Penny Black released the cutest hedgehog stamps this year titled "Adorable"... and yes, I too, think these little hedgehogs are exactly that.
I started by stamping both hedgehog stamps (since I didn't know which one I was going to use for this card) from this set onto Paul Rubens hot press watercolor paper using Lawn Farm's Jet Black premium ink pad. I allowed the ink to dry about fifteen minutes to ensure the ink wouldn't bleed once I began the watercoloring process.
Using the Derwent Pastel Shades Paint Pan Set, I mixed Storm Grey and Silver Blue to create the color for the quills on the hedgehogs and then mixed a little bit of Picket Fence Distress Watercolor Pencil with my quill color to create a lighter, creamier color to paint the belly, feet, and front paws. I added just a touch of the Derwent Pink Flamingo color to dot some blush onto the cheeks. For the hearts on each stamped image, I used Iuile Watercolors' Apple paint pan to create sparkly, metallic red accents. Lastly, I used a black Sakura Glaze pen for the eyes and a Sakura Micron 03 pen to enhance the nose and mouth and made little "flicks" throughout the quills with a white Uni-ball Signo gel pen to add some interest. Since I didn't own the dies for this stamp set, I used my Brother Scan N Cut to cut out the image.
I cut a white card panel to measure 4-1/4" x 5-1/2" and used the Tim Holtz/Sizzix die set called "True Love" to cut a partial heart out of the left side each of the panel. I selected a cute piece of patterned cardstock from the Echo Park 6x6 Paper Pad called "Love Notes" and cut it to measure 4-1/8" x 5-1/4". I chose the "Happy Valentine's Day" stamp from Simon Says Stamp's "Love Notes" stamp set and stamped the sentiment at the top, right corner of the white card front using Simon Says Stamp's Cherry Pawsitively Saturated Ink. Then I added foam tape to the back of the white card panel and adhered it to the patterned paper panel. After that, I added foam squares to the back the hedgehog and adhered it on the card front inside the heart cut-out. Using the Scrapbook.com die set "Mini Heart Balloons", I cut the heart from a scrap of red cardstock and the string from black and adhered that to the card front to look like the little hedgehog was holding it in her hand, then added Ranger Glossy Accents to the balloon to make it shiny (for the life of me I couldn't get rid of the bubbles in my Glossy Accents so, alas, they had to stay).
I adhered the card front to an A2 top folding white card base and added some Scarlet Clear Drops from Pinkfresh Studio cascading down the card front.
That wraps up my first 2024 Valentine's Day card. I hope you enjoyed it!
Until next time.... Happy Making!