September elements

It's the first Friday of the month so of course that means an "elemental" challenge over at Daring Cardmakers. Ruth has chosen our inspiration this month - as ever, just choose at least three elements (colour scheme counts as one element) to kick start your project.


From the inspiration picture I chose a bird in a party hat, a balloon, circles and pastel colours.

I'm playing at Retro Rubber as well where the current challenge is a sketch. I've rotated it 180 degrees. It was not until I uploaded the picture that I realised I'd stuck the square in the wrong place really - it should have been low down for the rotated sketch! I hope the challenge police will go lightly on me, sketches are out of my confort zone!

I used my trusty piece of acetate with various sized circles die cut in it and brushed on inks for a pastel dotty background.

Stamps:
Owen the Owl (Cornish Heritage Farms, no longer with us -  Owen is at least 10 years old!)
Balloon from Happy Today (Hero Arts, I've had the set at least five years, I think it's retired)
Sentimenet from Mini Memories (Crafty Secrets, no longer with us - set is copyright 2007)

Paper:
Bristol board
Scrap of smooth black

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Versamark by Tsukineko 
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Tumbled Glass, Spun Sugar)

Other:
Copic markers
Stitched frames dies (Paper Rose)
Detail white embossing powder
Crochet thread
Pinflair glue gel
Corner Chomper

Here's our inspiration if you would like to play along, we'd love to see you over at Daring Cardmakers!

Thanks for stopping by!

Happy birthday, human

My newphew's sixth birthday has just been and gone. He's interested in space at the moment so he had a glow in the dark solar system and a book about the planets and stars for his pressies this year. I thought an alien and stars on a clean and simple card might be just the thing to go with those.

This stamp set has seen good service for all the little boys I seem to make cards for (I have only one little girl to make for to break the monotony!). Although it's no longer available,  the designer (Kim Hughes) has started her own stamp company and the images in the Little Fella set are almost the same.

A little Kaz-style doodling around the stars and orange panel helps lift the design a little without being too fussy.

Stamps: Little Guy and Birthday Centers (Cornish Heritage Farms, retired)

Paper: smooth white and orange

Ink: Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Fiskars squeeze punch (small star)
Corner Chomper
Copic markers and Fineliner

Thanks for stopping by!

Say what?

The chipboard speech bubbles from Tando Creative are great fun to use with character stamps to have them "say" the sentiment on a project and provide a touch of dimension at the same time.

This is a birthday card for a boy celebrating his seventh birthday - very simple with just a stamped image and the chippie speech bubble coloured with a Copic marker and stamped with the birthday greeting. A bit of inking through the smallest holes on the sequin waste mask finish off the image panel and the chippie. I couldn't resist a little Kaz-style doodling for a border.



Speech Bubbles Small (Tando Creative chipboard)
Sequin Waste mask (Tando Creative)

Little Guy and So Happy stamps (CHF stamps - retired)
Versacraft Spring Green ink
Brilliance Graphite Black ink
Copic markers
Copic Multiliner
White and black card

Thanks for stopping by!

Little boy birthday

The challenge on Less is More this week is for a clean and simple masculine card. I seem to be always in need of little boys' birthday cards so I decided to go "young masculine" for this one!

The punched out letters are coated with Glossy Accents to give them a nice domed finish and the black dots anchoring the orange strip are actually the waste from die cutting tags that have a hole at the top. I added a dot of Glossy Accents on those too.

None of the boys I send cards to are really little monsters but I do love this crazy little character for kids' cards!

Stamps:
Little Guy (Cornish Heritage Farms, retired)
Old Book alpha stamps
Word "birthday" from HOTP set

Paper:
Kraft
Black
Orange
White

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite black)
Versacraft by Tsukinkeko (Spring Green)

Other:
Copic markers
Small circle punch
Corner Chomper by We R Memory Keepers
Glossy Accents by Ranger

Thanks for stopping by!

The monsters are coming!

It's my nephew's birthday today - Happy Birthday Josh! I always struggle a bit with cards for kids and this took waaaaaay longer than it should have done but I got there in the end.

The little monsters are mounted on foam pads for a bit extra "movement" and dimension.

Stamps:
Little Guy (Kim Hughes Collection from Cornish Heritage Farms, retired)
Sentiment from a Hot off the Press set

Paper:
Smooth white
Orange

Ink:
Adirondack dye in by Ranger (Espresso)
Versacraft by Tsukineko (Spring Green)

Other:
Copic markers
Cuttlebug embossing folder (Traffic Jam)
Foam pads

Thanks for stopping by!

Monster birthday

A quick birthday card for a six year old boy!

I used a handy trick to get the whole of my 5" square card front embossed. It does need a folder that you can use sideways on (so wording ones are no good to you, for example, unless you want your wording to run vertically on the card, of course). Put your cardstock into the folder and run it through your die cutter - you'll have a strip hanging out of the folder that doesn't get embossed. Now put that plain bit into the folder and run it through the die cutter again - this time it will be the bit you embossed in the first step that's haning out of the folder. I tend to reverse the rollers once I've embossed the bit I need to rather than running right through. For a design like this where you stick a strip of something over the top, any "join" in the embossing is hidden.

Stamps:
Little Guy (Kim Hughes Collection from Cornish Heritage Farms)
Alpha stamps (unknown maker)

Paper:
Textured green and orange, both Papermill
Smooth white

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)
Versafine by Tsukineko (Onyx Black)

Other:
Small circle punch
Circle Nestabilities by Spellbinder
Circle cutter by Fiskars
Copic markers
Dymo label maker and tape
Copic multiliner
Corner Chomper
Cuttlebug embossing folder (Traffic Jam)

Thanks for stopping by!

Going round in circles

It's Friday so it must be Something Completely Different challenge day! We have five Fridays this month so we're not quite done with tags yet, one more to go after this week.

Today's theme is... circles! I went a bit mad with a couple of punches for a layered, textured kind tag by sticking my punched shapes onto a base of white card coloured with Peeled Paint Distress ink and sanding to shabby it up a bit. I love this cute little alien and thought it would be fun to have him peeping through a porthole.

A few buttons keep things round and add some extra texture. I wrapped a bit of craft wire round a paintbrush handle to finish it all off with some springy alien antennae (broadcasting friendly messages, of course).

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Little Guy (Kim Hughes line)

Paper:
DCWV

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Peeled Paint)
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Fiskars squeeze punches (medium and large circles)
Nestabilities by Spellbinder (Circles Large - to cut the top of the tag)
Copic markers
Inkssentials white gel pen by Ranger
Craft wire
Linen thread
Buttons

Thanks for stopping by!

Say it with...

...goofy looking aliens? I'm not sure that's going to catch on as a marketing slogan.

Some of you know that I really struggle with cards for kids. I've decided the best approach is get a kick start of some sort so today I went to Kathy's Waffle Sketch file and her Say it with Flowers sketch. I wasn't sure that a little boy celebrating his fourth birthday would necessarily appreciate all things floral so I went for stars and an alien instead.

The little stars are punched, the big one and the arrow are cut freehand. The alien is stamped on the same DCWV as the top of the card with just a little shading added with a Copic and his eyes filled in with the Inkssentials white pen.

I'm still not quite sure about this - although I quite like the card, I think it came out a bit "old" for its recipient. Ah well, I guess it's as much about the parents at that age, eh?!

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Little Guy (Kim Hughes Collection)
Birthday Centers (Mona Lisa Moments)

Paper:
Simply Heavy Chocolate (CHF)
DCWV

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)
Stazon by Tsukineko (Timber Brown)

Other:
Fiskars squeeze punch (medium star)
Sewing machine and thread
Fineline marker pen
Inkssentials white gel pen by Ranger
Copic markers (Putty and Tender Pink)
Sandpaper

Thanks for the sketch Kathy and thank you for stopping by, hope your weekend is star-studded!

Birthday Owl!

This is the card I made for my nephew's birthday - Happy Birthday Josh! For some reason, I just find kid's cards so difficult - in fact DH even suggested I could *gasp* pop down the shop and buy a card. Outrageous!

I used Laura's Sketch 36 from the 2 Sketches 4 You blog to give me a kick start. I cut a hole for the circle and then raised the entire card front up on foam pads before sticking the owl over the aperture.

I've personalised the design with some Dymo wording which also balances it out in terms of visual weight, I think. Sorry about the slight glare from the tape though - too much sunshine in Northumberland!

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Owen the Owl (Kim Hughes Collection)
Polka Dot backgrounder

Paper:
DCWV (blue and green)
Mocha Chica Paper pack (Kim Hughes collection - behind the aperture)
Simply Smooth

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukinkeo (Graphite Black)
Versamark by Tsukineko

Other:
Copic markers
Dymo label maker
Cuttlebug Birthday embossing folder
Threading Water/Scalloped Lace border punch by Fiskars
White embossing powder
Classic Circles Nestabilities by Spellbinders
Foam padsSandpaper

I'm sure my nephew won't be too critical (he's not even at school yet ;o) - just hope his mum and dad like it!

Thanks for stopping by!

A Beary Merry Christmas!

I like to make at least one Christmas card design with a non-Christmas stamp set each year. I've cheated just a little bit here by using one of the stamps from "Winter Vintage Signage" on my wooden sign but mostly this is elements from the Kim Hughes "Bear Hugs" set. I was so pleased to find that Christmas tree signage was a perfect fit on Kim's wooden board - score!

I've used a stair step fold to fit today's Daring Cardmakers folding challenge and created a little wintery scene.

I painted the tops of the mountains white first (with acrylic paint) and then added the ice glitter over the top. I've used glitter to make little crunchy drifts under the bear's feet and at the base of the sign, too. Just scribble a little clear-drying glue to make a pleasing snowy swirl and dump your glitter on top.

I remembered Sherrie's technique for adding texture to an image coloured with Copics using blending solution and an old towelling cloth so I gave that a whirl here. I actually used isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol and it worked just fine. Hopefully you can see both the effect of that technique and the crunchy snowdrift in this detail shot. I left the bear's nose uncoloured until I'd done the texturing so he didn't end up with a blotchy nose!

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Bear Hugs (Kim Hughes Collection)
Winter Vintage Signage (The Rummage Bin line)

Paper:
Bazzill (blue) and smooth white

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)

Other:
White acrylic paint
Copic markers
Isopropyl alcohol
Deko Ice glitter (Efco)
Scor-It
Scotch Quick Dry adhesive

If you've arrived by way of the World Card Making Day blog tour I hope you've enjoyed an introduction to my blog. If you'd like the discount code and link to the PaperCrafts/CK store, they're over in the side bar at the left.

Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate you taking the time!

Cold hands, warm heart!

I thought we'd take a move away from the more vintage and traditional feel of most of the cards I've done during the countdown to WCMD so far and have something with a bit more of a modern flavour!

This is Sophie - she's a sweetie, isn't she? She's available as a single stamp or as part of the Heartwarmers set in the Kim Hughes Collection. I've teamed her up with a simple sentiment and a sparkly snowflake with some torn cardstock snowdrifts to keep her bottom suitably chilled! The snowflake is a die cut coated in Glossy Accents and covered in glitter.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Snowy Sophie (Kim Hughes Collection)
Christmas Expressions (Mona Lisa Moments line)

Paper: Smooth white

Ink: Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Prismacolor pencils
Snowflake Wonder dies by Spellbinder
Deko Ice glitter (Efco)
Corner Chomper
Glossy Accents (as adhesive for the glitter)
Gingham ribbon

If you're new to my blog because of the WCMD blog tour then welcome! Feel free to leave comments, ask questions, grab a coffee and have a look at the last few postings for more Christmas card ideas if you have time to stick around for a while. The discount code for the PaperCrafts/CK store is over in the sidebar on the left if you would like to go shopping with 25% off your cart subtotal.

Thanks for stopping by today, I appreciate you taking the time to see what I've been up to!

Pink Elephants on Parade!

Or maybe that should be "Pink elephants on the hop" since we're blog hopping today. Don't worry, I'm not going to show you any scary cartoon sequences. What were those animators on - yikes! The pink elephants here are a darn sight cuter than Dumbo's hallucinatory experiences too, lol!

This is the second of my projects in the Cornish Heritage Farms and Shimmerz swap.

What's more girly than Bubblegum pink? Bubblegum pink with some shimmer, of course!

I found Shimmerz works well with watercolours so I added a little pink watercolour pencil to the lower part of each elephant and then used the paint to blend the pencil and colour the rest of each image. I decided not to add a sentiment just yet - I think this design would be cute with a personalised tag added when baby arrives - maybe pinned to a twill bow with a mini safety pin?

Here's a detail shot so you can see the shimmery pinkness here - super-girly huh?

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Baby Love (Kim Hughes Collection)

Paper:
Kraft
Razzleberry Medium (Prism Papers)

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Shimmerz Paint (Bubblegum)
Watercolour pencils
Sewing machine and thread
Corner Chomper

The next stop on the hop is Kristine - she'd love to welcome you in sunny California to see what's Shimmering there!

I'll have one final Shimmerz project tomorrow which is very different from the two shown so far and then Friday I'll be serving up that fruit and veg I promised you last week ;)

Thanks for stopping by!

Shimmering Tree!

Cornish Heritage Farms and Shimmerz have teamed up for a bit of fun this week! Liz gave the Shimmerz design team some stamps to play with and Stacey gave the CHF Team some Shimmerz to play with!

Trees in full leaf often have a shimmering effect when the breeze blows through so I figured a tree would be perfect for the Shimmerz treatment!

I used detail embossing powder to emboss the image and then flooded each area with Mint Shimmerz paint - the raised line of the embossing keeps the paint contained. You can put a big blob of paint in the centre of the area and then just push it gently to the edges with a paintbrush, it's a really quick and easy colouring technique.

Hopefully this detail shot will give you a better idea of both the shimmery effect and the way the raised boundaries work.

I just used a marker to colour the tree trunk and cut little slits each side so I could thread through my sentiment strip. A vintage button adds that extra touch of whimsy to finish it off!

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Summer Trees (Kim Hughes Collection)
Friend Centers (Mona Lisa Moments line)

Paper:
Cryogen White
Bazzill Monochromatics pack (Blue Green)

Ink:
Brilliance by Tsukineko (Graphite Black)

Other:
Shimmerz paint (Mint - it looks like this colour just retired but any of the greens would work here - I think Celery or Key Lime could be particularly pretty!)
Detail embossing powder (black)
Tombow marker
Vintage button
Linen thread
Sewing machine and thread

You can check out the CHF Be Creative Blog and the Shimmerz blog to see more projects and the CHF girls will have a little blog hop for you tomorrow, too so drop by if you have a minute, we'd love to see you!

Thanks for stopping by, hope your day has a little shimmer to it!

Bits and pieces...

Paper piecing is not something I do very often but it is a fun technique! It's also the challenge for week two of the CHF Summer Stamping Star contest so I thought I'd show you a recent paper pieced card. Of course, the patterned paper phobia struck again and I basically created my own! In my head paper piecing goes hand in hand with the Clean and Simple look for some reason, so it's a CAS card today... I stamped the tree top twice on green paper from the Scrapblock pack then cut out three of the clusters and pressed them onto the Fine Houndstooth Scrapblock. I left tabs on the base of the two higher pieces when I cut them out and cut corresponding slots in the base tree so the tops of the patterned piece are free of the base for a bit of dimension. The trunk was cut separately from a piece of brown cardstock and stamped with the Wood Grain backgrounder. I used my home made stamp positioner (a handful of Lego bricks made into a right angle and a piece of clear card sheet) to split the sentiment over two lines to suit the shape of the card better. Stamps: Summer Trees (Kim Hughes Collection) Fine Houndstooth Scrapblock Woodgrain backgrounder Friend Centers (Mona Lisa Moments line) Paper: Scrapblock Layers (CHF) Smooth white Scrap of unknown brown Ink: Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso) Tim Holtz Distress by Ranger (Shabby Shutters and Weathered Wood) Other: Stamp positioner Craft knife Detail scissors If you played along, thanks for joining us in week one of the contest - we've had some wonderful coloured creations! Hope to see you again this week (check out the details by clicking on the Will It Be You logo over on the right if you'd like them). Thanks for dropping by!

Spot the well known phrase or saying!

Just a bit of fun, this one! I combined this week's Something Completely Different (object: tag; theme: crowns) and Lots to Do (use Grungeboard) challenges.

My little froggie stamp does actually have a crown and I could have just left the final one as a complete stamping but I fancied something with a bit more dimension so the Grungeboard one seemed perfect! It's coloured with a Krylon pen and has nail art gems (green of course!) at the tips.

The frogs were stamped on green paper, given a little shading with a couple of Copics, the whites of their eyes filled in with an Inkssentials pen and then they were cut out (chopping their crowns off in the process!).

The princely frog also has a little glitteriness courtesy of some Spica pen (green on his eyelids, clear squiggles over his body). He's been given a royal lift so he's above his lowly counterparts, courtesy of some foam pads.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Little Guy (Kim Hughes Collection)
Everyday Petites (Mona Lisa Moments line)

Paper:
Smooth white
Scrapblock Layers (CHF)

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)
Tim Holtz Distress by Ranger (Shabby Shutters)

Other:
Copic markers
Inkssentials white pen by Ranger
Copic Spica glitter pens (green and clear)
Grungeboard crown
Nail art gems
Krylon leafing pen (Pale Gold)
Grosgrain ribbon
Embroidery floss
Foam pads

Did you fill out the saying from the visual clues? (You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find your prince)

Thanks for stopping by!

If you're planning to play the CHF Summer Stamping Star challenges, don't forget the first one launches tomorrow. There's a full week to play though so pick your best shot during the week and upload to the special gallery before next Sunday evening to be in with a chance of the weekly $50 prize! Full details here. Anyone who plays all five challenges will get a 25% discount code to use at the CHF store so it's worth a go, even for challenges you don't feel are your "strong suits" :o)

Something Completely Different

There's a new kid on the challenge blog block - Something Completely Different (is it just me who has a Monty Python moment with that phrase?!). There'll be a different type of project as the focus each month and a new theme each week - so for example, May's project focus is twinchies and this week's theme is Wings.

I've never made a twinchie in my life but thought it might be fun to give it a go and support the blog in its first week. So, here's my very first 2x2" piece!

I've played with something else that's new, too - some Cosmic Shimmer Heat Fusible film. I cheated a little bit as I wasn't very happy with how black the outline came out so I went over it carefully with a Copic marker to make it a really dense black but the iridescent film is really pretty for butterfly wings (although a nightmare to photograph!).

I folded the wings along the sides of the body and also used a bead of Glossy Accents at the very edge of the twinchie, curved the lower wings and stuck them down to give the butterfly more dimension.

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Vintage Butterflies (Saturday Evening Post line)
Nature Silhouettes (Kim Hughes Collection)

Paper: smooth white

Ink:
Stazon by Tsukineko (Jet Black)
Tim Holtz Distress by Ranger (Shabby Shutters and Peeled Paint)
Memento by Tsukineko (Bamboo Leaves)

Other:
Cosmic Shimmer fusible film (Blue Lake)
Krylon leafing pen (pale gold)
Glossy Accents (as adhesive)
Copic marker

Thanks for dropping by and thanks for the challenge, girls!

Cuteasaurous Brother!

My friend Ann just had her second baby, a little brother for their three year old daughter. There's a knitted blanket on the way for them but he arrived a few days early and beat me to it (the lining still needs stitching in!) so I made this little set as a "welcome" gift in the meantime.

The baby vests (onesies if you're reading this in North America!) started life as plain white ones from M&S - nice smooth close-knit fabric that gives a great surface for stamping on.

I used Versacraft ink for the stamping, it's permanent if you iron it and gives a nice clear impression. The colouring is done with Copics. You need to colour carefully, keeping well inside the lines as the colour tends to travel a little along the knit of the fabric so you need to allow for the spread - just three colours is fine for this kind of simple design, no need to try for too much shading (which would probably result in soaking the fabric too much and having the colour bleed further).

I made a coordinating gift tote just by following the basic bag-a-lope method and then trimming the top to make a deep handle shape.

Ann's reaction? "Ooooh great, he'll be able to have t-shirts with the same things on as he gets bigger!"

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Little Guy and Baby Love sets (Kim Hughes Collection)

Ink: Versacraft by Tsukineko (black)

Other: Cotton baby vests Copic markers (Putty, Raw Silk and Cool Gray 1) Envelope and ribbon for tote

Thanks for stopping by!

Tree Hugger!

It's "Ways to Use It" challenge day on SCS today and guest hostess Michele has asked us to go green. We could interpret that as the colour or to reuse/recycle or any combination of those!

We have young silver birch trees in our garden and just this morning I peeled off some of the loose, thin bark thinking it might be good for a papercraft project - so I think I have the ultimate "green" material here!

I washed it carefully and left it to dry between a couple of sheets of kitchen towel with our big AGA kettle on top to keep it flat! I then stuck it to some copy paper to make it sturdy enough to use and stamped the tree trunk and the sentiment words with Stazon.

I've reused by making the tree with scrap paper from my desk too, I just turned it over and used the back of experimental bits and pieces!

Stamps (all Cornish Heritage Farms):
Spring Trees (Kim Hughes collection)
Paisley Backgrounder
Everyday Petites (Mona Lisa Moments line)

Paper:
Kraft shipping tag
Silver birch bark!
Scrap copy paper

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Peeled Paint)
Stazon by Tsukineko (Timber Brown)

Other:
Glaze pen by Sakura (red)
Inkssentials white pen by Ranger
Prismacolor pencil
Jute twine

Thanks for stopping by, hope there are signs of spring in the air where you are (unless you're reading in the southern hemisphere in which case signs of spring would be worrying - I wish you a pleasant autumn instead!).

Clean and.... third time lucky!

There's a new weekly challenge at Splitcoast for "clean and simple" cards. Well, this one has the clean and simple look and really should have been easy but I managed to mess up twice so you're looking at the third time lucky!

This week's challenge is a sketch - I've turned it through 90 degrees and where the sketch has a cluster of three stars, I've used the out-of-the-box technique to make my trees both the stamped image and the corner treatment.

Minimal colouring and only two stamps should have made this fast - the first one was all finished, I turned it over to put adhesive on the back and turned it back to find I'd plonked it into a blob of ink on my work top. Try again! Second time, I jittered as I put the final sentiment in place and got a slow-motion blurred effect as if "Hello" was rising out of the black lagoon. Hmmm. Third time, I stamped the trees, stamped the sentiment, cut it out, coloured it in and then put a clean sheet of paper underneath while I added adhesive to the back - phew!

I've used stamps from two Kim Hughes sets here. The Be Creative blog has a challenge at the moment - mix stamps from more than one Kim Hughes set (or singles from different releases) for a chance to win some Kim Hughes goodies. Check out the details in this post, challenge closes 1st March.

Stamps (all Cornish Heritage Farms):
Spring Trees (Kim Hughes Collection)
Sentiment from Silhouette Blooms I (Kim Hughes Collection)

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)

Other:
Copic markers (Yellow Green and Brick Beige)
Foam tape

Thanks for dropping by, hope your day is clean and simple!

Bear Hugs

Kim Hughes has a very distinctive style - just look at the eye on this bear, could the artwork be done by anybody other than Kim?!

The bear in the set faces left but I thought it would be fun to bring together a bear pair to go with the hug sentiment! I used a mirror stamp to make the bear who faces right.

Sherrie had a cool tutorial on her blog the other day for making the illusion of textured fur by using blender solution and some wadding (batting for my north American friends). I don't have any blender solution so I adapted the technique by colouring the bears with a Chamois marker and then dotting over the top with the colourless blender and a lighter colour (Brick Beige). As Copics are alcohol-based, the lighter inks push the darker base coat out of the way and you get a "furry" bear. You can see Sherrie's tutorial here if you'd like to have a go with the original technique.

I'm going to pop this card into hubby's bag when he heads off for his next trip :o)

Stamps (Cornish Heritage Farms):
Bear Hugs (Kim Hughes Collection)
Mirror It medium (to reverse the bear image)

Paper:
Epic Laid Black, Simply Smooth (Prism Papers)

Ink:
Adirondack dye ink by Ranger (Espresso)

Other:
Copic markers
Linen Thread
Nail art gems
Inkssentials white pen by Ranger

Thanks for visiting today, hope you enjoyed the card!