With all the focus on retiring lists and new catalogues it’s been ages since I’ve joined a design challenge. I like challenges as they often make me think outside the box or encourage me to try new things. This morning I noticed the Just Us Girls Challenge #639. It’s word week, and the word was “mammals”. That gave me just the excuse I needed to pull out the Elephant Parade Stamp Set and start colouring. But as I looked for an interesting background, things became a great deal more colourful.

ONE CUTE ELEPHANT

You all know I love the cute elephants in the Elephant Parade Stamp Set, so I didn’t really need a reason to pick this one up again. Except I was aware that there was still one of the three elephant images I hadn’t yet used. I’ll be honest and say that the looking back pose didn’t excite me and seemed a bit negative, until today.

I began by using Tuxedo Black ink to stamp the elephant onto some Thick Very Vanilla Card. Then I quickly coloured him in using light and dark Gray Granite Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers. Cutting him out was a cinch using the coordinating die from the Elephant Dies set and my Mini Cut & Emboss Machine. Then I set him aside while I thought about the rest of the card.

Going back to the stamp set I decided to use the “I’ll never forget your kindness” sentiment. This was the one that seemed to work best with this elephant. So with Tuxedo Black ink I stamped it onto a narrow strip of Thick Very Vanilla Card.

Now I needed a background, and at first I thought I’d just keep everything very plain and simple. Next I considered creating more of a scene, but that would take time. Finally I went looking for some Designer Series Paper (DSP) and what I found really surprised me.

Landscapes are definitely not what comes to mind when I think of the Hues of Happiness DSP. It’s pretty much all brightly coloured flowers. So why I even thought to look there I will never know, but boy am I glad I did. As I was looking at the rainbow coloured stripes on one sheet a landscape appeared! I saw a twilight sky just changing from blue to purple with a line of green vegetation standing out against the sandy ground. Only the red hues seemed out of place. Well that was all the inspiration I needed.

RAINBOW LANDSCAPE

I cut a 3″ strip of the DSP and trimmed 1/4″ off the purple end. Then I measured 8″ from the purple end and cut. This removed the red part but still left plenty of sandy ground. Next, for added interest, I took the two small grassy images from the Oceanfront Stamp Set. Then using Tuxedo Black ink I stamped these onto the DSP. From there the project came together really quickly.

For my slimline card base I cut a 7″ x 8-1/2″ piece of Mango Melody Card and with the short side at the top I scored it at 3-1/2″. Then I folded along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder.

Next I cut a 3-1/4″ x 8-1/4″ piece of Very Vanilla Card and decorated the bottom edge with a couple of the grassy images. With that done I used Multipurpose Liquid Glue to fix the layer inside the card base.

Now I needed an envelope and I chose a Smoky Slate one from the Slimline Envelopes pack. Then I decorated the bottom edge with some grassy stamping to coordinate with the rest of the project.

I was almost done but I wanted to contrast the DSP. So I cut some Basic Black Card at 3-1/8″ x 8-1/8″ and glued the DSP on top. Then with more liquid glue I fixed the layers to the card front.

At last I was ready for the elephant and I attached him using pieces of Foam Adhesive Strip, which just left the sentiment…

As I considered where to put it I realised I didn’t like the sentiment in a long straight line. So using my Paper Snips I cut it up into five separate words. From there I put Foam Adhesive Strip on the back and spread them out across the darkening sky of my scene. Job done.

This really wasn’t what I thought I was going to make today, however I absolutely love it! But do you see a landscape or a rainbow? Please leave a comment below and let me know if it’s just me…

MAMMAL CHALLENGE

As I mentioned I was prompted to make my elephant kindness card by this week’s Just Us Girls Challenge #639 – Mammals.

Now I just have to upload my card to their website and then I’ll take a look at the other inspiring projects.

Meanwhile for more Elephant Parade fun from me see these earlier blog posts:

• Elephant Parade happy day
• Elephant fever
• Celebrate later
• Take one elephant

PRODUCT LIST

BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Elephant Parade Stamp Set in a bundle with the coordinating Elephant Dies (I’ll always dislike like that name!). By placing my order using the single “bundle” item number I saved 10% off the cost of buying the two products separately. I’ve included links for both options below in case you want to compare them.