth it, though, as I thought of the smiles on my loved ones faces when they open this card. As the credit card commercial says: priceless!

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