Sweet Pea Stamps Facebook Progressive Challenge ~ Zentangle Elephant

Hi there. With the 23rd of each month comes the beginning of the next Progressive Challenge on Sweet Pea Stamps Facebook group. This time it's Part 2 which means that all those who played along with Part 1 will also get to play along with this one. If you played, you received this  adorable Zentangle Elephant image by Courtney McAnsh. If you didn't play, you can still join in this time because the image is available at Sweet Pea Stamps. It's a treat to play with!

I coloured her with Prismacolor pencils using all of the bright colours I could grab. I fussy cut her and then matted her with black cardstock to help her stand out against a colourful busy background. Foam squares were added to her backside and she was set aside to await her new home.

The background began as a 6x8 sheet of mixed media paper which I sprayed with Starburst's Hag's Wart Orange, California Poppy Gold, and Hottie Patottie Hot Pink. I allowed the inks to dry and then strengthened the colours, this time adding drips and splats from the over-spray  Pattern was added over these layers with a TH circles stamp and Magenta Hue Archival ink. The black mat was cut to fit the background and then the background was cut into 4 sections and trimmed to allow some black to show through between them.

Black embossing paste was applied through TCW's Mini Punchinella stencil. A banner was added using black and white baker's twine and canvas pennants. Once it was adhered to the background< the sweet Elephant was placed so she was walking across the top of it. Because Ellie is so unusual and celebrates that, I decided that the message I wanted was Unique or You-nique. TH Ransom Alphaparts letters were adhered and dotted with a white paint pen. A black scalloped border was placed across the top of the three sections without the upper letters to help the word You stand out better.

A black doodled border and charcoal shading were added to the elements but there was something missing. I left it for a while and came back with fresh eyes. What was missing was a few pops of white. I added those with...are you ready for this?...the white paper dots in the bottom of my three hole punch. Seriously! I shaded them with charcoal and outlined them with black pen to finish off the page.

And that's how I chose to showcase this gorgeous image by Courtney McAnsh from Part 2 of the Sweet Pea Stamps FB Progressive challenge. I'm excited to see how you use it. To see how others on the DT responded to this challenge, pop over to the Sweet Pea Stamps FB group. Be sure to visit Sweet Pea Stamps store to check out the other amazing digi and rubber stamps there. It's a wonderful place for inspiration.

Life is good; so is art.
Bonnie