Noahs' Ark - CAS#150 and JAI#78

Hello!

Well, news since I last blogged: I received an Honorable Mention (Cream in Our Coffee) over at the Playdate Cafe Challenge for this card. I was so excited. The entries were all beautiful. It amazes me sometimes, the depth of the talent out there, and I'm so grateful for all that inspiration that comes with looking at other people's work in these challenges.

This week I got some new stamps. . . and you know what that means. . . I had to get working straight away to test them out!  Back in June I came across a Blog Hop for Jane's Doodles which demonstrated Noah's Ark and Garden Friends stamp sets. Of course, I at once fell in love with both sets, and after a month of thinking about it, I couldn't hold out any longer. I have a new baby nephew arriving in the next six weeks or so, so I want to get the card prepared. . .  I might have a few prototypes along the way, LOL!  One of the great things about Jane's Doodles (apart from the fabulous stamps) is that they ship from Australia, so postage for me is reasonable, yippee! Oh, and the order arrived within two working days, and I love great service.

Today's inspiration for colour came from Just Add Ink #78:

Today's layout inspiration came from Clean & Simple FTL#150:

Unusually for me, I added some extra colours in.  I had to.  My animals needed them. LOL.  But the basic colours used stuck to the formula.  Also unusually for me, I got a bit creative with the layout.  I think it is still recognisable as FTL#150, though, don't you?

Here is my card:

Lots of paper-piecing here. Looking at my cards, you'd think I like cutting out, but I don't really.  Sometimes though, it is needed.  This stamp works beautifully with colouring, but I don't have any colouring pens, so paper-piecing it was.  I did use a blender pen to colour my monkey's nose, LOL!

What I used: Not Quite Navy sentiment, waves, and circles in the water. Sahara Sand card base, elephant and monkey's patches. Chocolate Chip monkey, giraffe spots, and all of the outlines. Certainly Celery Ark.  (I also added Pale Plum hippo, Apricot giraffe and lion face, and Pumpkin lion mane, and the Bashful Blue background because I needed sea and sky).



I actually did another card before this one, outside of any challenges, but when it was finished, I decided that I'd used too strong a blue for the sea compared to the rest of the colours, so my sea stands out and the rest of the muted papers disappear, including my animals!  I'll show you anyway, because it is still cute, and I will probably use the layout again, just with different colours. I do love my elephant's ears and my spotty giraffe on this one.  Oh, and the bird fits on this layout, I had to cut him off for the other one.

So what do you think? Isn't this image just the cutest?

Oh, I forgot to mention, I have noticed my follower count rising again. You ladies make me feel wonderful, adding me to your blog list, I feel very honoured, thank-you!

Michelle

xxx