Birthday Cup Mouse

And my adventures in watercolor continue! I feel like I'm finally getting somewhere, and gaining more control over the brush strokes and the amount of water I'm using.

For this card, I decided to use Meljen's adorable Birthday Cup Mouse stamp. I love the whimsical storybook look of the stamp, and it seemed like the perfect stamp to watercolor with. I only have this one Meljen stamp so far, but I'm definitely planning on getting loads more!

I started by stamping the mouse onto the smooth side of Tim Holtz's distress watercolor paper, using Ranger Archival black ink. After giving the ink a minute to dry, I used distress markers and a watercolor brush to color the image. I colored different elements of the image, making sure to work with areas that didn't touch so the colors wouldn't bleed.

After the mouse, cup and candles were colored, I started on the background. Initially, I used shabby shutters, but the color was so light that it didn't show on the image. So, I used peacock feathers instead and went around the entire image.

Once the image was completely dry, I used one of my Sizzix circle dies to cut it out. I also cut out a slightly larger circle that would act as a frame for the watercolor image. I adhered the stamped circle to the frame circle with foam squares.

I created a base by cutting and folding a piece of MFT's Sno-Cone cardstock in half to create a standard A2 base (4 1/4 by 5 1/2"). I wanted to have a patterned paper background that was both soft and tied in with the mouse, so I went with the cream and brown polka dot background.

 After adhering the patterned paper and the circles to the card, I realized there wasn't much room for a sentiment. I spent some time looking for a stamp that was small enough to fit the card, and still had a whimsical look, but I couldn't find one. So, I pulled out a Simple Stories journaling card and cut the sentiment from it, giving it a banner edge. I adhered it to the card with foam squares and with one of its ends tucked under the watercolor panel.

Supplies:
Whimsy Stamps Meljen's Designs Birthday Cup Mouse stamp
Ranger Archival Ink in Jet Black
Tim Holtz Distress Watercolor paper
MFT Heavyweight Cardstock in Sno Cone
Little Yellow Bicycle Vintage Summer 6x6 paper pad
Simple Stories Birthday Sn@p cards
Distress Markers (peacock feathers, shabby shutters, fired brick, dusty concord, squeezed lemonade, wild honey, picked raspberry, spiced marmalade, salty ocean, brushed corduroy, vintage photo)
Scrapbook Adhesives 3D foam squares
Small round paintbrush
Water