Thinking “Outside the Stamp” To Make Mini Cards

Most of the time when I use a stamp set, I use it as it is originally intended – a flower stamp to make a flower, a balloon as a balloon, or a snowflake to make a winter scene. But, sometimes when I see a stamp or a punch, my brain sees something different.

For example, when I saw this little vase from the Varied Vases stamp set from Stampin’ Up! sitting on my desk, I saw a fish bowl.

I finished off the fishbowl idea by using the leaf stamps to create the little goldfish. The fishbowl ended up being less than an inch big, so I put it on a cute, mini card measuring 1.5″ x 2″.

This got me thinking… what else can I use these stamps and punches for other than making vases of flowers?

My kids love tiny things and they loved the little goldfish card!! So… trying to think “outside the stamp”, I came up with another tiny card.

This one used half of a vase to make a flower pot.

The kids wanted me to make more so I asked them to look at the stamp set and see what other things I could make. Well, they did not disappoint… the first thing they did was turn the set upside down!!

Can you see some other ways to use these stamps?

Casey saw a coffin…

Don’t you love the tiny tulip shaped ghosts?! And the spiders from last years Halloween Paper Pumpkin kit work perfectly for this spooky mini card!

When turning the set upside down, Robyn saw a champagne glass… or beer or wine!

(Hint: Dip the end of a dry embossing tool in the shimmer paint to make little, bubbly shimmer dots.)

I used this mini card as a gift tag for a friend’s birthday present and paired it with a matching standard size card. (The tiny gift bag is from this month’s Paper Pumpkin Kit – it was the perfect size for this mini card/tag.)

Aren’t these mini cards the cutest?!!

Since these cards are a custom size, I had to make custom envelopes for them. Using the dimensions below you can make your own mini envelope from a 3 5/8″ x 2 3/4″ piece of paper or cardstock.