So I'm pleased to introduce Gastón Gator to you. He first appeared when I was making a Louisiana centric Christmas card. I didn't have a name for him yet as I wasn't sure how much I would use him but I decided with my most recent birthday card request I would use him AND that he needed a name. I consulted a friend of mine who is good at naming things. She helped with the naming of my ficus, Ferdinand. As soon as she came back with Gaston Gator, I immediately said, "Gastón!!! How do you spell that hearty French laugh?" I think we both can agree that it is "Hauhh, Hauhh, Hauhh". Besides being a great name for a gator, I thought this was perfect considering I'm located in the heart of Cajun French country.
Stamp Sets - Gastón Gator's Birthday Card
For this birthday card I used three different stamp sets - one retired and the other two current. The retired stamp set 'Rooted In Nature' has a great tree stamp that can be used as a Cypress tree. The current sets I used, 'Next Destination' and 'Zany Zoo' brought my idea together.
Papers & Inks - Gastón Gator's Birthday Card
In the previous card that I used Gastón, he rode a red bike. He decided to ride his blue bike today so I used a returning color cardstock, 'Blueberry Bushel'. The background papers I used are retired but you could make something similar by just coloring small dots onto white paper and coloring a brown paper to look like wood or dirt. For the exterior sentiment I used the VersaMark ink pad and white embossing powder. Night of Navy ink was used for the tree and everything else was the black Memento colored in with the dark and light Granny Green Apple Stampin' Blends and the following Stampin' Write markers -- Pacific Point, Costal Cabana, Daffodil Delight, Bermuda Bay, Granny Apple Green, Smoky Slate, Basic Black, and Soft Suede. I forgot that I had a Mossy Meadow marker and instead used the thin brush Water Painter on the regular stamp pad to color in Toussaint (another French name) Turtle.
Embellishments & Texture - Gastón Gator's Birthday Card
I really like having texture and raised surfaces incorporated in my cards. I wanted the surface that Gastón was riding on to look like a dirt road with rocks. So I used the last bit of my Black Rifle Coffee grounds (my next shipment will be coming soon..but not soon enough. Lol!) to make the dirt and the metallic embellishments that look like stones to give him a little more adventure on his bike ride.
Gaston's Birthday Card Adventure Story
It was Ricky Raccoon's birthday and Gastón Gator took his blue bike to deliver his gift and balloons to Ricky. The gravel bayou road was very bumpy. The mayor of his town hasn't been able to secure funds to fix the roads since the last hurricane three years ago. But Gastón Gator is a resilient gator and made sure to have the best mountain bike tires his gator pay could afford.
Gastón pedaled on his bike with the package in his basket and the balloons gripped in his dark green gator grasp. "Whoops it's bumpy!" said Gastón when he hit one of the many bumps in the road. Louisiana is not known for having the best roads and with the last pothole, Gastón lost his grip on the balloons and they flew up in the air.
"Come back here, balloons!" cried Gastón pedaling faster. By some luck, he had the gift secure in his basket so he didn't lose it too. Gastón caught up with the balloons and was able to catch them in the knick of time. He said, "Hauhh, Hauhh, Hauhh....you thought you could get away." as he tied the balloons to the basket. When he arrived at the party, Toussaint the Turtle was happily singing Happy Birthday karaoke to Ricky. Gastón joined in, glad to have made it to the party despite the rocky Louisiana infrastructure.