Paper Goods Showcase | Pop Art Unicorns Card Fronts with Stephanie

It can be freeing to start a card with artwork that’s already doing most of the work for you. Today, STAMPgirl Stephanie L. shows two very different ways to use our Pop Art Unicorns Card Fronts -- one as a layered background and the other as the star of a clean, simple design.

The bold colors, expressive unicorn artwork, and collage-style details give these card fronts plenty of personality right out of the pack. Stephanie's projects show that you can either build on that artwork with additional layers or simply add a sentiment and let the Card Front shine.

Add Layers for More Dimension

For her first card, Stephanie adhered a card front directly to the card base before adding a slightly smaller piece of vellum over the artwork. She fussy cut the unicorn and flowers from the card front and layered them back over the vellum, creating a dimensional effect while allowing the artwork underneath to remain visible. She finished the card with a sentiment from the Bloomdala Bliss stamp set.

I love how this approach turns a ready-made card front into something that feels much more involved. The vellum creates a subtle separation between the background and the fussy-cut elements, while the repeated artwork gives the card extra depth.

Creative lesson: Don't think of a card front as something you have to use only once or in one piece. Try fussy cutting elements from it, layering them over vellum or another surface, and creating dimension with artwork that's already beautifully coordinated.

Keep It Simple and Let the Artwork Shine

For her second card, Stephanie took the opposite approach and let the card front do almost all the work. She simply mounted the card front onto a bright pink card base and added the Simple Expressions: LEAP sentiment. She stamped the sentiment in VersaFine Onyx Black ink, heat embossed it with clear embossing powder, and then colored the letters with a Copic marker. The result is bold, colorful, and wonderfully graphic without needing much else.

Sometimes a beautiful card front really doesn't need much embellishment. A strong sentiment and a little color coordination can be all it takes to turn it into a finished card.

Creative lesson: When your card front already has a strong focal point, resist the urge to add more. Choose a sentiment that complements the artwork, pull a color from the design, and let the paper goods do the heavy lifting.

Discover What's Possible

These two cards show just how flexible card fronts can be. Use one as a ready-made background for a quick card, or look more closely at the artwork and start cutting, layering, and rearranging the elements to create something completely your own.

That's one of the things I love about our paper goods: they give you a beautiful starting point without dictating where you have to take the design. Use the whole piece, cut it apart, layer it, or simply add a sentiment and call it done.

The Pop Art Unicorns Card Fronts are available in the STAMPlorations store, along with a growing collection of card fronts and other paper goods designed to make creating easier and more fun.

You can also choose your favorite paper goods through our Paper Goods VIP Subscription, so you get fresh designs to create with without receiving a mystery assortment.

Until next time, keep creating and discovering what's possible with STAMPlorations paper goods.