Fifty Christmas Cards - Batch Four: House Mouses

When my BFF Chris came from Wisconsin to visit me the first week of September, she brought along a bunch of stamps so that I could stamp off images from them -- and a lot of the Christmas cards I'm making for my neighbor to use include those images.  One of the stamps she brought was a House Mouse one that I fell in love with.  I generally don't do cute, but for some reason I have a soft spot in my head heart for these little mousies.  I've mostly admired them from a distance, but I think this is the first time I've actually colored a House Mouse image.  I thought it would be hard, but it was surprisingly easy -- and fun -- to do with watercolor pencils.

Card 1:

Card 2:

Card 3:

Card 4:

Card 5:

The lighting is a bit off, so I'm not sure you can tell that I used the colors Real Red and Glorious Green (retired) for Cards 1 and 5; and Riding Hood Red and Chocolate Chip for the rest.  The Stampin' Up! DSP is from many years ago.  I sponged edges with Brilliance Galaxy Gold. (I thought about using Encore Gold, but the Brilliance pad was easier to get to!)  The oval and designer label dies are from SU!, as are all the stamps except for the mice.  The ribbon and gold cord are from SU! Christmases past; while the gold nailheads are fairly new to my stash.  I had such fun making these cards... probably because there's something about these mice that makes me smile.

I've switched gears and am now working with the Wonderful Wreath stamp that's in the holiday mini catalog.  I should have the next batch of cards done by the end of the weekend if not before.  I'll post them as soon as they're done.  Meanwhile, the next two posts will feature my September ATCs and some gelli plate monoprints Chris and I made together during her visit.

I'm starting to drift off to dreamland, so I'm going to sign off and drag my bones to bed.  Yay, the weekend is just a couple of sleeps away!

Contented smiles,
Joyce Spear (a.k.a. StamperJoyce)