Moving on ...

There must be something in the water because yet another co-worker is leaving. That makes 3 (out of our small group of 8) in the past month! For Brian's card, I chose to go with a homey feel; autumn'y shades, faux stitching, and a sock monkey. 

The image I chose is from Bugaboo and I coloured it using Copics. The paper I used has a bit of a grain to it which gave the coloured image a rougher look which I think works well with the distressing on the card. I cut the image out using a Spellbinders and then ink the edges with Antique Linen Distress Ink. The paper is from Basic Grey (a Christmas pack!) and I also inked the edges (just enough to make sure there is no white showing on the cut lines).

I used a chipboard speech bubble from Ezee Pzee Embellishments. Here is an enlargement so that you can see the detail. I painted the shape with Memory Makers Vanilla Latte paint and then lightly sponged Antique Linen distress ink over it to try and mimic the look of the cream in the patterned paper. I added the sentiment (and this was incredibly difficult for me) in my own handwriting - first with pencil and then with red ink. I chose not to erase the pencil because, again, I wanted to give it a softer, fuzzier feel.

The final touch were fauz stitches around the outside of the speech bubble (I was trying to make it look like it was stitched like the monkey) as well as some faux stitched lines on the patterned paper. The card design overall was based on a sketch from Sketch Saturday.

Thanks for looking and I'd love to hear any suggestions you might have to improve on this or any other project I post.

Challenges:

Sketch Saturday - sketch

Stamp, Scrap & Doodle - buttons

Paper Sundaes - for a boy or man

The Crafty Pad - stitching

Papertake Weekly - for a boy or man

Simon Says Stamp (PCP group) - buttons

Lil Red Wagon - use some red (I think it's the red hat & buttons that make this pop)

Cards for Men - anything goes

Crafty Cardmakers - stitching