Congratulations, Grad! Impossible Card

I ran across a tutorial for making an "Impossible Card" on Splitcoaststampers and went to YouTube to see what it actually does that makes it have that name. It's called "impossible" because it uses an optical illusion to make it look like the base of the card can't possibly be from one piece of cardstock even though it is. And it's very easy to make! Here is a very helpful YouTube tutorial which includes doing them in multiple sizes.

I made this card in a hurry, although it took hours to create. I had to take quick pics at the end before getting it into the envelope. Please overlook the flaws. 

I decided on a purple base for a graduation color. The recipient is homeschooled and I'm not sure if she wore a cap and gown or what color they were, so I prayed and took my chances. To make it more girly and cheerful, I chose some orange and lime green papers to go with the purple. I thought they kept the purple from getting too heavy. You can't see it in the pics, but the green and orange papers are glittered! They came that way. They're very pretty and a heavy weight. DCWV makes wonderful papers! 

For the little mouse graduate, I popped his gown, cap and diploma out after coloring him with Copics. I used the W5 marker along the edges of the cut-out pieces to darken the white part that showed. A little oopsie in the pic below: I wasn't as careful to tuck that foam tape in on his cap, so it shows from the back. It's not as noticeable in person, but of course, the camera picks up everything!

Had I been thinking, I'd have made him a "she" with long eyelashes. But I was so rushed. Oh, well.

I'm not terribly happy with where the word "GRAD" was placed, but once again, I was rushed. I would've loved to have the letters dance along the contour of the mouse. But I was afraid I'd ruin the piece the mouse was on. So I played it safe and stamped the letters in a row.

The "Congratulations" piece is used to stabilize the card base and to add more interest.

I have other cards to show you, but I haven't given them to their recipients yet. I will be giving them out tomorrow, so there will be several new posts coming soon.

Take care and have a nice weekend!

Stamps: Stampabilities House Mouse "The Graduate", Stampabilities "Congratulations! 04", Purple Onion Designs "Girls Are Weird" small alphas

CS: Papertrey Ink Royal Velvet, Papertrey Ink Stamper's Select White, DCWV The Citrus Matstack designer papers, Basic Grey Wisteria

Inks: Mementos Tuxedo Black

Copics: V06, B24, E11, E13, E15, R02, W3, W5, E31, E33

Other: Nestabilities Stars Five, Long Classic Rectangles Large, Paper piercer, piercing mat, Foam tape, Scor-Pal, Bone folder

Happy Graduation!

Hello!! Remember, I'm not here right now. I'm offline enjoying my family and my garden, which is finally at least started! Mainly, tomatoes and peppers. But my 13 yo planted something in the squash family (we're not quite sure which seeds she used, oops!) and some peas, so we have a little variety.

My nephew graduated from high school recently and I wanted to give him a card using his school colors, gold and purple. I had gotten rid of my Eggplant Envy ink and CS back when SU changed the colors, and the Elegant Eggplant wasn't quite red enough for the match, so I DTPed it with CTMH Pansy Purple ink (I still don't have the EE ink pad or marker) and then warmed it up a bit with some More Mustard...I think. This is the problem of not writing things down right away. You forget. So I *think* it was More Mustard, but does it really matter? Nahhh. It might've been Summer Sun or Pumpkin Pie. Take your pick! ;)

I notice that I prefer simpler sketches more than the really elaborate ones most of the time. I am always struggling with those extra fancy ones with all kinds of elements tossed in. I am always glad when I finish one, but the process is not very enjoyable for me. So I often will keep it simple even though it's not the most popular way right now, or did it go out of fashion already? lol Are we swinging back to simple again? Well, I am, dern it! lol At least this time!

I wanted to showcase that cute little mouse. He's stamped with Versafine Onyx Black on watercolor paper. I find that I keep gravitating to the watercolor paper when I want to color with markers and/or a water brush. It just holds the color so much better.

Well, since it's simple, I don't have much to talk about, do I? lol

Have a wonderful day!

Recipe

Stamps: House Mouse "The Graduate", Congrats! by Village Arts Press

CS: Black, Elegant Eggplant, Pumpkin Pie, Canson watercolor paper

Inks: Only Orange (DTPed on the Pumpkin Pie cs), CTMH Pansy Purple and More Mustard (or whatever)(both DTPed on the Elegant Eggplant cs), Versafine Onyx Black

Markers: hmmmm I'm not even going to try. Lots of colors!

Other: Cuttlebug Houndstooth and Tiny Bubbles embossing folders, Nestabilities Labels Four, various markers, black zigzag ribbon, C1 (Cool Gray) Copic marker, 3D-Dots, Inkssentials opaque white pen (for eyes and white parts of diploma)

House Mouse is in the house!

I have always wanted a House Mouse stamp collection, but being the cheapy I am I could never plunk down the money for one, knowing I wouldn't use it often enough to justify the cost. But while I was in Hobby Lobby the other day, lo and behold, there was a House Mouse stamp on clearance for 1/2 off! How could I pass up such a deal?

Yesterday I played with it and used the Gamsol/Prismacolor method for coloring the scene. What fun! I stuck with very muted tones to keep with the hot cocoa theme. I colored the mice dark gray in honor of our newest pet rat, George, who happens to be that color and who has big ears and an inquisitive little face (he's a baby rat).

I used Chocolate Chip cs as the base and layered it with black and Sage Shadow, attaching the muted plaid ribbon to the black and Sage cs first. But first, the Sage Shadow cs was stamped in Sage Shadow ink using the SU Canvas background stamp. Then I ran it through the Cuttlebug using the Swiss Dots embossing folder. After coloring the main piece, it was run through the Cuttlebug using the Tiny Bubbles embossing folder (natch!) and adhered to black cs. I used Dimensionals to pop it up over the ribboned part.

For the sentiment, I stamped the SU Canvas stamp on white cs in Sage Shadow ink. Then I stamped 2 words from the Geometric Thoughts set by CTMH. I sponged More Mustard ink over that and punched it out with a circle punch (turning the punch upside down to see where to punch). Then I punched out a bigger circle of black cs and adhered them together with a Dimensional. I punched a 1/8" hole in them and tied the tag to the bow with black hemp cord. I used a Dimensional to position the tag on the card so it would float, but not move.

The main image was colored with Prismacolor pencils and Gamsol was used to blend the colors. I used mainly greens and browns. The mice are a blend of black and white with 2 peach colors for their exposed body parts.

This was a fun card to make. I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for looking!

Stamps: House Mouse "Hot Cocoa 02", SU Canvas, CTMH Geometric Thoughts

CS: Chocolate Chip, Black, Sage Shadow, White

Inks: Sage Shadow, Basic Black, More Mustard

Other: Cuttlebug "Swiss Dots" and "Tiny Bubbles" embossing folders, Prismacolor pencils, Gamsol, blending stump, Dimensionals, 2 circle punches (1" and 1.25"), 1/8" hole punch, sponge, plaid ribbon, black hemp cord