Materials…

• 8×8” Craftwork Cards card blank
• Watercolour paper
• Kraft paper
• Polkadoodles Garden Neighbours, Magic Neighbours & Sensational Sentiments stamp sets
• Black StãzOn inkpad
• Kuretake Zig Art & Graphic Twin Muted, White, & Wink of Stella pens
• Kuretake Waterbrush
• Martha Stewart Cherish Punch Around The Page punch
• Polkadoodles Ribbon & free greeting download

To create…

1 Using the StãzOn inkpad stamp the mushroom house onto watercolour paper.

2 Create a mask by stamping the mushroom onto a Post-it note, ensuring the glue on the back is at the top and cut out as carefully as you can.  Use the mask to cover the stamped image.

3 Use the stitched circle from the Sentiments stamps and stamp, overlapping behind the mushroom.

4 Add flora and fauna around the base of the house and stamp the dragonflies.

5 Use the light yellow Art & Graphic pen and scribble some colour onto an acrylic block. Take your waterbrush and work water into the colour and add a pale wash to half of the sky behind the image. If it’s too dark, add more water. Work in long sweeping strokes to get a more subtle effect. Colour in the mushroom, working light to dark and layering the colours to achieve depth.

6 With the Art & Graphic pens you can take colour direct from the pen so for darker areas touch your waterbrush to the pen nib to lift the pigment and dab on carefully. To achieve darker areas use less water. You can also colour directly onto the image and then blend – ensure you don’t add too much water and keep the waterbrush dry or you will flood your work.

7 Add a wash of colour to the base of the house for the floor and add a little touch of colour into the flowers and bushes.

8 Take the brush tip of the light yellow pen and brush colour directly around the stitching on the circle. Blend the colour out into the centre, using the waterbrush creating a nice blended colour but leaving the centre white. Add highlights using the white pen.

9 Using the Wink of Stella clear glitter pen add some slight highlights where needed to give a sparkly finish.

10 Trim the image to measure 18x9cm and using the yellow pen, run the pen along the edges of the card to create a very subtle border and add definition.

11 Take a piece of Kraft paper and attach to the card front leaving a border top and bottom. Fix the image in place on top of this. Punch along the edge of a piece of watercolour paper and affix the border across the top of the car front and add ribbon across the bottom.

12 Cut out the greeting from the download sheet and add 3D foam to the corners. Stick the left hand side down and pushing it slightly to create a curve then stick the other edge down.  Add pearl embellishments to finish.

Project by Nikky Hall. Bonus project from Creative Cardmaking issue 29.