The Bottom Line
Pros
- Three distinctly different styles of Noah's Ark, Noah and his wife, and pairs of animals.
- Three upper case and one lower case alphabet are included.
- Easy to read symbol charts with colored lines for straight stitches.
- All designs are easy to stitch. The Country and Modern Ark charts don't use quarter stitches.
- Blocked in colored samples of the finished designs are included.
Cons
- Each set has lions, giraffes, elephants, bears, rhinos, doves but other animals differ set to set.
- One color chart / key per double page makes it hard to find the colors necessary for a single chart.
Description
- Each design set has an ark as well as Noah and his wife. The designs can stand alone or you can create a sampler.
- The Traditional Ark has animals mostly overlapping one another in pairs with subtle shadings and natural tones.
- The Modern Ark has a brighter color scheme with cartoon style animals, some overlapped in pairs and some separate
- The Country Ark has boldly outlined animals mostly in flat side views with many animals in mirror image pairs.
- The animal charts can be used alone or combined with the ark and Noah and his wife for traditional samplers or scenes.
- A number of quotes or sayings related to the Bible story of the ark are included in the leaflet.
Guide Review - 40 Days and 40 Nights from Kooler Design Studio and Leisure Arts
Linda Gillum has created three very different sets in this cross stitch booklet of animals and arks entitled 40 Days and 40 Nights. Divided into three themed sections, the Modern Ark set features a brighter color range and gently cartooned animals. The Traditional Ark set uses soft earth tones, blended with quarter stitches for detail. Bold outlines and color contrasts along with predominantly opposite facing animals create a unique style for the Country Ark set. The animals range from porcupines, skunks, raccoons and bears, to the more traditional, sheep, cows, pigs, lions, elephants and giraffes, and include a number of exotic animals including pandas, koalas, kangaroos, cheetahs, tigers, fish, owls and insects. Some animals can be used across styles while others are best used within their themed design. The only style of animals not represented are regular pets, there are cats, but no dogs.
Easy to read charts based on DMC colors are composed of black and white symbols with colored lines for back stitch. The Modern and Country Ark designs use cross stitch, back stitches and French knots for details. The more subtle color blends of the Traditional Ark set add quarter stitches for a richer finish. No overall designs are given for a complete sampler although there is a photo of a small sampler shown for each themed set.
The individual animals are small, easy to stitch charts. The designs lend themselves to projects for children, and could easily be used to decorate towels, bibs, quilts or growth charts. Stylized waves and hearts are included in the designs as well as a rainbow, clouds, the sun, lady bugs, ants, bees, butterflies, dragonflies and caterpillars.
