I love this hippo from Essentials by Ellen. The sentiment in the set is “hippo birdie to you”, as there is a bird in the stamp set. I was using the hippo alone, so I built my sentiment using my JustRite Times New Roman alphabet. The sentiment was cut twice with a stitched rectangle die to make the exact size rectangle I needed.

Supplies: Stamps – Essentials by Ellen, JustRite, paper – Neenah Classic Crest Solar White, Stampin’ Up! Real Red, Tempting Turquoise, inks – Copic T1, T3, Tim Holtz/Ranger Distress Inks Tumbled Glass, Twisted Citron, VersaFine Onyx Black, Smokey Gray, VersaMark, dies – Essentials by Ellen (hippo, hat), Lawn Fawn (stitched rectangle), Taylored Expressions (balloon), stencil – Inky Antics, embossing powders – Filigree Fine Art Powder clear, Stampin’ Up! Iridescent Ice, floss – DMC.