
WINNER of the Forest Whimsy set is #65, Crystal B:

Thank you for playing along, and good luck off of Kim's and Amy's blogs as well!
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Okay, I couldn't resist. It was either "Honey, I'm Gnome!" or "I'll be Gnome for Christmas. . ." Yes, pretty bad, I know! Would you believe that I once bought a Gnomes book? I was taking a history of illustration class in college, and the Gnomes book had the most beautiful watercolor illustrations.
So, when my friend Kim Hughes asked if I'd like to play with her Paper Smooches Forest Whimsy set, I had to. It was my destiny (said in my best Darth Vadar voice).You may remember these images from a former stamp set called "Forest Friendzy." It was sold by Cornish Heritage Farms and Illustrated by Kim Hughes. Kim tweaked every image in the set and gave them a fresh new look! They are now manufactured with the highest quality clear photopolymer on the market. They stamp beautifully. Kim is releasing a new stamp set from the former "Kim Hughes Collection" on the 15th of each month at the Paper Smooches web site.
I have a Forest Whimsy stamp set to give away to one lucky person! You have until midnight EDT on Sunday, November 20 to leave a comment. I will use the random number generator to choose a winner and post the winner's name on Monday, November 21st.

On to my card: I had so much fun coloring this little guy that I thought I'd take pictures as I went--hope you find them helpful! ;-)

Hat and skintones first: I colored the largest red area first knowing that if I messed up, it would likely be on the red. No problems this time, however! I'm using PTI Rustic Cream cardstock here. My light source is from the front left.

Those lovely cool blue trousers next, with some BV25 shadows. . .

Boot colors are on the bottom of the stack, and shirt colors are on the top. I was going for a chamois shirt.

Okay, confession time: I spent probably three times as long on the beard as on everything else put together! The only place that has any cool gray in it is the shadow side--the right. The rest is all warm gray, with a few highlights enhanced by colorless blender.

I added a bit of B000 around the outside of the gnome and a series of E40's to color the stump. The grass is NOT part of the stamp set. I used my Copic Black 0.5 Multiliner SP to draw the grass and then colored it with YG61 and YG63.
Want more chances to win a Forest Whimsy set? Then please visit Kim's and Amy's blogs and leave a comment there as well! Thanks for stopping by.