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Friday 21 November 2014

On Safari

Hi there, and thanks for dropping by.  I have a couple of male birthdays this month and I used this NBUS Deep Red elephant stamp which I have been admiring and decided to take the plunge and buy recently.  It is beautifully detailed and ready cling mounted, and as the name implies is made from very deep red rubber.


I decided to give the elephant a scenic background so I did my usual trick of starting the thing off on the Gelli Plate by mapping out the colours roughly with ink straight from the pad i.e. blue sky - Adirondack Stonewashed and Shaded Lilac near the horizon and keeping the ink quite smooth, then for the ground random bits of Distress Inks in Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Bundled Sage, and at the bottom in the middle for the sort of track I laid just the Spiced Marmalade and some Adirondack Espresso, and rubbed it a little with my finger to spread it around.  I then spritzed with a little water and using a piece of white card pulled the print.  To finish the scene I used a paint brush and some more of the ink used like paint and made some long grass at the front and added more bits of ink where I thought it needed it.  I painted two trees in the distance and some hills on the horizon, and I also added a little darker colour to the sky using some well watered down Faded Jeans Distress Ink at the top.

When I had decided the scene was set I used a snippet of white card and stamped the elephant using Memento London Fog ink and then using my Spectrum Noir Pencils I added some grey in various shades and then some orangy brown because elephants like to coat themselves in a layer of mud to protect their skin.  Unfortunately it doesn't really show very well in the picture.  In this instance I think the elephant would have been better painted with the inks rather than the pencils but I don't have enough of the right colour inks to do it.  I then cut it out and attached it to the background and fixed a sentiment.

I do enjoy setting the scene and hopefully you think it works ok.

Thank you for stopping to take a look.

Pat  x

I am entering the following challenge:

Penny Black and More Challenge - Anything Goes.
Sweet Stampin' Challenge - Birthdays.
Addicted to Stamps and More - Make Your Mark. 
Allsorts Challenge Blog - No Design Papers Allowed.



19 comments:

Liz said...

Your background is just amazing! It's perfect for the lovely elephant. x

Jennifer Johnston said...

Love the scene you've created Pat, a lovely card.
Hugs Jennifer xx

Jean said...

Fabulous scene you have created for this splendid elephant Pat. great work.
Jean x

Bonnie said...

What a beautiful elephant and you have created the perfect scene for him!

Jacee said...

Lovely card Pat
hugs Jacee
Simply Paper Card Design

Peanut said...

WOW! The background is simply stunning, Pat. Love how you've worked the Gelli Plate. Gorgeous scene!
hugs, Asha

Darnell said...

This would look so awesome set to canvas, Pat! You have such natural artistic talent!! A great guy card! Hugs, Darnell

stressfreestamping said...

Wow, what a great background you have created! Just beautiful! Thanks for sharing with us at ATSM. :)

brenda said...

What a great card Pat, love the elephant and the background you created.

Thanks so much for sharing your lovely work with us at Allsorts challenge this week.

I have some candy here and you are very welcome to enter.

B x

brenda said...

I've a feeling I forgot to also thank you for joining in at Penny Black and More challenge.

B x

Julie B said...

What a fab background you have created for your elephant to stand in.
So pleased you joined us at ATSM this week. :)

Paper Creations by Shirley said...

Another Wow from me Pat, this is amazing. Beautiful artwork, it should be framed :) Have a wonderful week, Shirley xx ps.. thank you for all your kind comments, I appreciate it... xx

Neets B said...

Such a lovely scene and the hills in the distance really add some depth to it, loving he detailed stamp too. Thanks for linking up at ATSM this week, Anita x

MaryH said...

As soon as the picture scrolled on the monitor, I said "Gelli". It's GORGEOUS! Loved reading the how-to, and you've a dab hand as an artist. The additional details you added with the grasses, trees & mountains took this from just being very beautiful into a wonderful piece of art. I'm with Shirley, this needs framing! You're really doing some fabulous work with this gelli art. Do you submit at their blog????If not, definitely should. TFS & Big Hugs

maria's knutselplezier said...

Wow Pat I really love this elephant card!!! Great stamps you have used, very beautiful, with a lot of detail!! I love it!

Greetings
Maria

Debs said...

Fabulous card - your background is amazing!!
Thanks for playing along with us at Sweet Stampin' this week.
Good luck.
Debs xx

Linby said...

Your background is fantastic. I'm in the early stages of using a gelli plate, if I can get a result like this I would be very pleased.
Thanks so much for sharing with us at Penny Black & More this month.
Lynn x
DT

Sammy said...

How very lovely! Thank you for joining us at Sweet Stampin' this week to celebrate our 5th Birthday. Sammy-x

mixamatoasties said...

Fab background! Super scenic card.

Thanks for helping celebrate our birthday at Sweet Stampin'.

Susan