Zoo-ology Inspiration

When I opened my Scotty craft team box this month I thought that it was really going to be a challenge for me to scrap with the earthy colours of the Bo Bunny ‘Zoology’ collection. This could not have been further from the truth. Once I got over the idea that I needed zoo photos to match the line I was away. These papers match beautifully with almost any outdoorsy theme and if the colours in your photos don’t work then convert them into sepia for perfect co-ordination.



For my first LO ‘Jungle Gym Fun’ I chose recent photos of my little son Benji at the local playground. I distressed and heavily inked the edges of all my papers and used the fabulous Scrapware chipboard circle border to ground all my elements. I made the title sign using the Scrapware chipboard artisan shape which I dry brushed with Tim Holtz ‘Old paper’ crackle paint. The prima branch, mesh and home-made hessian flowers completed the LO.

I converted the photo on my second LO ‘On the Road Again’ to sepia because the bike that Benji is riding was a hand-me-down from his sister and is hot pink! – one colour that really doesn’t look good with this paper line! Again I distressed and inked the papers and added a Scrapware fence which I painted with crackle paint and gently rubbed with metallic paste to highlight the crackles. I cut the flowers using the Tim Holtz ‘Tattered Florals’ die. I inked and curled the petals then highlighted them with metallic paste. I used Studio Calico wooden buttons for the flower centres, threaded with coarse string and again highlighted with metallic rub ons. Finally I added my title and journaling. I made the word ‘road’ in my title by adhering letter stickers to my page, rubbing over them with distress ink then gently peeling off the stickers. This is a good way to use up any letters that you no longer like the colour of but do like the font.

For my final LO I embraced the zoo theme of the papers and used photos that my son took earlier this year at Singapore zoo. I loved these photos of the elephant encounter so I printed out all four of them and incorporated them into a circular design. Again I added elements from my Scrapware chipboard stash (the fence, tree and lizard) painted with crackle paint. I added foliage using my Martha Stewart punch and couldn’t resist adding a little mesh again as it seems to go so well with the grungy look of this range. To complete the LO I made my own journaling tag from scraps of left over paper and co-ordinating stickers and assed my title.

I really love the finished look of these layouts and I will definitely be experimenting with these earthy colours again.