Furry Friends

Posted on by Charlotte E

Furry FriendsWe’re getting ready for a trip to visit my family in England. Within a week of our return I will be moving all the way down the country to start my new job, and husband will be joining me there about six weeks later. What has all that got to do with this card? Well, as a result as all the packing and moving madness I’m trying to use up my craft stash and avoid buying more card and paper as much as possible. Which is why this tiny card ended up being made from a selection of odds and ends. It’s not exactly what I’d intended to make going into it – having limited supplies is definitely adding to the challenge of cardmaking, and forcing me to be more creative!

I’m entering this card into a few different challenges. The initial inspiration came from the current Muse by Tracey McNeely. The Sisterhood of Crafters are asking for the inclusion of animals, as are Simon Says Stamp Monday with their flora and/or fauna challenge. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday asked for the creation of a scene, whilst City Crafter asked for a border to be used on the card.

The animal images I used on this challenge were actually already prepared when I saw what the Muse card was. A coincidence, but certainly a convenient one! I had made them during one of my shading practice sessions. The stamps are both from Imaginisce Give Thanks collection. I stamped them with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto a textured white card stock and coloured them in with Lyra Osiris colouring pencils. I tried to focus on layering up the colours and paying attention to shadows and highlights. Probably could have benefited with a bit more contrast of colours, but it’s not bad! I also added a little Wink of Stella to the squirrel’s eye and the fox’s nose. In hindsight it may have been better without. Finally I fussy cut them both.

For the cardbase I folded a strip of dark green card, then embossed the bottom edge with the tall grass border from the Tim Holtz Springtime Background & Borders Set. After working out where I would want to place my animals I decided on the stamps to use. Given the mention of friendship on the Muse card I went for a sentiment from Altenew’s Super Script. I stamped it directly onto the card base using the same black ink. The “my” ended up slightly wonky!

Lastly I just needed to attach the animals. I used foam squares to give them some dimension, pressed them into place, and the card was done!

Furry Friends 2Aside from the colouring (done in advance, as mentioned) this was a pretty speedy card to make! It’s not exactly what I would have made if I’d had the choice. I’d definitely have gone for a white card base, and I’d have perhaps built the scene more depending what was available to me. Given what I had to work with though I’m really happy with how it turned out. I’m particularly pleased with the colouring. I know I still need to practice my shading more, but I  can see that I’ve made progress, which is nice!

Love,

Lady Joyful

27 thoughts on “Furry Friends”

    1. Indeed 😉 As I said, with the sentiment on the Muse being about friendship I wanted to do something similar, and that was the most suitable sentiment I had 🙂

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  8. What a sweet scene, the embossed grass is a great way to add interest with bulk. I always admire crafters who are resourceful and create with what they have available! Your critters are coloured perfectly! Thank you so much for sharing with us at Muse this week!

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