Get Well Wishes

I found myself in need of a get well card for a friend. I made this one, inspired by My Favorite Things' current Wednesday Sketch challenge.

I stamped my image ("Warm Cup" from Stampendous) onto a scrap of 140 lb. watercolor paper with Versafine Clair Morning Mist ink. I die cut it with a "Nesting Circles" die from We R Memory Keepers. I used my watercolors to paint the cup and a bit of brown underneath, and my Inktense pencils to paint the mouse itself. I used a damp paintbrush to pull color off the pencils and then applied it to the paper.

For the patterned paper, I chose a sheet from The Paper Studio's "Peaceful Meadows" mat stack. I cut it to 5-3/8" wide, and positioned one of the "Stitched Scallop Basic Edges" dies from My Favorite Things centered at the top of the panel. After I die cut that, I trimmed about 3/8" off the bottom edge of the panel, so it would line up with the bottom of my mint green mat and still let some of the green peek out at the top.

I cut a 3/4" strip of yellow cardstock, and ran it through my die cutting machine with a My Favorite Things "Basic Stitch Lines" die. I used the die on both long sides to add some faux cross stitching. The strip was actually a bit too short to span the width of my patterned paper panel, so I just cut it in two and hid the gap behind the focal element.

 The white focal circle blended into the background a bit too much, so I inked around the perimeter with Tumbled Glass Distress ink. I went over it a few times to deepen the color. This added just enough definition without overwhelming the image.

I pulled a greeting from My Favorite Things' "Get Well Wishes" stamp set (discontinued). I stamped that with Morning Mist ink onto a scrap of pink cardstock, then cut that into a narrow banner. I assembled my layers, and added the greeting strip over the image with foam tape.