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Thursday, August 20, 2015

Back to School The Retro Rubber Challenge blog.....

Hello everyone: Today I have a card I made for the Retro Rubber Challenge blog . This blog encourages you to participate using any of your beloved, retired, older than 1 year, cherished and beautiful rubber stamps that you probably have neglected for a long time and give them a chance to shine again so, go dig into your (maybe forgotten) drawer, box, bag or whatever you keep this older stamps in and get to work, I do hope you give this challenge blog a try, it's fun to see the cards created with all of this very old images. Here is the card I made for this challenge, the theme is "Back to School", just perfect since by now, all of our children and grandchildren have gone back to the classrooms so all of us will have more time to craft.
I think this is the only stamp I own that has a school theme, it's a House Mouse stamp that I bought at my local craft store, I wanted to provide you with a link to the House Mouse on line store but I couldn't find this particular one.
Anyway, as you can see, this adorable image presents you with what, I think, ALL Teachers will be facing this new school year, whether the kids are little or big, there is always a few that just wont pay attention, goof around, fall asleep, etc. creating for the Teachers big challenges every single day.
One thing I must say, all Teachers deserve our outmost respect and admiration, they are in charge of educating and preparing our kids and grandkids for LIFE. I read a quote in one of my grandchildren's classrooms one day that I went to visit for Grandparents day, it goes like this:
 
"I TOUCH THE FUTURE.....I TEACH!!!!!"
 
Totally true, so keep all teachers in your thoughts, every day.
Here is a close up of this sweet scene.
I hope you can see the writing on the "blackboard", that was done by me, using a fine brush and some SU white craft ink, notice the little drawings, letters and hard "math", but also notice that little guy chewing on the pencil and that other one scratching the board, sheeesh!! do you remember that noise that made your hair stand on end? I get goose bumps just thinking about it. Here is another close up of the rest of this mischievous but adorable little mice.
The Teacher's look is one of patience and love, the year had just started and she knows there is more of this antics to come.  Look at that cutie pie chewing gum, that other one yawning and that other one doing a flip, this little mice are just adorable.
So, I hope you like this card, I didn't add any embellishments since the image itself is so darn cute, I didn't think it needed any and besides, this stamp is big so there was not enough room.
This image was colored with Prismacolor pencils and paper stumps dipped in baby oil, the flowers and grass were done with SU makers and an aqua painter.
I want to thank you for stopping by, please leave your comments, I love reading them and of course, if you have any questions, I'm here to answer it.
Till next time, happy stamping.
RRCB21Hugs from Maria. 

Paper Stumps   You can get them HERE 
 

20 comments:

Sonny said...

This scores high on the CUTE meter ! These little mice are so typical of little kids getting adjusted to being in school. As usual your coloring is perfect and I agree with your choice not to add any embellishments .
Adorable !

*Vicki* said...

This is really precious!! I love those sweet meeces to pieces and this image you've pulled out is perfect for the challenge!! :) Fabulous card!

Mary Fish said...

This is amazing coloring, Maria!

Bobbi-spapertrail.blogspot.com said...

Beautifully done, Maria. I love these little mice and your coloring and letters on the chalkboard are perfect. What are paper stumps dipped in baby oil? Does that mean no colors..just oil? I'm always intrigued by terms I am not aware of.

Bobbi-spapertrail.blogspot.com said...

Beautifully done, Maria. I love these little mice and your coloring and letters on the chalkboard are perfect. What are paper stumps dipped in baby oil? Does that mean no colors..just oil? I'm always intrigued by terms I am not aware of.

Unknown said...

Absolutely ADORABLE! Love the scene and your story line! Your coloring is exquisite. And no other embellishment was the way to go with this card. You make me want to pull out my prismacolor pencils, paper stumps and baby oil. The baby oil on the stumps really does a great job blending and smoothing the colors. Well done, Maria. We are always happy to see you play along with Retro Rubber!!

Maria Rodriguez. said...

Yup Sonny, this little mice are always as cute as can be, their antics make the most adorable cards.

Maria Rodriguez. said...

Hello Vicki, I totally agree, this little mice are just so endearing and sweet. Thank you for stopping by.

Maria Rodriguez. said...

Thank you Mary, love coloring with Prismacolor pencils, it's a beautiful and easy way to add color to your images.
Thank you for stopping by.

Maria Rodriguez. said...

Hello Bobbi: Paper stumps look like pencils, they are tightly rolled paper that you dip in baby oil to blend with Prismacolor pencils or any other kind of pencil. NOT water color pencils, ok? I will edit this post to include this information, I apologize for not doing it sooner. This paper stumps are very economical and you can use any kind of baby oil with them.
I hope this helps.
Thank you for stopping by.

Maria Rodriguez. said...

Hello Katy: I love House Mouse stamps, this little mice are always up to something cute or mischievous but always endearing. Using baby oil and paper stumps blends the color beautifully, it's my other favorite technique.
Thank you for visiting.

Maria Rodriguez. said...

Bobbi, I just added the link to the paper stumps, I hope you come back to check it out.
thank you so much for visiting, I hope it's helps.

Bobbi-spapertrail.blogspot.com said...

hmmm... I don't see the link for the paper stumps, but I'll google it. I'm sure I can find them. Aha! a new technique for me to try. Thanks so much Maria!

Maria Rodriguez. said...

Bobbi, if you happen to come back, the link is right underneath the challenge banner, hope you can find it. Also, you can Google "Baby oil coloring technique" and I'm sure you will find several Utube videos about it. It's super easy and you will have fun.

Neva Cole said...

Lovely image, coloring, and card! As a teacher some days it does feel like our students reflect the attitudes of these sweet little house mice! The quote "I touch the future, I teach" is a favorite of Christ McAuliffe, the Teacher-In-Space that we lost in the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster. It is one of my favorite sayings as well!

Maria Rodriguez. said...

Hello Neva and thank you so much for your sweet comment. I didn't know that quote was a favorite of Christa McAuliffe, it's so wonderful to know, thank you for telling me.
I hope you visit me again
Hugs.

Jane Knudsen said...

Hi Maria! This is one fantastic card! And one of my favorite images! Beautiful coloring and your pictures really show that off! My parents were educators - a teacher and a principal - so I was raised with a very healthy respect for education! I am glad you joined us at Retro Rubber this week - your entries are always worth seeing and enjoying! And this is no exception!

Claire Grantham said...

Oh my Maria! This is so beautifully coloured. I love the stamp, its gorgeous and the final card is so lovely, perfect for a teacher. Thanks for joining us again at Retro Rubber. Claire DT

Christine Traversa said...

What a great design, great card, great idea! Thanks for joining the RRCB challenge!

Debbie Mageed said...

I sure wish you could come and teach me to color like that, Maria! Wow! this card is adorable and perfectly suited for our challenge this week. Thank you so much for submitting your beautiful card to Retro Rubber!