The May challenge at 2 Crafty Critter Crazies has kicked off, and this time we have a brand new sponsor, TNT Artspirations. For today’s card, I had the pleasure of using an image called Squirrel – Just Peeking In, and you guys know how much I love squirrels if you have been here before. Most of the images from TNT Artspriations are what you might call quirky or primative, but this image was more realistic and that appealed to me.

I used the software for my Silhouette Cameo to create the layout of the image and a sentiment I made myself that does not come with the image. I also created a 2nd panel to continue the sentiment on the inside of the card. After printing and cutting the panels down to fit an A2 card, I colored the image with Prismacolor pencils. There was so much white space that it felt like it needed something so I printed the layout again on copy paper and fussy cut the image out to use as a mask. I covered the squirrel and fence, then ink blended Distress Oxide ink in Tumbled Glass with a makeup brush over the mask and onto the panel to create the look of sky in the scene.

The photo above is version 1 of this card. I felt like perhaps the card felt a little off balance and the upper left too plain, so after the photos were taken I went back and added more ink blending to carry the color into the upper left to see if that helped. Below is version 2 with the additional ink blending. Tell me what you think… which do you like better?

And here is the inside of the card with the other sentiment I created:

I hope you enjoyed my card today and I would love if you would head over to 2 Crafty Critter Crazies to see what the rest of the DT created to inspire you! And while you are there be sure to link up your latest critter project for a chance to win a prize from TNT Artspirations!

SPECIAL NOTE: If you follow 2 Crafty Critter Crazies (or any other challenge or blog on Blogger/Blogspot) and receive the emails when there is a new post, you will want to use a blog reader like Bloglovin’ or Feedly to still get the posts. Blogger/Google is getting rid of the Feedburner feature that emails posts to subscribers. The other option you have is to create old fashioned bookmarks on your favorite browser. I personally will be updating the tab at the top of my blog, “I Love These Blogs”, in addition to using Bloglovin’. I don’t want to be completely reliant on any single company if I can help it, so I’m making sure that I update that list in the event Bloglovin’ also comes to an early end. I would prefer Feedly, but I subscribe to more than 100 blogs and that is their cutoff for their free version. And I’d rather use bookmarks than to spend $60 a year just to have a crafty inbox at Feedly. You have until July 2021 to make arrangements for any blogs you want to stay in touch with. I feel like this is just another push to get more people on Facebook and Twitter, and control what you see and what you hear. But we still have choices, my friends, and I intend to use them! One last word on the subject… some bloggers will convert their email followers to Mailchimp or a similar product that sends out email notifications. That said, the little guys may not be able to afford that or know how to do it, so it is better to make a small effort now to make sure you can continue to show support for your favorite bloggers and challenges. I learned today that some WordPress sites use Feedburner too, so this could affect a good number of bloggers. OK, that’s it for my PSA, and I hope this helps someone who hasn’t heard about the upcoming change!

Thank you for dropping by! Hope you have a great weekend!!!