Relax and Chill - It's your birthday!

Aaaah this little dog image is just the 'coolest' I cannot help but chuckle when I look at it.

It is simply brilliant!

I found it in Art Impressions' 'Reel Great Guys' Set (4900)

I needed a summery birthday card for a male relative and decided this dog is perfect for it. I coloured him with watercolour pencils (by Derwent) and added Liquid Embossing (by Plaid) over the entire tube to make it shiny and slightly dimensional.

The dog really needed to have a relaxing time, so I decided he might like to be floating down a little river or canal...just enjoying the ride while chilling on the tube. To get enough water for him to float on I made my card 8.5" x 4"

I cut a slit using the Silhouette Cameo and proceeded to colour the water, muddy bank and grassy edge using Distress Oxide Inks. These inks allowed me to lift colour for waves and spots for bubbles and splashes. I enhanced those with a white gel pen. I also added a bit of coloured pencil details to the bank.

The sentiment is from the 'Lake House Tryfolds' set. I stamped it onto tan cardstock, embossed it and then added a little brown ink to bring out the woodgrain from the embossing. Cutting a slit into the card front allowed me to slip the stick through to the back and 'plant' the sign in the stream.

I trust the recipient will have no doubt as to how I expect him to spend his summer birthday!

I think I should make one of these as a decoration on the wall...I know I will get a chuckle from it every time I walk past...

I'm entering my card for the Art Impressions 'Summer Vibes' Challenge

Edited to add : the card won an Honorable Mention. How fun is that?!? Thank you!

Real Great Guys

Winter Snow Fun

This stamp set -  Winter Wonderland by Penny Black - just begged to be made into a slider card!

I coloured the images with coloured pencils and trimmed the little hedgehog out with scissors. The embossed snowflakes were done with the 'old style' Fiskars embossing plates. I find these very useful for adding selective embossing, exactly where I want them to be. I also drew in more snowflakes to match the flakes in the stamp to complete the image.

I cut the slot for the slider with the Silhouette Cameo. As a weight I used a dime. I like that it is smaller and thinner than a penny. I trimmed the foam to fit the slider nicely - snug enough to add support to the cardstock but wide enough to allow the dime to slide easily. I attached the coin to the little hedgehog image with foam tape. 

The little hedgehog now slides and sometime swirls down the slope. Every time it goes down the bank it ends up differently at the bottom. Which I think is pretty true to life. I must be a big kid but I have sent the little fella down many many times...hehe

On the inside is a bunny friend who ended tummy first in the snow... leaving lots of space for a message...or even a short winter poem!

I added little spots of glitter glue snowflakes on the outside and inside of the card .

The card turned out to be most enjoyable to make...and the critters are very cute indeed. I hope the little ones this card is intended for, will enjoy watching them have a little snow fun.

Last year I used the robins from this stamp set to make decorations for the tree - Tree Decor Wood Slices

Let the snow fun begin!