WWC334 - Helen's Challenge: All About Occasions

I'm so happy this is an All About Occasions challenge!  Perfect for the Valentine's Day card I've created using one of the adorable House Mouse images created by Ellen Jareckie in 2019.  I decided to stamp the image and then cut it out with one of my heart dies.  Don't they look adorable?

This is an oversized card, measuring 6 1/2" by 5".  The size allowed me to frame the heart with a matte of Melon Mambo and then mount it on the lovely printed vellum background.  The matte of Mossy Meadow cardstock compliments the grasses in the image as well as helps the white printed leaves to show up nicely on the vellum.

Because I wanted the card to be really special, I dipped the edge of the watercoloured heart into silver embossing powder and heat embossed the perimeter.  I did the same thing with the printed vellum.  In real life that silver simply shines and looks  wonderful, especially against the Melon Mambo and the Mossy Meadow.  The sentiment is simple:  we just fit.  I love it and hope you do, too.

Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, February 14th, 2022.

I've also entered my card at the following challenges:

Retro Rubber Challenge 175 - Love Love Love!

House-Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge #358  - Anything Goes  

Crafting Happiness Challenges #120 - Anything Goes

Dream Valley Challenge #262 - Love

WWC294 - Marsha's Challenge: Anything Goes With a Masculine Twist

 

And we're back with the House-Mouse Designs.  I fell in love with this beauty and can see how easy it would be to use it for masculine cards, feminine cards and everything in between.  I'll bet I could even use it for Christmas.  Yes, I'm in love!

Ellen Jareckie has brought these three little musical mice to life, hasn't she?  I love their various poses and the way they're handling their instruments.  To give the card a masculine "flavour", I went with deeper, more neutral colours for my background.  I began with a base of Soft Suede and a matte of Basic Black.  The musical patterned paper is from a retired Stampin' Up! collection and is a lovely deep shade of Mossy Meadow (green).  I added another matte, this time in Soft Suede, around the die-cut image piece and added a bit of black by sponging the edge of the die-cut with my black ink.

In the close-up you can see the colours I've used for my mice and their instruments.  Each mouse is slightly different.  Muzzy, the violinist, is coloured a soft charcoal and grey; Mudpie, the Banjo player, is coloured a sable brown; and, finally, Amanda, the guitarist, is coloured an auburn brown.  I love the way the Derwent watercolours offer such a nice variation in colours.  They're a pleasure to use along with my Aqua Painter.

While it's difficult to see, I added a touch of silver to the plate at the lower end of the banjo as well as a bit to the guitar.  Finishing up with the simple sentiment and a couple of hand-drawn musical notes is all this card needs.  I'm so happy with it and hope you love it, too. 

Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, October 26th.   

I've also entered my card in the following challenges:

HMFMC #326 - Always Anything Goes (Optional twist FALL)

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #131 - Anything Goes

WWC286 - Marsha's Challenge: All About Occasions

Oh my goodness!  If you've been following me for a while, you know all about my House-Mouse obsession.  Unbelievably, I found a stamp for our strange and weird 2020, created by Ellen Jareckie to acknowledge the COVID 19 restrictions.  Of course I had to use it right away!

Is that not the most darling image?  I love little Muzzy and her sweet mask.  Because I didn't want anything to draw attention away her, I made this card clean and simple.  The base is the Heavy Whisper White while the matte is Coastal Cabana.  

I stamped the image and sentiment on a piece of Mixed Media paper and then drew in the lines to ground the image.  (Can't just have Muzzy floating in the middle of a piece of paper, can I?)  For the background I used my Aqua Painter as well as the Smoky Slate and Soft Sea Foam re-inkers.  While I  have been watercolouring my images most of the time lately, this time I reached for my Stampin' Markers.   I used a layer of Crumbcake and a layer of Gray Granite for Muzzy's fur.  Then, for her face, ears, paws and tail, I used the Blush Blossom.  I had fun with the mask.  For the outline, I used the Coastal Cabana and then for the two inside colours, I used the Calypso Coral and the Crushed Curry.    

I love the way the card turned out and hope you do, too.  Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday,  August 31st.

I've also linked my card to the following challenges:

HM&FMC  #322 - Anything Goes With an Option of Flowers

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #127 - Anything Goes

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

WWC279 - Helen's Challenge: All About Occasions

I'm so glad this challenge is All About Occasions!  I'm ready to begin building up my Christmas card stash and what a perfect way to begin, with those adorable little House Mouse designs.

I began with a base of Heavy Whisper White cardstock and then added a lovely die-cut matte of Garden Green.  I stamped the adorable Ellen Jareckie House Mouse image onto a piece of Mixed Media paper and then proceeded to colour it using my fabulous Derwent Watercolour Pencils.  Because I decided those little Christmas lights should be lit, I added a light wash of colour around each bulb.  You can just see it on the paper and  beside the bulb, but this is the way the colour would naturally spread.  After colouring the image, I took the next smaller die and cut out the image with it so that it would fit perfectly inside that green matte.

I added a layer of the Shimmery Crystal Effects to the Christmas Lights and some silver to the end of the pencil.  You can see that more easily with the slight angle of this photo.

For the inside, I inked up only the one Christmas bulb and stamped it in the upper left corner.  Then, after watercolouring, I added some Shimmery Crystal Effects to the bulb as well.  The sentiment is from an old, retired set which I've kept simply for the assortment of sentiments. 

I love the way the card turned out and hope you do, too.  Have fun checking out our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge and I hope you'll link your creation before the deadline on Monday, July 13th.

I've also added my card to the following challenges:

HMFMC #320 - Anything Goes with the option of stitching

Shopping Our Stash #424 - Hanukkah/Christmas in July

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #123 - Anything Goes

Fezziwigs Festive Frolics - Anything Festive Goes

WWC244 - Helen's "All About Occasions" Challenge

Since our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge this week is "All About Occasions", I decided to use one of the adorable House-Mouse Designs stamp sets.  Of course it's all about Christmas this time.

I chose a base of Heavy Whisper White and then added a piece of retired Christmas DSP.  Then I cut a smaller piece of Soft Suede, just large enough to frame the stamped and coloured image of my adorable House-Mice.

The image is stamped on a piece of Mixed Media paper using Versafine Onyx black ink.  I intended to watercolour my images and so I needed my ink to be waterproof.  I used watercolour pencils and layered the pigment.  I love the results.  Each Mouse has its own colour and the shading turned out very well.  For my background I took my AquaPainter and used Balmy Blue ink.  It's soft but makes a nice background colour which doesn't "fight" with my other colours.

Of course I had to add a few additional touches.  Those berries, for example, just cried out for some shine and I gave it to them with the Shimmery Crystal Effects.  And the gold halo on our "holly angel" looks authentic with the addition of some Vegas Gold, doesn't it?

Finally, for the sentiment, I wanted something very small which wouldn't cut across my images.  I found just what I wanted in the retired Christmas Magic set.  I inked half the sentiment and stamped it in black.  Then I took the second half and stamped it on a scrap of Whisper White using black ink as well.  I used the retired tiny tag punch to cut it out and then attached it below the already stamped word on the card.  a tiny ribbon of baker's twine, and we're good to go.

It was really a labour of love working with this fun image.  I hope you enjoy the card as much as I enjoyed creating it.

I hope you'll check out the wonderful creations by the Watercooler Artists over at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.

I've entered my card into the following challenges:

House-Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge - HMFMC #302 Anything Goes

The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge #58 - Anything Christmas Goes

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #105 - Anything Goes

Arty Divas Challenge #7 - Anything Goes

Crafty Creations Challenge #401 - Anything Goes

WWC206 - Anything Goes Challenge

It's the fifth week of January and so the theme for our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge is "Anything Goes".  What could be better than using the brand new House-Mouse Design, "Sweet Workout"!  It's a huge stamp but, oh, was it ever fun colouring it and bringing it to life!

I love the detail in this image, don't you?  I decided to use my Faber-Castell colour pencils and Gamsol for this.  I find layering the colour and blending it with the Gamsol and my little Blending Tortillons really added dimension to the images.  After colouring the adorable little Mudpie Mouse and the tasty looking fruit candies, I added a soft grey to the floor and a soft blue to the wall.

The Poppy Parade cardstock came closest in colour to those yummy looking candies and so I used that as my matte.  Of course I stamped the Happy Birthday sentiment using the same colour of ink.  My base for the card is the Heavy Whisper White cardstock.

I hope you'll check out the wonderful creations by the Watercooler Artists over at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.

I've also entered this creation in the following challenges:

Lemon Shortbreat Challenge #86 - Anything Goes

Tuesday Throwdown Challenge #424 - Anything Goes

House Mouse and Friends Monday Challenges #283 - Anything Goes

Simon Says Wednesday Challenge - Anything Goes

WWC203 - Karen's "All About Occasions" Challenge

I am super-exited to announce that I was the winner of the top prize at the House-Mouse & Friends Challenge for this card.  What a super celebration! 

I was so excited to have found this wonderful House Mouse stamp set!  It's perfect for this week's challenge, too, since it's quite normal to celebrate occasions, isn't it?

Don't those little characters look as if they're bringing in the New Year or, perhaps, celebrating a birthday?  I love the way little Monica is jumping around, don't you?  I used my Pencils and Gamsol to colour the images.  Afterwards I added a bit of ground to anchor them (can't have my images floating about, can I?)

And let's not forget that the talented Sandie Munro is our Guest Designer this week as well.  Check out her work and the wonderful creations by the Watercooler Artists over at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge.

I've also entered this creation in the following challenges:

House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge #282 - Anything Goes 

Simon Says Monday Challenge Blog - Use Something New

Enjoy the Warmth of the Season

When I saw the image of those adorable House Mouse characters huddled inside a broken ornament, warming their little hands with the flame of a candle, I knew I had to have it.  And now, having bought it, I've loved every moment of bringing the little characters to life.

Once I had stamped my image on a piece of Whisper White cardstock, I proceeded to colour it using my Kooh-i-noor Woodless Colour Pencils and Gamsol.  In order to make the ornament appear to be glass with a shiny finish, I went over it with my H2O paints.  The shine is subtle but makes it stand out against the furry mice.  For the snow, rather than colour it, I used my White Embossing paste and a spatula.  I didn't like the way it looked against the Whisper White once it dried and so painted over it using the Frost White Shimmer paint.  For the candle's flame, I set some yellow and red colour around the wick and then covered it with a coat of clear Nuvo drops.  Once it was dry, I added some more yellow with my Stampin' Blends and a coat of Wink of Stella.

I cut the image using a large Oval Die and then cut a matte from Poppy Parade using an Oval Rickrack Die.  I mounted it onto a piece of the versatile Wood Textures DSP and backed it with a piece of Kraft cardstock before mounting it onto a base of Heavy Whisper White.  The sentiment, from  the Hearts Come Home set, is heat embossed on Kraft Paper using White embossing powder.

I created this card for fun but am entering a couple of appropriate challenges with it:

HMFMC #280 - Anything Goes with an option of "Something Warm"

Colour Crazy Craft Challenge week 49 - Anything Goes Colouring Challenge

Winter Wonderland:  End of year, Anything Christmas goes!

WWC195 - Charlotte's Feminine "Anything Goes" Challenge

Oh, I love our Feminine challenges, don't you?  It's such fun to figure out what to make and to try new things.  After all, cards don't have to be frilly or full of flowers to be feminine.  They can be clean and simple, like my card:

First let me say that I am madly in love with the sweet House Mouse images.  I am amazed at the detail in Ellen Jareckie's little mice.  For this card I used the Strawberry Wish stamp which is a 2015 release.  I loved the image so much that I didn't want any clutter to take away from it.  Colouring sweet little "Mudpie" and that lovely strawberry was pure pleasure.  I used my watercolour pencils and AquaPainter.  To finish, I added just a bit of shadow around the bottom using my Smoky Slate ink and AquaPainter.

For my sentiment I wanted something simple but feminine.  The beautiful script in the sentiment from the Happy Little Stampers Dandelion Wishes stamp set was perfect and so I stamped it in black.  I mounted the image onto a narrow black matte and then onto a base of the Heavy Whisper White.  And I love it!

I hope you'll check out the awesome creations by the other Watercooler Artists over at our Watercooler Wednesday Challenge blog.

I've also entered this creation in the following challenges:

Lemon Shortbread Challenge #80 - Anything Goes

Retro Rubber Challenge #99 - Anything Goes

House Mouse & Friends Monday Challenge #278 - Anything Goes

Crafty Creations Challenge #377 - Anything Goes