A blog devoted to the cards I make in my tiny upstairs space. When my sister stays there, she calls it an "artist's garret". I'm not an artist, but am an enthusiastic cardmaker - hence the title "Cardmaker's Garret".
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Saturday 17 September 2016

Dogs and a Mouse

I haven't done a post for a couple of days so am including three cards here: a couple of dog cards, one sad and one happy, and a card with a mouse!

The sad one was made for a friend whose elderly dog passed away.

I did the dog by inking up the stamp once, stamped it full strength, and then stamped it off twice without reinking as it goes off the page to give the idea of her wagging her tail right to the end as her life fades away.

On a happier note, I recently came across a stamp that reminded me so much of my puppy, Tessa, and her litter mates when I went down to see them a couple of weeks before I got Tessa.  They were weaned off of their mother and just starting to eat mushy food - and they all shared it from the same bowl.  They would step in the food sometimes and then track it all over their pen.  There is a lot of clean-up and laundry involved if you breed dogs!  Whoever designed this stamp's image sure knew what they were doing!

I turned it into a thank you card to send to Tessa's breeder.


I stamped the image in Distress Tea Dye ink as it is close to Tessa's colour, then watercoloured it with various Distress inks.  I added the pawprints on the bottom right to balance with the sentiment.

Tessa no longer steps in her food and is growing up into a well-mannered (most of the time) and very sweet young dog (most of the time) - she's now five and a half months old.  Here's a recent photo:


And finally a card I made with a sweet mouse - I sent it to a 10 year old great-niece who loves to read.


I used an ancient stamp I have of a mouse on a stack of books - simply stamped and watercoloured.

The sentiment below the mouse makes me think of my childhood - whenever my mother asked me to do something when I was reading, I'd always reply "as soon as I finish this chapter".

I cut it out with a tag die, made a background with a text stamp, and popped it up on fun foam.


Thanks for dropping by!





Supplies:

Stamps -
1st card: SU D is for Dog
2nd card: PB puppies, Bouji paw prints, Savvy Stamps sentiment 
3rd card: Kidstamps mouse, Wendy Vecchi text stamp, PTI sentiment 
Ink -
1st card: Memento Tuxedo Black
2nd card: Distress Tea Dye and various others, Memento Tuxedo Black
3rd card: Versafine Onyx Black, Adirondack Lake Mist 
Paper -
1st card: PTI Vintage Cream, Deja Vu dp, black cs
2nd card: watercolour paper, cream cs
3rd card: green and white cs, watercolour paper 
 
Size - all are A2

Accessories -
1st card: dimensionals, twine, Spellbinders tag
2nd card: Lil Inkers stitched rectangle die, fun foam 
3rd card: watercolour paints, Die-namics tag die, brad, fun foam



6 comments:

  1. All three cards are so uniquely designed Susan. The idea of having the dog image fade off is so creative and artistic. I'm sure this card brought comfort to your friend. It's so hard to loose your pet who has become a constant companion and one of the family.

    And the second card with the adorable image is so sweet!! I can just imagine the puppies all chowing down and stepping in the food. :) Your breeder will appreciate it ... and have a laugh, I'm sure.

    And the third is so perfect for a young reader. That mouse on the stack of books is so cute. Thanks so much for sharing. xx

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  2. Very nice & thoughtful! Your pup is so cute!

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  3. Very nice & thoughtful! Your pup is so cute!

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  4. Tessa is beautiful. Love the mouse card and your story about reading. A good book is hard to put down.

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  5. Tessa is beautiful. Love the mouse card and your story about reading. A good book is hard to put down.

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  6. Wow, you've been busy, Susan! The first card is sweet and uplifting for a sad occasion. The second is lots of fun and Tessa is such a beauty! And I've got to say I love that reading mouse and the sentiment is so appropriate! How many times have I said that!

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