When I Grow Up - Astronaut

Hannah Rubenstahl, the crafter at www.FancifulSpaces.com, is a mother to a lovely 5-year-old girl and wife to an amazingly supportive husband. She is a life-long crafter who has recently begun to focus on and hone her talents in the world of card crafting. Using the skills she learned as a scenic artist and in her formal education in technical theater, she comes to the world of paper crafting with unique experience and perspective. When not crafting or playing Paw Patrol with her daughter, she can frequently be found playing board games and watching Star Trek.  

When I Grow Up- Astronaut

I have had this card idea in mind for ages, ever since the first stamps came out in Brutus Monroe‘s When I Grow Up series. The first two sets were a physics girl and an astronaut, having always wanted to be an astronaut (and thinking all things space-related are AWESOME) I bought her the second I could!

I also already had the Lucky Star set by Brutus Monroe. It is funny how stamp companies tend to come out with similar sets at the same time. When Lucky Star came out at least 3 other companies released space themed sets. It can be SO hard to choose which set you’ll pick when money is a factor in your purchasing decisions, (why doesn’t money grow on trees?) however I picked the Brutus Monroe set because of the realistic nature of the astronaut and the space station. I also love the shading in this set. I just KNEW that I needed to combine these two sets!

I started by stamping the astronaut from the When I Grow Up series and the images from the Lucky Star set using Raven Ink by Brutus Monroe. I do get some smearing with this ink when I color with Copic Markers, so I heat set it, but it is by far my favorite black ink for stamping!

Once my images were stamped and colored I fussy cut them out and ran a Copic Multiliner along the edges. This gives the cut pieces a more finished look, I find the white edges to be a large distraction especially on darker backgrounds.

Using some Arches Cold Pressed Watercolor Paper I created a “Galaxy” background using Distress Oxides and working in layers.

There was a purple layer between these two layers which I forgot to photograph.

This was sprayed with some shimmery Tattered Angels spray and then using Brutus Monroe Sterling Embossing Powder and Embossing Ink I heat embossed stars from the Astronaut set.

Next, I found a tutorial for the shape of the card I was looking for on Splitcoast Stampers. To start I cut two card panels down to an A2 size and I scored each of the short edges at 1/2″ and 1″ on both panels and sides.

For one panel I ran Scor-Tape along the inside of the middle, this is where the galaxy background was going to be attached. The other panel had an opening die cut out of the front, stars and sentiment embossed along the front side, and the astronaut attached.

Because most of my astronaut was hanging out in open space without anything to add stability, I added these two strips out of scratch paper and glued them onto her, hoping that it will give her the support she needs.

Then I started layering in my colored space items, some on the background, specifically planets that might be farther away from earth. In the middle, along the top and the bottom edge of my card are two strips of acetate which I adhered more space items that might be closer to earth. Along the front, I stuck on the UFO because I thought it matched the space alien in the astronaut’s hand and the sentiment.

I LOVE this project! It is SO much fun to work on something that you’ve had in mind forever, it is even better when it comes out pretty much exactly how you planned it! Kudos to Brutus Monroe for having such amazing stamps and making these amazing products! I LOVE their ink and their stamps so much!