Squirrel Appreciation Day

Today is Squirrel Appreciation Day and I was inspired to make a card in honor of the furry little guys who make our backyard their home. I was also inspired by the Virginia Creeper ivy that is about the only green scenery this time of year. We just had our yearly visit by huge groups of starlings that eat the purplish berries off of the ivy, leaving pretty plops of purple poop in the snow. They cover the trees, bugging the squirrels who use those trees as their highway. I also wanted to use some of the great new inks I won from Quick Quotes!

I started by stamping the bark-patterned piece. I used the kissing technique: I inked a solid-to-faded rubber stamp (Hero Arts) with Antique Linen distress ink, then stamped the bark pattern rubber stamp (Rogue Redhead Designs) in Quick Quotes Milk Chocolate chalk ink directly onto the first stamp and stamped it onto white cardstock. I then stamped the ivy (Rogue Redhead Designs) and sentiment (Clear Art Stamps) in Peeled Paint distress ink. I used Quick Quotes Purple Passion ink & the Ink Smooshing technique for the bottom. I like the result! I then used a die to cut the squirrel directly out of the front, and I popped the front from the kraft card base with foam tape. I stamped the bark pattern in brown ink on the kraft card before adding the front. Hi, little guy!

Here's a shot of a couple of our resident squirrels in front of some of our ivy:

Inspiration:
Cards und More: Woodland animals
Happy Little Stampers CAS Card Challenge: Ink Smooshing + CAS (3rd entry)
Less is More #259: Kissing Technique + CAS
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge: Critters

Thank you for visiting & inspiring my crafting!