What to send to cheer a friend up when they are an ocean away and going through some tough times is the theme of this card – part thinking of you, part Valentine.

A whimsical mouse carrying a heart is a stamp set designed by Bonnie Krebs for Art Impressions. It comes with coordinating dies to cut out the image and with a companion die the twist frame it makes an interactive element that can twist to see the front and back of the image.

I colored the image with watercolor pencils and brushed them with water. Once the images were dry, I added a layer or two of Glossy Accents, a clear gel that adds dimension. (Hint: if you get air-bubbles in the gel, quickly pop them with a straight pin before they harden into the piece.) I let these pieces dry over-night before I glued them together.

Using a pre-cut and scored 10 inches x 6 ½ inches card base with coordinating envelope, I cut three pieces of 5 inches x 6 ½ inches double-sided patterned paper from the Hot Off the Press Spice Market set. I glued two of the pieces to the front and back of the card base and the third was glued inside the front panel. Because the pattern paper is thinner than cardstock, I used the reinforcement of the double paper for the card front so that it would be sturdy when I cut the twister window from it. (Hint: if you glue the papers on first, you only have to die-cut the window once.)

Once the window was cut, I decorated the card front with a foiled sentiment strip and yellow ribbon. The slotted mouse image pops in the notched center of the window perfectly. (Hint: use up your cardstock scraps by hot foiling a bunch of sentiment strips at one time and save for future projects.)

For the inside of the card, I wanted a pink gingham background to match the pink of the heart and also something lighter and not so intense in color as the front of the card. I found it in in a journaling card pad from Prima. (Hint: if you love a paper collection and can’t afford the larger paper pads, try the journaling cards or 6 x6 pads as they are affordable and often can be found in the clearance sections.) At 4 inches by 6 inches the journaling card left some white space on which I doodled some circles, hearts and arrows.

The back flap of the envelope has a heart with a friendship message stamped in Blushing Bride pink to give a hint as to what was inside.

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Materials Used:

Stamps/Dies

• Art Impressions – Steel Dies – Twist Frame Die – 5218
• Art Impressions – Clear Stamps & Steel Dies – Heart Twist Set – 5214
• Heart Dies & Stamps Set from Papercraft Inspirations issue 176, April 2018

Inks/Watercolors

• Memento – Tuxedo Black ink pad
• Nuvo – Watercolour Pencils – Elementary Midtones, Pastel Highlights and Dark Shadows
• Stampin’ Up – Classic Stampin’ Pad – Blushing Bride

Papers

• Recollections Value Pack of Cards & Envelopes 6 ½ x 5 inches
• Hot Off the Press – Double-Sided 12 x 12 Paper Pack– Spice Market – HOTP 4288
• Prima Marketing Inc – 4 in x 6 in Journaling Notecards – Fruit Paradise – 638405
• Blue scrap from my stash

Foiling

• Spellbinders – Glimmer Hot Foil Roll – Rose Gold – GLF-004
• Spellbinders – Everyday Sentiments II Glimmer Hot Foil Plate – GLP-094
• Spellbinders – Glimmer Hot Foil System – GLS-001

Miscellaneous

• Yellow organza ribbon from my stash
• Ranger – Glossy Accents, 0.5oz – GAC27898
• PVA Glue – Cosmic Shimmer Acrylic Glue
• Ranger – Tim Holtz® Waterbrush Detailer Tip – TIP33080
• Tonic Studios – Tim Holtz Stamp Platform