On Safari

I left my Stampin’ Up! business to run itself for a few weeks recently to go on safari in India.

My husband, John,  and I spent time in Central and North Eastern India. We did some amazing train journeys into the foothills of the Himalayas. We stayed on a tea plantation, ate food at the Golden Temple, visited close to the Nepalese border and travelled along the mighty Ganges before finishing the holiday on safari at the Jim Corbett National Park. What a time we had. Here’s a little glimpse of it.

 

  

   

 

 

We had a super little pocket telephoto camera and have many lovely photos of the holiday. So when it came to safari we had the  camera at the ready chasing a glimpse of an elusive wild tiger.  Lucky us, our guide managed to track one, lying in the grass beside a water hole was a handsome 2 year old male tiger. We sat watching it snoozing in the grass, washing it’s ears, brushing away flies and dipping it’s paws in the water to cool down.

But…….  Ahhhhh!!  Camera has frozen.

Sadly due to dust getting into the mechanism the camera chose this vital moment to give up and jam.  I have no photos of the tiger to show you, I’m sorry to say.  We are so lucky to have wonderful memories which we will never forget. Maybe it was for the best  as such special  memories can’t really be brought to life by a camera. How prevelidged we are to have shared this time. Just the 4 of us John, myself the driver and guide alone with this wonderfulul giant cat who allowed us an hour of his time before slinking off into the grassland to hunt. Such a moving and amazing experience to see this mighty beast in it’s natural environment and to learn about it from a knowledgeable naturalist.

 

What a fab time we had

I will share just a few photos of the area as I have no tiger photos.

 

 

 

 

 

We stayed in a wonderful small hotel right on the very edge of the protected safari area.  One of only a very few privileged guests staying here it was so quiet and peaceful.  We had our own lovely eco bungalow with outdoor verandah hidden away in the landscape.  There was a beautiful swimming pool, several beautiful shared areas including a naturalists library and a covered shady outdoor dining room.  My favourite pre-breakfast spot was the observation tower I loved sneak out of bed leaving John to sleep and go look out into the deep jungle and watch the sunrise. Just me with a hot cuppa and the animals and birds of the forest, watching the night creatures returning home and the day creature beginning to stir. Superb!

 

 

It was amazing and a very special end to our holiday. Not only did we safari in jeeps but we went out every day tracking with a local naturalist just John and myself. Such an amazing guy we saw jackal, hornbills, sea eagles, deer, sambok, mongoose, a hundred totally amazing coloured birds and much more. We tracked honey bears, snakes, elephant and even walked in the tracks of a tiger who we had heard roaring the night before. Each paw mark was bigger than John’s hand. The guide did assure us he would be sleeping as the roars from the night before meant he had enjoyed a dinner but we did keep a good eye open over our shoulders!

 

Back to the plot

So why am I telling you all this? What has it got to do with crafting? Well……

….. Team Gilly and I all attended a fabulous Pinkies Team crafting weekend in Birmingham recently just a week or two after my return.  I was asked to create a game or something to entertain the group for one of the sessions.  A little something fun a bit of team bonding between our crafting sessions. What to choose?  Inspired by my experience in India  I came up with the idea of taking everyone on safari through the new catalogue.

Following my trip I had learned from our tracker to see things differently, to look for clues and to spot tiny details. So I thought it would be good to try and get everyone seeing the catalogue in a different way too. It turned out to be a great way to get everyone seeing new and different things in the various stamp sets. I had a fun time myself seeing the many animals, birds, fish, insects and creatures packed into the catalogue. What a revelation.

I promised to share this safari with you, so here goes. I am very happy for you to share this with others but please be polite enough to credit me and note www.gillyhunt.com somewhere next to it –  be it on a paper copy you print out or on social media etc. Of course to save you copying you could always link to my blog. Thanks x

 

 

On Safari through the 2018-2019 Annual Catalogue.

I will leave all the answers till the very end so if you want to do this yourself I suggest scrolling down slowly to avoid seeing the answers.

Please note I am only human and may have miscounted or made mistakes. I’m sorry if I have and if you would be kind enough to let me know if you spot any errors  I can change it ready for others to view.

 

All the questions relate to Stamp Sets only not to dies or papers etc… just stamp sets. If you play this with others all contestants need access to paper copies of the catalogue or to use iPhones etc so they can look up the answers. The idea is it’s a search so you don’t need to know the answers. Just like on safari your looking for the clue not knowing what’s there.

Need a catalogue so you can join the fun then email me hi@gillyhunt.com and let me have your address and I’ll post one out.(sorry not available to fellow demos as you get your own sent direct anyway). 

Jump in the jeep. Put on your suncream and protective hats. We’re off.

 

 

We start with an animal count

To be done during the Quiz and given in at the end. All good naturalists keep tabs and count of the animals in their area so for a bonus 5 points I want to know How many stamp sets contain (we’re counting sets not numbers of creatures for this):

Butterflies _______________  Mice _______________  Dragon Flies _______________   Squirrels _______________  Rabbits ____________

 

Round 1  Your Fully Guided Experience

This is a quickie round I will give you the name of the set just write the answer.

1. Hartlands – What animal sits in front of the tractor? _________________
2. Bella and Friends – Bella is friends with a cheeky parrot and what other creature?_________________
3. Mediterranean Moments- What animal is sitting on the chair ?_________________
4. High Tide- How many birds?_________________
5. Country Road- What animal tops the weather vane?_________________

 

Round 2 Big Games Round – We’re off in search of the big guys in the catalogue.

1. In this set the giraffe is legless, there is something odd in the kangaroos pouch and almost everyone is asleep!

Which 2 creatures are awake ?  __________________________  and _____________________________

 

2. Hiding amongst 53 tiny items including a shopping trolley and a crown are two of the biggest beasts although they do seem very tiny here.

What type of animals are they both _________________________

 

3. This is the first set I featured in my blog and I’m really wild about it. You need to search forward and backwards for these 3 big game chaps.

But I’m interested in the tiny bees. How many bees in this set ?  ___________________.

 

4. It’s far too hot in India for these 3 furry magnificent creatures who star in this set. I’d love to see them in the snow although rumour has it they fly too. I might even sing about it.

How many fir cones in this set _____________

 

5. Pull on your walking boots, grab your backpack and grab a stick. Go watch these prey animals at the watering hole. Seize the day we are told, I hope this isn’t because they are about to become a larger beasts lunch.

How many animals by the waters edge ______________

 

Round 3 – Creatures from the Blue Lagoon and other watery places.

1. This set says to “pamper yourself” , ” you deserve it ” and features champagne, candles and music.

What’s sitting on the mat ? _____________________

 

2. I love this set which features a stylish fish with a flowing tail and an stunning little firefly.

What main feature of this set could you put these lovely creatures in ?  _________________

 

3. This fabulous bird loves standing around in the water often on one leg. What colour is missing from the phrase below?

Tickled ____________ for you !

 

4. This set has 2 large elegant fish , 4 text messages , a small flower and a bonsai tree. I’m hoping you find this set and the answer but what is the set hoping you find ? _________________

 

5. This very, very, very, very, very, very, very, very handy creature tells us to have a wonderful adventure. What does the creature thank us for ? _________________________

 

Round 4 – Deep Camouflage ( you may need binoculars for this round )

Just find these creatures and tell me the page number

1. An animal hugging a snowman ?  page _______
2. A stamp set containing a crab ? page _______
3. A little bird wearing wellies ? page _______
4. A set which includes a sheep ? page _______
5. A set featuring a paw mark ? page _______

scroll

down

for

the

answers

here

 

Just some extra info for you before the answers .

Did you know that there are 56 different stamp sets in the annual 2018-2019 Stampin’ Up! catalogue which feature creatures.

Within those 56 are 36 different types of creature .

28 sets feature at least one bird.

*****

ANSWERS

BONUS POINTS for    —     Butterflies. 7.   Mice 1.    Dragon Flies 2.   Squirrels 3   Rabbits. 4. If you counted way more than me read the question again I asked how many sets not how many actual animals.

 

Round 1

1. a dog  (Heartlands page 58)
2. a tortoise (Bella and friends page 30)
3. a cat  (Medditerranean Moments Page 147)
4. 9  (High Tide page 145)
5. a horse (Country Road page 163)

Round 2

1. frog and  Koala. (Animal Outing page 27)
2. elephants Tabs for everything page 49)
3. 4.  (A Little Wild page 85)
4. 4.   (Nature Sings page99)
5. 2.  (Seize the day page 157)

Round 3

1. duck. (Bubbles and Bubbly page 43)
2. a jar  ( jar of love page 51)
3. pink. (Fabulous Flamingo page 141)
4. all good things   ( all good things p151)
5. reaching out. ( Sea of Textures page 155)

Round 4

1.   103    (Seasonal Chums)
2.   152.   (Magical Mermaid)
3.   226.  (Springtime Stroll)
4.     99.  (Night in Bethlehem)
5.     86   (Foxy Friends)

I hope this was fun for you.