The Gang's All Meer head to the mountains

How’s the isolation going? These socially irresponsible meerkats decided to self-isolate in the mountains, ignoring all government advice to #StayHome.

They don't need to stay two metres apart as they are in isolation together... however, they are now stuck in the mountains as flights are grounded so they can't get home.

Don't be a meerkat! But do grab The Gang's All Meer stamp set while you can as TOMORROW is the last day of Sale-a-Bration! 

Tip: Mix those stamp sets! I used The Gang’s All Meer with Snow Front to create this fun scene.

How to step up from Simple Stamping with The Gang’s All Meer

I’ve had enormous fun with these meerkats throughout Sale-a-Bration so far, but now I think it’s time to move on. The set has proved really popular, being chosen by the majority of my customers for their free Sale-a-Bration item. And the ladies who attended my Cuppa & Card sessions all enjoyed making these two #simplestamping projects.

The same basic card design can be stepped up or down, according to your time, your supplies and your skills. Take a look at the evolution of this project... 

And, to a lesser extent, this project...

Both series use the same card sketch, but add or remove elements according to the time restraints and the crafting audience.

Meerkat Week: A totally tropical finale

Bringing Meerkat Week to a close is this totally tropical card which we made at Crafty Friday at the beginning of the month. I sponged my background and then stamped the meerkats on top, which is why they have a slightly blue tinge to their faces, but the ladies are no fan of sponging so chose to brayer theirs instead.

This really would look better if the meerkats were masked first using a sticky note. You can brayer or sponge your background, but if you’re sponging, you have to be very careful not to disturb the mask: sweep the sponge away from the mask instead of towards it. Brayering is more forgiving as you are rolling the mask down with each stroke of the brayer. 

 

Meerkat Week: Silhouetted meerkats

I take my hat off to the first person to come up with this silhouette idea. But there are so many versions of this by now that I can’t work out who was the originator.

Begin by masking and brayering a lovely bright sunset, then all you do is stamp your image, then colour the whole lot in black. How easy is that?

Brayering is easy but most people, in my experience, give up too early and are disappointed with their results. The keys are:

1. Start OFF the edge of the paper so you don't get a hard line where the ink begins... AND

2 Keep going: brayer over and over and over again until you get a good even colour distribution. 
 

Meerkat Week: Simple or stepped up?

A simple card is taken to the next level with the addition of a few extra supplies. I swapped the Delightful Tag Topper Punch for the Stitched Nested Labels dies, added some Noble Peacock Foil Sheets, some 2019-2021 In Color Faceted Dots, a tone-on-tone cactus background and, of course, a little gecko friend. Which one do you prefer?

Colouring around your image using the light Pool Party Stampin' Blend makes your images really stand out. It’s a bit scary, but give it a try! 

Meerkat Week: The Gang's All Meer striped celebration

I’m so proud of my downline Christine, who promoted to Bronze Elite this week – an impressive achievement for someone who joined “for the kit”!

To celebrate her achievement, I naturally sent her a card and a gift, using my set of the moment, The Gang's All Meer. I shamelessly CASEd this project from Amy Koenders because I love the bold striped background and added some coloured flowers using the In The Tropics dies.

Create this fun background by colouring in the white areas on some striped Golden Honey Designer Series Paper wiht your chosen Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers. Initially, the bees on the other side will show through the paper, but once the ink has dried fully, they will disappear to leave clean coloured stripes.
 

Meerkat Week: The Gang's All Here treat holder tutorial

 

I was wandering around B&M Bargains the other day, like you do, trying to avoid buying a load of stuff I didn’t need because it’s cheap… when I spied a Christmas reductions shelf. Whaaat? It’s February already!

Unable to resist a bargain, I found some tubes of mini packs of Love Hearts which are just perfect for Valentine’s Day treats! There was no price on them but the tubes of other Christmas sweets and chocolates had been reduced to 49p so I grabbed three packs. But when I got to the checkout, it turned out they were reduced to 10p! If the shop wasn’t so huge I’d have dashed back for more.

Anyway… this is what I made with some of them. I adapted a Hershey’s Nugget holder because

a) you can’t buy these in the UK and
b) if you can, please don’t tell me where because I’ve tasted them and have no desire to repeat that experience.

Download the tutorial here
 

Here’s another version, which holds a pack of mini doilies (still on the Clearance Rack last time I looked). No tutorial for this as it’s just a standard card base cut down to a square, with a piece of ribbon tied around it!

If you're cutting your meerkats out and intend to add hats, there's no need to fussy-cut around the tops of their heads. In fact, leaving a tab of cardstock gives you something to attach your hat to. Which doesn’t matter such much when gluing flat, as I’ve done above on the circle, but is very helpful on the popped-up meerkat on the first little treat holder. 

Sale-a-Bration Week - The Gang's All Meer (again)

 

Another day, another meerkat project... this time from my Stampy Buffet and inspired by Amy O’Neill. It's a quick and simple project in cheery Daffodil Delight, with some Night of Navy thrown in so I could justify using the Baker’s Twine. Always thinking, you see!

They’re coloured with ink pad lids (Soft Suede, Sahara Sand and Crumb Cake) and blender pens. Nothing fancy!

Don't try to tie the twine around the little flags – just tie a bow and stick it on with a glue dot. Simples (see what I did there? No? Perhaps you’re not from the UK? In which case just Google “meerkat simples”)

Sale-a-Bration Week: The Gang's All Meer

How cute are these little meerkats? So far it has been the most popular Sale-a-Bration stamp set with my customers. Is it on your Sale-a-Bration wish list?

I teamed it with a strip of Country Club Designer Series paper - you get a few small sheets of this in the mini DSP sampler you get free when you sign up as a demonstrator during Sale-a-Bration.

The background is pretty old-school - just a cactus stamped in Sahara Sand on the same coloured cardstock. If an idea works, why not recycle it?

The greeting is from Label Me Bold – a must-have stamp set in my opinion!

For this project, I dug out my Stampin' Blends alcohol markers; shades of Crumb Cake, Ivory and Bronze give you lots of variety to make each meerkat an individual.