New Wonders

There are those friendships you look at and wonder how those two could ever be such close friends because they're so different, opposites, from each other. One goofy, the other more serious, and yet, their friendship endures and thrives and they can laugh together. This card is an homage to that kind of friendship.

Supplies

InLinkz.com

Putting It Together

I fell in love with the butterfly mouse stamp when I saw it last Autumn. It's a Halloween stamp with a jack-o-lantern bucket beside the mouse in costume. But, since I love cosplay (costume-play), it wasn't Halloween I thought of but a mouse dressing up for the pure fun of it.

I wanted to have this card be about friendship, so I was delighted to find a mousie companion looking in the other direction to create a little scene. I planned out my card by laying out the stamps on the card base. 

I created the card base from heavy (140lb) watercolour cardstock so I could make a single layer card with water-based medium (Distress Ink with waterbrush and sponging). I chose to make this as a tall A2 top opening card because I like the way top opening stands on its own and tall to keep the composition of the mousies a bit tighter. I had tried them on the wide and it didn't fit the feel I wanted to create.

Since I wanted to create a single layer card but wanted a 'layered' scene, I stamped the images on to some vellum scrap and fussy cut the images to create masks. With a bit of removable adhesive on the back, masks like this are very handy and can be used many times. I also shaped a Post-it to cover the pumpkin bucket on the butterfly mouse stamp to not include it in my scene.

When stamping with a mask on your stamp, ink up the stamp like normal then take off the mask before applying the stamp to the card. To double stamp, put the mask back in place, re-ink, and remove the mask again before stamping. Be sure the mask is off before you stamp or you will get smudges where you didn't intend.

I stamped the mice in different colours because I wanted to do a 'no lines' technique with one in darker colours than the other. Changing the base colour, the stamping, based on the colours that will be in the finished image helps the 'no line' technique since it won't compete with the colouring.

I coloured/painted the mice with Distress Inks. I accented the butterfly with Perfect Pearls gold.

I then covered the mice with the vellum masks so I could sponge on a background with the blending tool.

I used Mermaid Lagoon and Broken China on the sky with Shabby Shutters and Mowed Grass on the ground. I added Perfect Pearls gold accents to the butterfly wings and additional shading.

For the inside of the card, I used a stencil to add a butterfly to echo the front.

I also added a sentiment in Aegean Blue chalk ink. The softer dark blue seemed ideal for this card.

I left the card overnight, waffling over whether or not to add a sentiment to the front of the card (and what sentiment to add if I decided I wanted one). Sentiment won out. When I got home, I stamped the front sentiment with the same colour as the inside sentiment. I also added some tufts of grass and shadowing for the mice.

For the inside I also added the gold heart and green on the edges.

If I leave a card to waffle over a single change, such as the front sentiment, other tweaks come to mind as well *laugh* The frustrating part of that, though, is the day job... I can just think about it but not actually do any of it for hours and hours!

I love how this turned out. The pair reminds me of my sweetie and I. I'm the one in the costume and he's the one looking on skepticly but suportive in every way. I'm glad he's my friend as well as more.

Challenges

House Mouse and Friends: Love 

Less is More: Opposites Attract + single layer

Aurora Wings: Mardi Gras colours (Purple, Green, and Gold)

The Crafters' Cafe: No Red or Pink