Well, the question is no longer "Is it going to snow?", now it's "How much?" My shoveling skills got some needed practice yesterday and my husband still spent 2 hours snowblowing everything I couldn't get. We did a crazy thing 3 years ago. We moved from our home of 27 years to a new place out in the country with twice as much yard to mow and 3-4 times as much driveway, deck, patio to shovel. People our age usually go to a condo but not us! While we love it out here, it is definitely more upkeep. All that makes for some fresh air, good exercise and a true appreciation for a warm and cozy house when we re done.
I recently shared that our family took a trip to Cincinnati to spend some time with our son-in-law as he is pursuing a Doctorate in Voice Performance. We were so thrilled to go to two performances of his and see him where he lives for a couple of years. It was fun to go to Ohio too! One of the attractions of Cincinnati is the Zoo and we had a lovely day there. It was too cold for many of the animals to actually be outside but we got to see many of them in their "indoor" quarters. A couple of my favorites were the elephants and giraffes. They are so graceful as they eat and move around.
All of that reminded me of a stamp set bundle in the Annual catalog featuring wild animals. I had done some cards before but decided to go back to this fun set and especially focus on the coordinating framelits. The first card is my favorite, probably because I just spent a little time watching some giraffes!
I tried to include many elements in this card just for fun! The background is embossed with our Petal folder as a perfect backdrop. I then used the giraffe patterned die for another background layer. I stamped my giraffes in Soft Suede and then grabbed three different green card stock colors for leaves. This card has a lot going on but by keeping the color scheme pretty simple, it isn't overwhelmed by the layers and details.
Kangaroos are pretty hard to be in the "adorable" category and using them for a baby card is perfect! I used my Stampin' Blends alcohol markers to color the mama and baby and then cut them out with the framelits. For layering, this time I used my Stitched Squares framelits. I have seen others make a frame with the squares and then interlock them for a cool effect. What a simple and fun was to add some interest! To get the frame, just lay two square framelits nesting together and run through the Big Shot. You'll not only get a small square from the center of the smaller one but have a nice frame as well. I used the small center square as a background for my sentiment - perfect!
For my final card, I wanted to use some of the Animal Expedition Designer Series Paper. This is a little harder to use as it has lots of animals that you just hate to cut up! Some of them even coordinate with the framelits. This is a simple card but still cute with a rhino and bird.
Most of us grab the puppy and kitten stamps when we want an animal theme but I would urge you to take another look at this Animal Outing bundle! These would be great for anyone but especially kid projects. It's featured on page 27 of the Annual catalog and you can also click on my supply list below to see more about it!
I thought you'd like to see some cards I made last summer... this was before I had the framelits as I had "won" the stamp set at OnStage in Las Vegas last April.
Stay warm and keep on Stampin'!
Sarah
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