New Rubber Release for Whimsy!! First stop on the hop!

Hello Precious Peeps!  I'm your first stop on Whimsy's latest blog hop!  I'd like to introduce you to Party Pony, a sweet little image I designed for Whimsy Stamps.  It is one of two new carousel horse sets I illustrated for them that are being released today!  In fact it is available to purchase right now at the Whimsy store.  My other carousel set, "Proud to Be" (perfect for fourth of July cards, or to send to an American friend) as well as some really cool sentiment sets done by the amazing Ann of Raindrop Echo  Designs are also now ready for you to buy!  You have until Friday May 21 at noon EST to hop around to all the designers blogs and get in on the draws.  Rowena, Ann, Stacey and Bev each have blog candy to give away! All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on each of their posts.  

Besides this new release, there's lots of rubber goodness on sale for the month of May at discounted prices, so why not go have a look-see!  Some stamps are going for as low as 40% off! 

 I hope you have fun on the hop and win something!

Now on to my card:

I entered this card into these challenges:

Whoopsi Daisy Challenge, "As You Like It"

Ooh-la-la Creations, "Bright and Cheerful"

Stamp Something, "Celebrate Something"

Papertake Weekly, "Shiny and Sparkly"

KL Stampin N Scrappin, "Lets show our animal friends some love"

Prairie Fairy Fridays, "Use flowers"

Cute Card Thursday, "Someone Special"

Allsorts, "Birthdays"

Pollycraft, "Summer Blooms"

Giving credit where credit is due, I was inspired by this little beauty of a card/gift set by Claudia Rosa of Pretty Pressings.  I wanted to at least follow the colour scheme, and so I did as best I could.  My blue turned out deeper but oh well!  Isn't her stuff divine?  If you have never seen her blog, you are in for a treat today - go check it out!!

I stamped Party Pony onto 140 lb cold press water colour paper by Canson, using Memento Tuxedo Black ink.  Copics act great on watercolour paper.  Almost identical to how they act on my Fanboy Manga Drawing Pad, which is what I usually use.  But I knew I wanted to combine some water colouring as well as Copics. That's why I chose to use the water colour paper.  TIP:  Always use the Copics first, then water colour on top.  You don't want to clog up the marker tips with the crushed mica dust found in Twinkling H20's, or other binders and fillers, so never use Copics on top of other mediums.

  Here's the list of Copics used:

Pony body: E50, 53, Y28, blender

Hooves: E55, 57

Tail: E50, 53, 19, 29

Saddle, cinch, reins and streamer: RV23, 25, 29

Saddle blanket: E00, 01, 11, RV23

Gifts and Pole: E00, 01, 11, RV23, C0 and C3 for shadow

Pink Balloon: RV23 and blender pen 

C0 and C3 on the ground for shadow

Blue Balloon:  I wanted to use this very cool blue shade but there is no Copic this exact blue colour.  And so I reached for my Twinkling H20's to create it.  I combined True Blue and Dragonfire on a pallete and water coloured the blue ribbon and other blue trim in the image.  I also used it around the outside edges of the main image panel.

AND, 

I made the DP!!  I used the accessory images I illustrated that come in this set.  I stamped them on water colour paper (same stuff as I used for the image) in Versamark Clear ink, embossed in clear embossing powder and heat set.  Then, I painted the inside of the flower design with a mix of Ruby Red and Poppy Red (more Twinkles!).   Using the same mix I had used for the blue ribbon on the image (True Blue and Dragonfire) I then painted around the flowers.  I had to mix a lot of it to cover the whole sheet. Plus I had to put a generous amount of water down onto the paper first.  It's called a "wet into wet wash" in water colour terms!

Once it was dry, I ironed it with a sheet of printer paper overtop, to remove the clear embossing.  It makes a kind of batik look that I just love! Plus it removes the warp of the paper too, which you really need when making a card!

I bought the gorgeous flowers from the Whimsy store and was really happy with Denise's prices - much lower than what I've seen in other places!

Now why not go to the next stop on the hop and see what the rest of the amazing DT has created for your enjoyment! Rowena's blog is next! What'cha waitin' for! Go get hopping!!