I’m not entirely sure lions like toasted marshmallows, however that’s one of the fun scenes included in the Zoo Crew 12” x 12” Designer Series Paper (DSP) pack. Like most of the individual animal images on the various sheets there’s only a little bit of colour, but for me that’s one of the big attractions. You see it means that I have the option to add more colour if I want. In fact it’s something I’ve done a few times using Stampin’ Blends and I simply love the final effect.

CAMPING AT THE ZOO

My inspiration for today’s card came from the Zoo Crew sheet that’s full of animals enjoying the great outdoors. As well as the lion, there’s a bird-watching skunk with binoculars, and a possum with a camera. There’s also a hiking pig with a backpack, and a groundhog chasing butterflies with a net. But it was the lion sitting at the campfire that reminded me of a sentiment in the He’s All That Stamp Set

I began my project by roughly cutting the lion scene from the sheet with Paper Snips. Then I die-cut the area I wanted from that piece using a square die from the Stylish Shapes Dies.

On the Zoo Crew DSP only the tree stump and fire are coloured, however I didn’t want a white lion. So I coloured his mane and tail end using a dark Crumb Cake Stampin’ Blends alcohol marker, while using the light Crumb Cake for the rest of his fur. It was a simple job with no blending involved but I loved the result!

Next from the He’s All That Stamp Set I found the “holy smokes you’re amazing” sentiment. Using Tuxedo Black ink I stamped it onto a scrap of Basic White Card. Then from the All That Dies I found the small oval which was designed to coordinate with this sentiment. Once I’d die cut the sentiment it was time to work on the rest of the card.

BASICS ARE BACK!

I began by using my Paper Trimmer to cut and score some Pebbled Path Card. Then I folded it along the scored line and sharpened the crease with a Bone Folder to create the card base.

Next I cut a 4-1/8″ x 5-3/8″ piece of Pebbled Path Card and placed it inside the crosshatch embossing folder from the Basics 3D Embossing Folders Pack. After embossing the card I accentuated the embossed surface with Pebbled Path ink using a Blending Brush. Then I mounted the completed layer onto the card front using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow).

Before adding my Zoo Crew and sentiment pieces to the card I decided to add some extra layers to ‘anchor’ them. So I cut a 1″ x 4-1/8″ piece of Pebbled Path Card. Then from the Fresh As a Daisy 12″ x 12″ DSP I cut a 3/4″ x 4-1/8″ strip of the Pebbled Path brushed pattern. Using liquid glue I fixed the DSP onto the card strip, before adding them to the card front 1″ from the bottom edge.

With that done I used Stampin’ Dimensionals to attach the lion scene and sentiment pieces to my card.

For my coordinating feature I went back to the Pebbled Path brushed paper and cut another 3/4″ strip but this time only 4″ long. After gluing the strip across the bottom of a 4″ x 5-1/4″ piece of Basic White Card I fixed the assembled layer inside the card base.

Finally I cut a 2-1/4″ x 6″ piece of the Pebbled Path design and glued that to the flap of a Basic White Medium Envelope. Then I trimmed off the excess paper with my Paper Snips, using the edge of the flap as a guide and just like that my project was complete.

I love how this card turned out and especially the way that the lion scene and sentiment stands out against the crosshatch textured background. What do you think?

PRODUCT LIST

ONLINE EXCLUSIVE – The Basics 3D Embossing Folders Pack is not in any Stampin’ Up! catalogue but is part of their new Online Exclusives range. As such they are only available while stocks last (although if popular, further supplies will be ordered). The pack contains three embossing folders; crosshatch (used today), then there’s spots, and florals. You can see these other two embossing folders in use in my earlier blog posts: Daffodil designs and Basic bubble texture.