I’m generally not a cute critter person. Well, I mean, who doesn’t love cute critters? But I don’t usually choose them for my cards, preferring to stick with botanicals. However, when I saw the artwork for the Wild Love set, I couldn’t resist! I have two cards to share with this set, so keep scrolling to see the second card.

I’ve linked all supplies with compensated affiliate links used where possible at no cost to you.

simon hugs release

Before I jump into this card, please check out the new Hugs release from Simon Says Stamp. The Love You Greetings + dies, Wild Love + dies and Spun Glass embossing folder I used on this card are from the latest release.

i just couldn’t resist! How cute are these critters?

There are seven critters in the Wild Love set and I stamped each of them in a light ink on Hot Pressed watercolour card and die cut with their matching die. I chose Hot Pressed card because I wanted to paint these wee guys in gouache and you get the best results with gouache on a flat surface. 

There are a few options for gouache; you can find colourful gouache sets such as those from Prima and Altenew. Or, you can use a Permanent White Gouache tube and mix watercolours with it for a pastel palette of gouache. Gouache is an opaque watercolour, so you can layer lighter colours over darker ones and vice versa. Gouache is often used with an illustrative style of painting and so fit perfectly with these cute critters.

For my first card, I picked out the bunny because I have a soft spot for rabbits having had two as pets not so long ago. I ran the Spun Glass embossing folder through with an Ivory card and again with a piece of Neenah Desert Storm card. I cut a Nested Circle out of the Ivory card and mounted it over the Desert Storm panel. I cut another piece of Ivory card to cover the lower third of the panel. I painted three stripes across the top, embracing the slightly wobbly lines as fitting with the style. I tucked the wee rabbit into to top of this panel. I separated all the layers with foam adhesive to give lots of lovely dimension. 

For the sentiment, I chose a greeting from the Love You Greetings set, stamped it in Tattered Rose Distress Oxide ink to match the colour scheme and die cut with the matching die. I mounted this with foam adhesive and then accented it with Mini Hearts die cut from Hot Pressed card and painted with gouache along with my favourite Eggshell Pearls. 

For my second card, I used many of the same elements – the Spun Sugar embossing folder with Desert Storm card, the painted Mini Hearts, the stamped and the die-cut greeting from the Love You Greetings set, and, of course, critters from the Wild Love set. 

I painted the animals in a no-line style using light ink and then opaque gouache. However, I did struggle with the elephant’s trunk, so in the end, I drew that in with a black pen instead. I also used the same black pen on the critter’s eyes, noses and whiskers where appropriate. A pen is much easier to handle than trying to paint these elements. 

Which is your favourite? The bunny of the first card, the elephant, fox or cat? The Wild Love set also has a seal, bear and koala if those win your heart over. I will still spend most of my time creating with botanicals, but it has been fun to step out of my comfort zone for a wee while and indulge in some cute critter love!

Oh, and as a final note, I’m all up for these stamped and die-cut greetings. They make the placement of the sentiment so easy. No worrying about where is the best place to stamp a greeting and then messing up or wishing it was somewhere else instead. With a stamped and die-cut greeting you can move it around until you are happy with its placement and then attach it. Great for those of us with decision and commitment issues LOL.

supplies

You can find links to the supplies I’ve used below; click on the picture or shop icon to get taken directly to the product. Where available I use compensated affiliate links which means if you make a purchase I receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you! Items marked with an asterisk (*) provided by a store or the manufacturer. You can read my affiliate and product disclosure here. I genuinely appreciate your support.