Christmas Decorating Mice

I found this adorable "Gingerbread House" stamp by Stampendous at Michael's last week, and had to have it! Not only is it cute, but I felt it would make a few nice, unique Christmas cards. Because of the detail & coloring involved, though, this is definitely not an image for mass-produced cards!

I stamped the image with Ranger Archival Jet Black ink onto a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media paper. Because of the detail in the image, I wanted a smooth surface, which I can't get with the watercolor paper I have. Since I knew I would be coloring this with my Inktense pencils and water, I also needed a heavyweight paper that wouldn't pill. Mixed Media paper to the rescue! I colored the image, layering colors in places to get the look I wanted. After the colors had dried, I went over the candies with my clear Wink of Stella glitter brush marker. It doesn't show up in the photo, but it adds a nice shimmer in real life.

To add a bit of shadow around the bottom mouse & the gingerbread house, I smooshed a bit of Pumice Stone Distress ink onto an acrylic block, and picked up some color with my water brush. I spread it along the bottom of the image, which also helped ground the mice & house. I also went over some of the icing with diluted Iced Spruce Distress ink where I thought it would be in shadow. It's subtle, but I think it adds a bit of depth & dimension.

After I finished my watercoloring, I trimmed the panel down slightly, and rounded the corners with the 1/2" side of my We R Memory Keepers Corner Chomper. I matted it on a piece of pink cardstock, again rounding the corners, and then matted that with burgundy. I adhered it to the front of an A2 card base, and rounded all 4 corners of my card.

For the inside sentiment, I chose one from Hero Arts' "Very Merry Christmas" set. I stamped it on another piece of the same pink cardstock, rounded the corners, matted it with burgundy, rounded those corners, and adhered it to the inside of my card base. And that finished this card. Quite time consuming--mostly with the coloring--but well worth it for a special card. I will be sending this in for this year's Caring Hearts Card Drive. You can read more about this special project, which sends cards to nursing home residents, here.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Monday "Treats"
Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything Goes"
Hero Arts Holiday Challenge "Anything Goes"