Foxy Love

Today's challenge for "Hope You Can Cling To" at Splitcoast Stampers is "Pretty Tattoo." When cancer patients go through radiation, they get a small tattoo to mark the spot for treatment. This challenge is to use an image that would make a cute tattoo. I thought these foxes from Hero Arts' "The Fox Says" Stamp 'n' Cut set fit the bill!

I began by cutting a piece of 140 lb. watercolor paper to 4.25x5.5". I stamped the foxes at the bottom, using Ranger Archival Jet Black ink. I then masked them off, so I could stamp the grass. While the grass is not really a part of the "tattoo," I couldn't just have those sleeping foxes floating in mid-air! So I took the grass stamp from "The Fox Says," and mounted it in my MISTI tool. I inked it up with Distress inks in Peeled Paint, Wild Honey, and Mustard Seed, daubing each color just here & there. (I was going for an autumn look, when grass is starting to turn yellow, but there is still some green in it.) Then I spritzed the stamp lightly with water to get the inks to blend, and stamped it along the bottom of my panel. The stamp is not quite long enough to go across a portrait-oriented A2 card, so I moved my panel over in my MISTI and stamped the image again, following the same inking procedure. Then I removed the mask.

I colored the foxes with my Inktense pencils, using a small damp paintbrush to blend the colors. After I'd finished coloring, I stamped one of the greetings from the set above the foxes. It seemed a little disconnected, so I sketched a thought bubble around it, to connect it to the larger fox.

To continue the autumnal tone of my piece, I added splatters in Wild Honey & Frayed Burlap Distress inks. First, I masked my foxes & greeting. I then smooshed the ink, one color at a time, on my acrylic block, and watered it down. I flicked the color onto the panel with my water brush. I think I got a little carried away, since my original intention was to have just a few spots! Oh well! I doubt it will matter to whoever gets this card. :)

I'm also entering my card in a2z Scrapbooking's October Challenge: "All Things Fall."