Fruits and Nuts

     This is supposed to be my Friday post but Blogger is determined to ignore the scheduling and post it now.  Sigh.  Oh, well, you get to read it early!

 

     I found the most adorable House Mouse stamp and it was perfect for the challenge at Simon Says Stamp, which is "Let's Get Fruity", and they also gave us a photo of lots of berries and other summer fruits for inspiration if we needed it.  As soon as I saw the 'Fruity', I had this stamp in mind.  The sentiment is also from House Mouse Designs.  The challenge for the next two weeks at House Mouse is "Adorn with Jewels."

     I used a sketch from Operation Write Home, and colors from the challenge from CR84FN. 

I know I've already done a card with these colors but I'm just hooked on them!  Pink and green go so well with almost any neutral that it's hard to let go of the colors.  :-)

      I colored the mouse and his apple with watercolor pencils and blended them lightly with rubbing alcohol.  I added white, Sakura Glaze pen to the face features to make them stand out and to give a little texture.  The fun part about Sakura's pens is that the ink stays "puffy" when it's dry -- you can actually feel it and it has some texture to it.  Stamp TV's Mix it Up Monday challenge is all about texture and there's a lot of it on this otherwise CAS design -- ribbon, bow, flowers with Glossy Accents, gems, layers of CS...  all textures.

     The dp is Swiss dot paper from DCWV, and both the pink and the green CS (plus the card base of white) are from Gina K.  The polka dot ribbon is from Really Reasonable Ribbon and I love the way it complements the dp.  It's wrapped twice around the card and tied.  The flowers are dried flowers which came from either my own yard or forays into the countryside to gather them and then dry them.  I used glossy accents on the centers.

      This is another card for Operation Write Home.  The box is nearly full and I should be mailing it by the end of next week.  If you're helping me keep track of my goal to make and donate to OWH 365 cards this year, when this box is shipped I'll be over 250 already sent.  That's way over half of my annual goal and we're not even halfway through the year.  Time to get started on fall and Christmas cards for OWH!  Those will easily take up the next 120 (give or take) cards, especially since I like to do Any Hero cards for the holiday shipments as well.  If I've piqued your curiosity about OWH, you can read about them by clicking on either badge on the right side of my blog. 

     OK, the weekend is nearly upon us.  Hope you find time for some crafting this early summer weekend!  Thanks for stopping by.  Happy Stamping.  NanaConnie