Majestic mosaic

Years ago I bought a pack of pre-cut oval and rectangle frames from Stampin' Up!^®, and I don't think I ever used them. I actually forgot I even had them until I found them in my stamping supplies last week. So today I used one of them to make a card.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Zoo Review
Ink: Basic Brown
Card stock: Naturals Ivory, Chocolate Chip. Close to Cocoa, Cajun Craze, More Mustard
Accessories: Watercolor pencils, blender pen, hemp twine, pre-cut frame, Multipurpose Liquid Glue, Dimensionals

I love this majestic lion -- and all the images in the Zoo Review set. (I was excited to discover that almost all the images in the set will work in these frames. The giraffe is just a tad too tall, but if I trim the bottom of the image a bit, then that one will work in the frames, too.) I used watercolor pencils to color the lion: a mustardy color for his body and two shades of brown for his mane. Then I used a blender pen to soften the pencil lines and blend the colors. I also tried coloring the lion with markers and ink/blender pen, but this was by far my favorite. It's nothing fancy (I'm definitely no coloring expert), but I really like it.

The frame, which was a neutral color similar to Naturals Ivory or Confetti Cream, needed some embellishment, and I considered several different ideas: sponging/spritzing on color, covering it with patterned paper, stamping on it. I'm not exactly sure how I came up with the idea to create a mosaic, but that's what I went with. When I started cutting and gluing, I thought it would take forever to finish (and I briefly considered quitting), but once I got into a rhythm, it actually came together fairly quickly.

I wanted to add a little something to the mosaic frame, and since the card has a masculine feel, I didn't want to go over the top. So I wrapped some hemp twine around the left side of the frame in a criss-cross pattern and tied it off at the top. I think it adds just the right detail.

All in all I'm really pleased with how this card turned out, especially since I often have a harder time with masculine cards. Now I need to get busy using the rest of those frames!