Get creative with interesting stencils and animal-themed stamps

What you need...

• Stamps: Craft Consortium, Little Fawn & Friends Best Friends, Little Fawn & Friends; Creativity Essentials, Folk Sentiments A5
  Paper, Craft Consortium, Essential Craft Papers, Watercolour
  Card, white
  Square die, 4cm
  Acrylic paint, white
  Ink-pad, black Pens, water-based
  Corner punch
  Embellishments
  Adhesives

instructions

1. Sarah Jackman Read gets inventive by creating her own custom stencils for a trio of adorable cards. Teeming with cute characters, these gorgeous greetings are full of personality. They’re surprisingly simple to put together too, as all the complicated background patterns are already printed for you!

2. Best Wishes - 1 Cover the front of a blank, 14cm square, with purple watercolour effect paper. Trim yellow patterned paper, 13cm square, then round off the corners with a punch.
   
   2 Stamp rabbits and foliage onto white, then trim around the stamped design to create a stencil. Attach towards the bottom of the yellow panel, then sponge white acrylic through it. Remove the stencil.
   
   3 Die-cut white card, 4cm square. Attach the aperture to the panel, then sponge white acrylic paint through. Stamp the rabbits and foliage onto the painted section
   at the bottom of the yellow panel, then stamp the sentiment in the white square. Add a bird and leaves.
   
   4 Lightly colour the stamped images with water-based marker pens. Wrap twine around the panel, then attach to the card front with foam pads. Thread a pinecone charm onto the twine and tie in a bow. Finish with adhesive gems.

3. Happy Birthday - 1 Cover the front of a top-fold white blank, 13.5cm x 17.5cm, with blue watercolour effect paper. Trim pink patterned paper, 12.5cm x 16.5cm then round the corners with a punch.
   
   2 Stamp a fox, tree stump, hedgehog and foliage onto white, then trim around the stamped design to create a stencil. Attach towards the bottom of the pink panel, then sponge white acrylic through it. Remove the stencil.
   
   3 Die-cut white card, 4cm square. Attach the aperture to the panel, then sponge white acrylic paint through. Stamp the fox, tree stump, hedgehog and foliage again onto the painted section at the bottom of the pink panel.
   
   4 Stamp the sentiment in the white square. Finish with bakers twine as before, then fix the pink panel to the card front. Embellish with blue gems.

4. Especially For You - 1 Take a white blank, 14cm x 17.5cm, and cover with orange watercolour effect paper. Trim blue patterned paper, 13cm x 16.5cm, then round the corners.
   
   2 Create a stencil by cutting around the deer and foliage stamp on white card. Attach to the panel with low-tack tape and sponge white acrylic through. Repeat with a square stencil, 4cm.
   
   3 Stamp the deer and foliage over the white paint across the bottom, then stamp a sentiment in the white square. Stamp leaves in any small painted areas across the paper.
   
   4 Colour with water-based marker pens, then wrap with twine and attach as before. Finish with pink gems.