International Art and Soul Challenge 29

The challenge for this fortnight it so use humour. I'm normally wary of using humour in cards as I'm very aware that one person's humour can be another's embarrassment, so this was a hard challenge for me. Then, as I sat in my usual chair, I saw this:

That little squirrel lives on the standard lamp in our living room. It was given to me by someone I'd worked with throughout the 17 years I was at the special school I left at the summer. And there's a story behind it.

About 15 or so years ago, I was walking to school. It was summer and I was wearing some open sandals and as I went down a footpath I used regularly, I spotted a squirrel further down. I expected it to climb up the fence and be gone into the nearest tree, but instead, this squirrel ran at me. I stopped dead, rather surprised and a little anxious. Fortunately, it got to within a foot of my poor, unprotected feet and decided to run away again. When I got to work, I told a couple of colleagues who both found the incident hilarious. And ever--after, the story of the squirrel and its 'nut-crunching teeth' became a bit of a standard. (I don't think it was my phrase, but it was attributed to me whenever the story was re-told.) Anyway, the woman who gave me the squirrel when I left has a birthday coming up, and I'd already bought a die set in her honour.

And this was the result. The background paper is from a set by Panda Bear that I got while I was on the Stitchy Bear design team. I've added a tree silhouette and the wording using Photoshop Elements. I think the die is from Tonic, and the set included a couple of branches and leaves which I've added, along with some extra leaves on their own. For the inside, I've used the same background, but expanded it to fit across the inside of the card.

And that's it! The humour is very specific to just a few people, but at least I know it was at my expense rather than someone eles's!