Season's Greetings!

Day 2 of Catch the Bug Challenge Blog's week-long "Christmas in July" series is a sketch challenge:

I chose to use Bugaboo Stamp's "Penguin 3" image for my card. After doing a digital mock-up in Photoshop to work out the design & exact measurements, I sized the penguin and printed him on a piece of Strathmore Mixed Media Paper. I die cut that with a Spellbinders "Standard Circles LG" die, and colored the image with Inktense pencils, using a wet brush to blend the colors. I also die cut a mat from black paper with one of the "Nesting Scallops" circle dies by Lifestyle Crafts. I glued the focal panel to the mat, and set that aside while I worked on the rest of the card.

Because of the teal blue I'd used in the sky, I decided to go with a more blue-green color scheme for the rest of the card. I chose 3 patterned papers from my scrap stash, and cut the pieces from those. I glued the triangles in the corners of the background, and then worked out the exact placement of the patterned paper panel behind the focal piece. After marking its position, I applied adhesive to the back of the panel with my ATG gun, then adhered it to the background. Finally, I glued the focal piece in place.

It was at this point that I looked at the sketch again, and realized I'd forgotten about the greeting! So I went through my Christmas stamp sets, looking for a greeting that would fit both the space & overall look. I found one in the "Christmas Characters" set by Inkadinkado. I stamped it in Versafine Onyx Black ink on a piece of teal cardstock, then trimmed that into a thin strip. I glued that down, right along the top of the patterned paper panel. Thankfully, it fit--whew! :) All that remained was to adhere the completed card front to a white A2 card base, add a touch of Glossy Accents to the penguin's eyes, and this card is ready to send to Operation Write Home!

I'm also entering this card in Merry Monday's Challenge #166: Penguins.