Hi there! It’s May and the Friends of Unity Blog Hop is here. Farmhouse is the theme and it’s reminiscent of my childhood growing up in a small farming town. My family did not raise livestock or farm, but visiting friends and classmates who did was exciting and a fun experience.
Card #1 ~ Forever Rooted
I have a soft spot in my heart for all animals. The first time I remember seeing a Highland Cow in person, was approximately 8 years ago. I think about these cows all the time, they are as sweet in person as they are in pictures.
I stamped the image on textured watercolor paper. The texture of the paper gave the image broken lines and many areas not completely visible. Instead of starting over, I painted in carefree lines to close the gaps, giving the image a rough and raw appearance. Backing up, I used the Misti platform and inked up the eyes, ears, horns and noses in black, stamped it, and then a lighter color for the remainder.
I die cut the image and mounted it on a shiny white scrap I found on our kitchen counter! Turns out it was packaging from something that had not been tossed.I adhered it to a dust pink patterned paper on a pale pink cardbase. Then I stamped the sentiment in black. Finally a fancy matching string brings it all together!
Card #2 ~ Just Pig-Cause
An adorable pig for sure! I stamped him in Versafine Ink and like the previous card, the texture broke up lines but this image did not bave as much fine detail. I watercolored him in fuschia and white. I darkened the eyes and mouth with a Sharpie marker. I painted a liquid watercolor background.
Next I masked off the image with the rubber stamp backing and stamped the Where Fields Begin, background of the month, with my well used Ink 3 Ink Off stamp cleaner pad! I adhered it to a white cardbase. Thenk I stamped the sentiment on the scrap paper, framed it in brown and adhered it. A fun embellishment completes the card.
Card #3 ~ Little Miss Moo
The hilarious dairy cow is full of character and wit. I saw so much detail I immediately thought about a black and white gradient scheme.I stamped the image in Versafine black ink and though thid watercolor cardstock has texture, the image printed completely great. This paper was a different one from the previous cards. Using only black with varying amounts of water, I painted the image.
I trimmed the image and mounted it on black, leaving a thin border. Next I cut a dark grey cardstock slightly smaller than an A2 card. I saw I accidentally got a little smudge of lip balm on the grey paper. Instead of throwing it away, I added more! What do you think?! I glued it to an A2 light grey cardbase. No sentiment, I finally added a puffy heart at the bottom
I visited a classsmate’s dairy farm when I was growing up. The cows were in the barn mooing and it was fascinating to see that this was a part of everyday life milking the cows and feeding them!
Card #4 ~ Little Miss Moo 2!
Funny that his same cow image as in the previous card was the first one I stamped. Mistakenly I stamped on nonwatercolor paper. I went ahead and painted it but knowimg I would not use it for the hop. Then I added old glossy glue to the eyes, making a mess and adding uneven blotches. Oh well, I removed a bunch of it with a toothpick!
I ended up kind of loving the reckless abandon (inspo by Matisse!), so I sized it down and added fuschia to the edges. I adhered it to an orange cardstock in landscape orientation. I stamped the sentiment on the side vertically positioned. Two lime jewel embellishments for balance on the lower left corner and a chenille peachy-pink tie finishes the card!
I hope you find your day creative and fun. My cards are simple designs as I find the Unity images are so cute and awesome, they can stand alone quite nicely! Until next hop, take care and stay happy and carefree!
Rachel
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Blue Skies... 