A Dinosaur "Dig" Greeting Card

Join us as we recreate a prehistoric past with one simple card. This dinosaur dig greeting card packs plenty of crafty fun and will surely be a hit for any enthusiast that "digs" dinos! Gather up your materials and remember, no shovels are required: all it takes is some card stock, glue sticks, and creativity. Let's get ready to dig up a T-Rex for an epic greeting card!

• I Dig You Clear Stamp Set
• Free Cricut File - I Dig You
• Acrylic Stamp Block
• Craft Ink Pads
• Blending Tool
• White Cardstock
• Craft Paper of Choice: Colors, Patterns, and Designs
• Glue
• Scissors or Cricut
• Envelope

• Prismacolor Alcohol-Based Markers
• Artline Markers
• Glue Tape Runner
• Gelly Roll White Gel Pen
• 3-D Styrofoam Dots
• Tweezers
• Bone Folder
• Address Stamp

To get started, gather all of your materials so you have them accessible.

If you have a Cricut machine, you can use the I Dig You Cricut files to cut out your stamp images before inking. If you don't have a Cricut machine, place your white card stock onto a craft mat or paper to protect your surface.

Using clear stamps is easy, simply peel your stamp from it backing sheet and place it onto an acrylic stamp block. The photopolymer is slightly tacky, so your stamp can easily stick and be removed from your stamp block.

Second, ink your stamp with the ink pad of your choice and stamp all the designs you want to use on your Cricut die cuts or on a sheet of white card stock if you don't have a Cricut machine. When stamping on white cardstock, be sure to space out the stamped impressions so that you can cut around them.

We are working with three paper layers to create our excavation or "dig" site. We have a 10 x7 inch piece of white cardstock, that we folded in half using our bone folder to create a 5x7 card. This is our base. In addition, we have dark and light brown paper cut to size.

Using a pencil, hand-trace a hole-like shape onto the light brown paper. Then, use an exacto-knife or scissors to cut out the hole shape. Using the piece you just cut out, cut additional uneven strips for added layers and dimension to your excavation. We'll be layering the light brown paper on top of the dark brown paper to create our layered paper dig site.

Now, we will be blending our ink with a blending tool to create a soft gradient and shade for our excavation site. To do this, place your light brown paper on top of the dark brown and very lightly trace inside the shape of the hole. This allows you to see where you need to blend.

Remove the light brown paper and start blendning the brown ink on the dark brown paper using the blending tool.

Tip: Use large circular motions and refrain from blending in the middle so that your excavation site has a nice gradient.

Now, repeat the blending process on the light brown paper. Use light pressure and a circular motion. Start blending from the cut edge of the hole and blend outwards toward the outer edge of the card.

At this point in the creative process, it's time to add some color and highlights to your stamped images. Do this step as you see fit. We are keeping things pretty basic by only coloring our stamped brush and stamped dirt pile. We already used grey ink to stamp the bucket and shovel and used red ink to stamp our greeting.

Tip: We love using a white gel pen to add highlights to our stamped images.

"Are we really going to highlight that pile of dirt? Yes, yes we are. Every little detail adds to the creation."

With some of our fine-point Artline markers, we are going to create some fine-line cracks and details in the dirt to create a more realistic excavation site. You don't need to draw these cracks in any particular pattern, this is where you can imagine what it would look like! There is no right or wrong in this step. Next, we recommend using the white gel pen again to add in additional cracked dirt highlights.

To assemble your card, use 3-D foam adhesive dots on the back of the light brown paper. Then layer and stick the light brown over the dark brown for added dimension.

Before you adhere your stamp images, loosely arrange them until you have decided on an arrangement. Then, using your glue runner, glue down your images and card greeting.

Now you're ready to create your Dino dig card for a party filled with excavation activities! Today, we practiced our blending, highlighting, and paper layering skills. These techniques can be duplicated in other card creations too!

Show us your version of this card, or share a new creation with us! Don't forget to follow our blog and socials. Tag us @RubberStamps_com and use #StampWithUS to enter our monthly giveaway! Winners receive a $25 credit to use at our shop!

• Stomping by to say...
• You're Ex-Roar-Dinary!
• I Dig You
• Have a Raor-ing Good Birthday!
• Dino-Mite!