Wild About You...

Hello!

I'm up on the Hello Bluebird blog today and I've got a card to share using the new Jungle King stamp set that just hit the store last week. This 4x8 set has everything you need to create fun safari scenes featuring five of the cutest lions along with Acacia trees and other builder elements that transport your cards to the African savanna.

My vision for this card was to have a cute lion couple peeking through the tall grass with a dramatic sunset sky glowing behind them. I started at the bottom of the card front, stamping with Memento Rich Cocoa ink and masking the grass on either side, leaving the center open. Because I wanted both a male and female lion and the five lions in the set are all male, I had to get creative with my stamping. My solution was to use a baby wipe and remove the ink from the mane on the resting lion before stamping it on the paper. Sure, this left some small breaks in the line work but I knew once I colored everything, no one would notice the blank spots on my new lioness. Once I had everything stamped and masked off, including the entire bottom half of the card, I used the Copic airbrush system to create the smooth gradient of color in the sunset sky. With the airbrushing complete I could finally remove all of the masks and start coloring by hand. Knowing that the light from the setting sun would create a stark contrast in the background, I had a great time turning the trees into dark silhouettes that really pop against that sky. I also kept the greens of the grass land dark and desaturated as well because the underlying grey tones hint at all the shadows found during that time of day. I chose not to be too heavy handed with the shading on my lion couple because I wanted them to stand out from the scene as the real stars of the show. After I was finished coloring I used the second largest die in the Nesting Deckle A2 die set to cut out the scene and then adhered it to the card base. The 'wild about you' sentiment that is included in the Jungle King set was added on a thin strip of card stock and popped up using foam adhesive. Finally I combined the small word bubble from the Word Bubbles die set with the small heart die from the Balloon Buddies companion die set for a sweet finishing touch that tied back to both the sentiment and scene quite nicely. :)

Toodles!

Supply list:
cardstock- Simon Says Stamp and Copic X-Press It
stamps- Hello Bluebird (Jungle King)
ink- Memento rich cocoa and Catherine Pooler icing on the cake
Hello Bluebird Nesting Deckle A2 dies
Hello Bluebird Word Bubble dies
Hello Bluebird Balloon Buddies companion dies
Sharpie extra fine white pen
Copic markers:
sky- Y02, Y17, YR09, R29, RV25, BV08, B06, B28
horizon line trees- B06, BG93, G24, G94, G99, BG96, BV29
trees- BG96, BG99, 100
lions- E30, E31, E33, E35, Y32, E57, E59, E43, E49, R30, R32
rock- N3, N5, W4, W6
grassland- G24, G94, G99, YG99
grass- YG25, YG95, YG97