HYCCT - Listening Ears

It's my turn to host today's challenge for Hope You Can Cling To! Here's a little bit about my theme... I know when I’ve gone through difficult times in my life, the thing that I found most refreshing was to have someone just really listen to me – not try to fix things for me, or say the right thing (because more often than not, those words aren’t there), but just to sit, allow me to get everything out into words, take it in, and through those words, process the situation along with me. The skill of listening is so valuable and rare.

I wanted to represent the importance of listening in my challenge, so the requirement for the challenge is to have an ear showing on your card! Participants can choose an animal image, or an image of a person – the important thing is that an ear is showing. If you’re feeling punny and want to have ears of corn instead… I’ll take that, too.

I've been having fun with House Mouse stamps this month, and also this sister line by the same artist called Happy Hoppers. I watercolored both images using reinkers, Shinhan Premium Watercolors and Inktense Pencils.  Love this sentiment - so sad that the company that made it has gone out of business (Yvonne Albritton Designs).

A second Happy Hoppers card I made fits my challenge, but I actually made it for an Elvis-Inspired challenge. I won this stamp and don't use it much... I don't believe in 'luck' but it's cute, and surely it will brighten someone's day! This was a fun mixed media card to make, especially since I got to pull out my Inktense pencils, and also some Lumiere Acrylic Paints I hadn't used yet. These paints are so shimmery and beautiful - some are metallic and some are pearlescent. There are some regular flat paints too - I bought what they call an 'exciter set,' which is a set of smaller dropper bottles, kind of a sampler of their paints.

I think the sentiment is from Hero Arts - I liked the quiet little play on words with the wishing well. Here's a closer look at the scene, and the shimmer on the glass jar and the coins. I added some texture to the background by scribbling an Inktense pencil onto some sandpaper, and letting the 'dust' fall onto the wet area where I'd painted yellow ink.

I used paper scrap strips to make my card base - only the border shows, but it's done with a herringbone technique. I have an older tutorial HERE.

I'd love to have you join me! If you're into watercoloring, you can combine this week's Mix-Ability challenge too!