Fun with Puns: Creating a Custom Sentiment

Happy Tuesday, all!  Thank you for joining me on this scorching summer evening.  I have to admit, I am an Oregon girl all the way and this 90+ degree hot streak we have going on is really cramping my style!  The sunshine is gorgeous and the flowers are so happy but I'm melting!  On the plus side, my A/C is working like a champ so that means I can just hunker down in my nice, cool craft room and wait it out until the fall!

For today's card I am entering it in both the current Lawnscaping Challenge: Calling All Critters and the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Make It Masculine .  I wanted to make something fun for my dad for Father's Day.  Now, my dad is a real punny guy.  He enjoys doing things like biting into a cherry and then commenting "Well that's the pits!".  He's a jokester and I thought he'd enjoy something custom made just for him.  I dug out my Lawn Fawn stamps and found several critters from several different sets (all supplies are listed below). 

 

 Then I put on my Dr. Suess hat and started composing a punny poem to accompany the images.  I used two different alphabet sets by Lawn Fawn, Jessie's ABCs and Milo's ABCs to spell out my custom sentiment.  This was something I'd never done before, especially such a long sentiment, and while it did take a little bit of time I am really happy with the results!  The Lawn Fawn alphabet sets are fabulous for a lot of reasons but my favorite is that they are cut in rectangles so you can line up the letters exactly even and all of the spacing is correct.  I would never have the patience without this wonderful feature. 

The critters are colored with Copic and I really had to stretch my colors to make them all look different.  It was very tempting just to use the same brown markers on the moose, the lion, and the bear (oh my!).  But I resisted the urge and attempted a black bear and combined orange and brown for the lion's mane.  I also used some great blue and gray colors to get some neat effects on the dolphin.  When I was done coloring I busted out my handy Signo Uniball White gel pen to color over any outside-of-the-lines oopsies that may have happened.  This trick makes me look like a pro every time!

The card base is 4.25"x8.5" and I trimmed the front panel to 4"x8.25" and then used five shades of Distress Ink (including the new Twisted Citron and Mermaid Lagoon - LOVE!) over a stencil by Teresa Collins to create the background. I used a piece of craft foam to pop the panel up off of the card base and provide support for the large area. And of course, I couldn't resist the little gnomey on the inside! 

I hope you enjoyed this custom sentiment card!  I can't wait for my dad to see it!  Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the sunshine (or the A/C, whichever you prefer!). 

SUPPLIES:

• Lawn Fawn Critters on the Savannah
• Lawn Fawn Critters in the Arctic 
• Lawn Fawn Critters in the Snow
• Lawn Fawn Critters in the Sea
• Lawn Fawn Jessie's ABCs
• Lawn Fawn Milo's ABCs
• Lawn Fawn Gnome Sweet Gnome
• Copic Markers C1, C3, C7, E33, E53, E57, E59, YR18, B21, B24, B28, E00, E02, E11
• Teresa Collins 8"x10" Stencil Set - Remember
• Lawn Fawn Black Licorice Ink
• Memento Tuxedo Black Ink
• Neena Solar White 110 lb cardstock
• Craft Foam
• Tombow Adhesive
• Scotch Foam Tape
• Mermaid Lagoon Distress Ink
• Tumbled Glass Distress Ink
• Crushed Olive Distress Ink
• Twisted Citron Distress Ink
• Evergreen Bough Distress Ink
• Mini Distress Ink pads and applicator
• Signo Uniball White Gel Pen