Little Raccoon

Hiya, stampers! I hope your week is going well. Today I have another card that I shared at the GKD release party last week. I used images from Hang in There and Life is Good.

I'm so sorry, I've been meaning to tell you about the sponge daubers I used. I've had a few people ask recently and I keep forgetting to talk about them.
They're called Jumbo Round Sponge Daubers. I get mine from Gina K Designs. I used to use round, yellow craft sponges, cut into wedges, for my sponging, but as soon as I tried these, I switch over completely. I love that they have a handle, so your fingers stay clean. For me, they are the perfect density for sponging. The yellow ones I used to use were nice some of the time, but sometimes when I bought them, they would be stiff. I used to have to search through the bins at Michaels, squeezing each bag. LOL I kept expecting some old guy to come down the aisle, shouting at me to, "stop squeezing the sponges!!!"

Since I do so much sponging, I keep one for each color and label them. I've been using them for about nine months and am just now starting to have a few wear out, so they are holding out much better than my yellow wedges did. Using them to sponge while your cardstock is still in a Nestabilities die wears them out quicker. You can get them at Gina K (they are a perfect little add-on if you are almost to the free shipping amount and just need to spend a few more dollars to get there. I also see them at Michaels, although they seem to run out often in my local store, so if you have your coupon and don't have anything else to grab, this is a good option.

Now, onto my card...

Istamped the raccoon with Memento Tuxedo Black ink and colored with Copic markers, starting with E51 and E53 in the light areas.

Filled in with N1.

Added more shading with N3.

More shading with N5.

Used N7 in the darkest areas.

I used E37 along the sides of the tree trunk.

Added E35.

Filled in with E33 and then pushed some highlights back in with my blender pen.

I stamped the image on scratch paper and cut it out to use it as a mask. I adhered it with re-positionable tape, then sponged around with Memento Cantaloupe ink.

Sponged Memento Desert Sand ink.

Sponged Memento Rich Cocoa.

Used my Rich Cocoa marker to ink up the top portion of the tree reflection stamp from Life is Good, then stamped on either side of the raccoon.

Used Copics, E55 and YG93 for some subtle coloring.

I stamped the grass and branch from Hang in There with Rich Cocoa. I stamped again before re-inking for more depth. I layered with Pure Luxury Chocolate Kiss and Sweet Corn, and used Chocolate Kiss for the cardbase.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great day!