OK I admit it, I definitely have elephant fever. Although who can blame me when the Elephant Parade Stamp Set is so cute? There are three different elephant images in the set and today I’m using the sitting elephant once again. There’s something really appealing about this little guy, but I promise to get the last one inky very soon. This project was actually another one of my ‘experiments’. It wasn’t quite what I wanted for the card I was working on, however it was simply too good to throw away.

ELEPHANT FIRST (OOPS!)

I began my project with a 2″ x 5-1/2″ strip of Thick Very Vanilla Card. It’s a size I often use to test my ideas as the finished piece can be used on a card, or for a tag or bookmark.

Using Tuxedo Black ink I first stamped the little elephant near the bottom of the strip, and also onto a Full-Adhesive Post-It® Note. Then using Paper Snips I cut out the elephant from from the Post-It Note and placed the mask over the elephant on the card.

With the image protected I then pulled out my Blending Brushes so I could colour the background. First I added a light layer of Balmy Blue ink over almost all the strip. Then I added a little Shaded Spruce ink over the bottom inch or so.

It was only at this point that I realised that the piece was going to look rather empty. So going back to the Elephant Parade Stamp Set I pulled out the triple leaf image. Next, with the mask still in place, I used Tuxedo Black ink to stamp one set of leaves close to his head. Then I stamped part of the leaves a little higher up on the left side. Finally, I removed the mask to reveal the image stamped beneath.

QUICK COLOURING

Colouring the elephant was quick and easy, if a little unusual. First I coloured the whole image (except the eyes) using an Ivory Stampin’ Blends alcohol marker. Then I went over that with a light Smoky Slate Stampin’ Blends marker, leaving just the ivory in the inside of his ears showing.

Obviously as I’d stamped the leaves after having created the sky they had a bit of a blue tinge. However I was certain I could fix that. So I started by drawing over the leaf veins using the dark Shaded Spruce Stampin’ Blends marker. Then I coloured over both sets of leaves using a light Shaded Spruce Stampin’ Blends marker. Problem solved.

While I really liked the colouring and basic layout, I’d ended up with the leaves behind the elephant. So I decided I would abandon my plan for a card and try it again later. But before that I would turn this piece into a bookmark.

To do this I punched a small hole at the top of the strip using the Label Me Fancy Punch. I’ve been using this punch quite a lot to add holes in my gift tags and bookmarks, however this punch actually cuts three separate shapes which some people have found challenging. So I thought you might find it useful to see how I avoid going too far and catching the top of the card with other parts of the punch.

Now the hole was done I cut two 6″ pieces of Very Vanilla twine from the Bakers’ Twine Essentials Pack. After folding the twine in half I poked the loops through the punched hole. Then I passed the cut ends through the loops and pulled gently to secure the twine in place. With that my bonus project was complete.

Even though this isn’t exactly what I intended to make, I simply have to smile. I mean, look at the expression on his face! And with the experience gained from the test piece I now have a better idea what to do on the card I was originally planning. Watch this space…

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Elephant Parade Stamp Set in a bundle with the coordinating (but not used today) Elephant Dies (what an unfortunate name!). Buying them using the single “bundle” item number saved me 10% off the cost of buying the two products separately. I’ve included a link to the bundle in case you want to explore that option.