Christmas in July -- Journey Blog Hoppers July Hop

So, over on my Spotify, it was Christmas Pianos while I was finding all the parts, finishing them up and taking the photos ... now it is Burl Ives ... a bit backward -- should have an instrumental playing right now while I am trying to think and type (LOL) ... so I went over and changed it to a different Christmas Piano album ... **sigh** Now if the graphics software will load and work correctly ... we're almost ready to get everything plopped here in an orderly fashion ...
     This is the banner for July's Hop -- butterflies are definitely "summer," right?  and Poinsettias are Christmas?  The image is from Pixabay.com, a wonderful source for royalty-free photos and graphics.  Oh, there were so many wonderful images there to choose from, it was incredibly hard to narrow it down.  I found this one and decided to use it as my inspiration for my project: 

I've been seeing foxes all over YouTube -- seems like every stamping company has decided this is the next fad -- it was owls for a long time.  They are cute as stamps and well, Fun Stampers Journey joined in the foxy fun and the brand new catalog that came out July 1, includes a wonderful set of stamps with matching dies called Creature Comforts (SS-0308).  The set features a fox, a beaver, rabbit and a squirrel -- all so cute!

I knew the order with this bundle (stamp set and matching dies at 10% off if purchased separately) was due to arrive July 1 and got to work trying to figure out how I would try to duplicate the image I chose from Pixabay to use as my inspiration ... first, a suitable background was needed -- Prima water color pencils (sorry the photo of the tin is so bad ... trying to use available natural light and ... ugh!) -- the three blues in the basic set plus black (I thought I was grabbing dark purple to add just a touch of depth to the background) ... I drew a ragged edge rectangle in my Canson Multimedia sketchbook, colored a bit randomly with the pencils (starting with the lighter blue in the corners and coloring in from there toward the center with successively darker blues and a little of the black), then used a smallish watercolor brush to add water to blend the colors.  Oops, almost forgot that I salted the wet background with extra fine popcorn salt ... one of my favorite techniques for a wet area -- I used to have table salt and pretzel salt in my watercolor toolbox ... the crystal size reacts differently with the wet media and soaks up the moisture differently leaving behind slightly different patterning.  (Um, just how many times can I use the word "differently" in one sentence? Sorry!)
     FSJ has a set of watercolor pencils in the current catalog, in fact they were introduced in the "Spring Into Summer" mini catalog but due to manufacturing problems they can be preordered but will not ship until late July ... samples from the design / creative team at the FSJ headquarters show that these pencils will be WOW! 

     Stamped out the fox in a light color a number of times -- sorry, used a non-FSJ ink there so I will not identify it.  Used a light color because I did not want the outlines to show up much in the finished fox.  Over at You Tube I'm hearing the term "lineless" but on some of the samples you can still see the stamped image once it has been colored in.  I think it is a matter of how dark your image is on the page and not about the techniques or medium used to color the image.  Tried this many years ago with an SU light grey pigment ink and then tried to watercolor over it.  I believe the image I was trying to work with was too finely detailed and too small to actually work the way I wanted, plus I was impatient to wait for the pigment ink to dry ... I did not like the results and gave up in disgust.
Well, I am pleased with the fox.  I tried a couple of different colored pencil combinations and a couple done with the Spectrum Noir alcohol markers I have.  The marker foxes came out too red and that red is a bit too pinkish for me ... There is one cut off the sheet and that one came out okay but he has hopped off somewhere and is hiding from me or I would show him to you, too.
     I ended up fussy cutting the fox instead of using the die -- decided I did not want the white edge around him like on a sticker.

Jake & Unk show off the Fox in Winter form FSJ's "Creature Comforts" Stamp set

     Then I froze up -- got scared.  and decided to more or less quit.
     I have not practiced trying to paint that "highlight" on the glass globe over the fox in the original inspiration piece ... I have this fear "I'll ruin it if I go any further!" and I quit in my tracks, backed up trying to step in the tracks I had made to that point and then retreated as fast as I could.
     I almost did ruin it -- I forgot I needed snow at the bottom for the fox to sit on.  I ended up using a tube of Plaid's FolkArt Mixed Media acrylic gel paint in white that Wal Mart sells.  Forgotten I had gotten a tube and accidentally found it the other day while digging through all the junk in my workspace looking for a pack of photos to make a birthday card ... Not sure I like the stuff -- did not mix up with the water well to thin the paint to make the splatters easily ... used a torn index card to make an edge for the snow layer ... Added Journey Mini Brads in silver (AC-0274) in the corners.
    For a final touch I added a few sequins using Journey Glaze as the adhesive -- something else (sequins on cards) that seems a bit faddish to me.  **sigh**   Added the yellow ones from the Amazing Trim pack (AC-0206) from FSJ.
      To be honest, the actual card turned out a lot better than it shows in the photo ...  It has to be cute and awesome, how can that fox not be awesome?  LOL!

The New Catalog & Inspiration book is awesome!
There is an online flipbook at issuu and if you are interested, mention that in your comment below and be sure to leave an email address where I can contact you and I'll send you that link.  I think you will want a real book in your hands, to flip through, the carry with you, to drool over and day dream of all the projects you WILL make using the stamps and dies you find there ... The annual 2016-17 book is here and the Holiday mini is here.

Here

Where "it" is

     Well, it IS July and just saw some lightening out the corner of my eye ... a few rumbles but not too bad.  Some cold wind (downdrafts, hubby would say) ... ICK!

More Fun Images
Okay, here are a few more of the images from Pixabay that I thought were fun but couldn't think of a way to translate into a stamped cardfront:

     It's Christmas in July because it is not too soon to think about your holiday cards, get started on them now so that you will be less stressed in November and December ... I'll be making more of these fox cards, though I am not sure what is Christmas-y about him ... except perhaps the snow?  LOL!
   
Want Some Sequins??
     Soon I will be featuring a project using Journey Sequins ... Jake and Kitty came up with an idea they think I should try and I agree with them, it should be fun!
     In the comments below, say you "hop to win" to get a couple feet of the new sequins that go with the new colors in the FSJ paper and ink line ...

THANKS for visiting --
Here is the list of stops along the Hop:

Betsye Rose Cimino Erazo      http://betsyerose.blogspot.com/2016/07/christmas-in-july_17.html

Wilma Payne     http://stampintotheoldies.blogspot.com/2016/07/christmas-in-july.html

Kim Lamos     http://pinkzebrapapercreations.blogspot.com/2016/07/christmas-in-july-journey-blog-hoppers.html

Carol Moffett Norby      http://stampincarol.blogspot.com/2016/07/christmas-in-july-blog-hop.html

Ruth Cooper     http://www.sassyangelsstudio.com/christmas-in-july-fsj-blog-hop

Martha Jackson     http://www.marthajstamps.com/#!Christmas-in-July-Blog-Hop/c1aod/578987390cf23020133eac13

Susan Berg     http://suseadoodledo-journeys.blogspot.com/2016/07/ChristmasinJuly.html

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