Last Anything Goes High Hopes Challenge Entry

Hi everyone this will be my last challenge entry for this month. Luckily we are allowed three entries each month and of course this will be the winning entry. ;-) Of course if you haven't entered yet you still can just remember the winning prize is mine. ;)
http://highhopesstamps.blogspot.com/2015/02/challenge-152-anything-high-hopes-goes.html
Just kidding about the winning prize is mine whether I win or not doesn't matter as I had a blast creating this little work of art using their window stamp and some ancient stamps I had from the 90's.

 It is kind of nice to once in awhile pull out some old friends and reminiscence about days gone by. It is also nice to play with different things in my "playroom" including some brand new gouache used for coloring. Enough yapping as I know you want to see what I did with the window stamp.

 Here is my card and I love how it turned out. Although I'm not so sure that I can part with it now. I might just have to frame it for decorating my "playroom".

I started out by stamping three different colors of Distress Ink onto a sheet of plastic and then misted it with water. It could also be misted with a shimmer spray. I just didn't have any made up. Then I plopped photo paper glossy side down in the ink.. It doesn't matter what brand you use.I usually buy mine at Dollar Tree when they have it.) You could probably also use glossy card but I don't have a lot of it and have a difficult  time finding it at the price I want to pay. If your paper or card curls you can mist it on the backside and it should flatten out. When it was dried although I was terrified I was going to mess it up I stamped the sun with sentiment using Stazon ink. The sun is a Stamping Up Stamp I won so I don't know if it is still available. I then painted the sun with gouache layering it on tying to get a yellow instead of a green sun. Lol!

I like to stamp everything out at one time so using Stazon ink I first stamped the kitty which was actually in a basket of ornaments. I'm pretty sure the stamp is long since retired and the company may no longer be in business. The same with the tulip stamp but you can always find similar stamps. (Also remember to look at your stamps as you may be able to use only a portion of a stamp.) Then I stamped the window. These stamped images were colored with gouache. Gouache is similar to watercolor but usually dries faster and is more opaque. This was my first time using Gouache which comes in tubes and it will take some practice getting the right constancy. After everything was painted I cut with scissors and a craft knife. By the way if you have not invested in a  finger swivel craft knife you might want to as it is great for cutting out small areas..After the window was cut out I very carefully glued lace to the back. Then I carefully glued the kitty to the frame.and glued the window to the background. It is a little tricky with the window sill being so narrow but a glue eraser comes in handy and didn't seem to ruin the background.

The butterfly was one in my stash. I was going to use an embossed butterfly but that envelope has disappeared. I air brushed with a Spectrurm Noir marker and then used a stencil with a Sharpie and my eBrush.  I then colored the body with a black Sharpie and heat embossed with clear Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel. I had to do several layers but was amazed at how it made the colors to really pop. For some reason using this cutting file the head and antennas always tear off  on the smaller ones so I used floss for those. and then pop dotted it on the window with the antennas pointing to the sentiment.

The tulips was the first thing I tried painting with my new gouache paints. I only bought the starter set but the colors can be blended. Because they are water based any waterproof ink will work. I just love the crispness I get using Stazon and finally bought the black. I love how colors can be layered using gouache. Now I wonder why it took so long before I bought any. Then I used a VersaMarker pen and fine detail clear embossing powder for the look of dew. Sorry for the glare on them but it really looks like a fine coating of water droplets. Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel would give more of a raindrop look as perhaps coarser embossing powder.

There you have it my card using the High Hopes Window stamp. Don't be surprised to see this stamp used on other cards. I already have several ideas swirling around in my head. If you decide to buy this stamp please leave me a comment with a link to what you did with it. It looks like with a little bit of imagination it could be a fun stamp to use.

That's all folks! Off to spend my fifteen minutes creating and my fifteen minutes cleaning and organizing my playroom. Since the wind is blowing it may end up being longer. :-) Wishing you a craft filled weekend and Happy Frugal Crafting till we meet again!