Well hello!  It’s time for another fun challenge at Cards in Envy.  For the next two weeks, we’re “Going Gray” with a winter-inspired color scheme.  Cards made for this challenge should use gray as the dominant color, as well as be A2 sized with no lumpy, bumpy embellishments.

After a lot of thought, I decided I’d use one of my animal stamps and have a gray animal on my card for this challenge.  I originally thought about using a rabbit – but then that made me think of gray hares, which was too much like gray hairs, which I’d rather not think about!  LOL!  I finally settled on this mouse image.  The stamp set that it’s from also has several star images.  I was browsing online looking for a good card sketch to use for the layout of my card, and felt that the most recent OWH sketch might work.  To me, the square element resembled a window, and I could position the mouse so it would be sitting on the windowsill, looking out at the stars.  I die cut a couple of stars to use in place of the round embellishments on the sketch, but opted to use just one to make the scene more realistic.  I covered the star with Stickles to give it some sparkle, but then painted over it with white shimmer paint to make sure the glitter wouldn’t flake off.  The paint covered the glitter more opaquely than I realized it would, but the texture of the glitter still shows.  I chose a grayish blue for my sky color and flicked some shimmer paint onto it for distant stars.  Fussy cutting around the mouse’s tail and whiskers was a little nerve wracking, but in the end, I think it was worth the effort.  Because the mouse stamp has him facing to the right, I flipped the sketch mirror-image so the mouse could be looking at the shiny star.  It’s been a while since I’ve made a “missing you” themed card for OWH so that was the driving force behind the sentiment I chose.  The card turned out quite clean and simple in style, and I have to say that I’m pretty pleased with it.  🙂

Thanks for stopping by today!  What kind of card will the color gray inspire you to create?  Be sure to check out what the rest of the Cards in Envy design team has made.  Then share your own work with us by 7:00 p.m. Eastern time Sunday, February 1.  We’d love to have you join in the fun and creativity!

Supplies:
Stamps: Storybook, Handwritten Notes (Avery Elle)
Cardstock: Smoky Slate, Basic Gray, Buckaroo Blue (Stampin’ Up); Pure Luxury White (Gina K. Designs)
Ink: Tuxedo Black (Memento)
Other: markers (Copic); Frost White shimmer paint (SU); Storybook dies (AE); Star Dust Stickles (Ranger)