Christmas in JULY!

On Tuesday I said I would have a special TREAT for you...Everyone Loves GIFTS right?  Nothing better than a gift of RUBBER right???  Well, today I'm finishing off Christmas in July with a little card and a gift for one lucky reader...You'll have to follow some directions though...

When coloring this little girl, I was thinking about how I was going to display her.  She needed some sort of Christmas scene for sure.  Since there was nothing in the set that spoke Christmas (more spring flowers in the set), I decided I needed to doodle my own scenery...Sooooo...Got out my Copic .35 Multiliner pen (works perfectly for Copic coloring afterwards) and doodled some cartoon-like images. 

*  First something to ground this little girl...grass.  Colored that with my Copics then cut it out.  Added some pop dots and set it aside. 

*  Then I made the thinking bubble.  I thought the card wouldn't speak "Christmas" without some sentiment...So the little girl "SPOKE".  Every cartoon needs a thinking bubble, right?  Doodled that and cut it out.  Used my Copics to add some contrast.  Added a pop dot and set it aside. 

* After preparing my images, I started moving them around on a white background...I liked the little girl in the position she's in on the card, but I felt there was a lot of space to her left so...I HAD TO FILL IT IN!  I doodled a Christmas ball, colored it in and cut it out.  Placed it in position (without glue) and surveyed the look...I LIKED IT. 

*  The white background was WAY too bright so I decided to do my favorite sky coloring technique to tone the white down a bit.  LOVED IT!!! 

* Finished...NO...Something wasn't right....I thought about cartoons and decided to outline the image like a cartoon frame.  Worked perfectly for these cartoon-like images.  OK...So cut the whole thing out. 

* In selecting a card base, I knew I wanted the image to be the focus...that's all the card needed...So put it on some black cardstock and the whole scene just POPPED!  LOVED IT!!!!

Details: 

Stamps:  T-3263 Brighten Your Day, T2144 Trendy Greetings

Ink:  Memento Tuxedo Black, Copic .35 Multiliner Pen

Copics: 

Skin:  E00, 01, 50

Hair:  E21, 34, 35, 57

Dress, bows, ball stripes: R02, 14, 22, 24

Ball holder:  Y15; YR23;

Grass/Ball/Dress:  G24, 40, 82; YG 06, 21

Sky:  BG0000, B0000

Paper:  Copic Xpress It Card, Bazzill Raven Cardstock

DON'T BE AFRAID TO DOODLE.....I doodle because the images I stamp start to build a story...I doodle to share that story and to make it come to life...

So there's my process...Now the GIFT...I'm giving away this stamp set to one lucky person!  In the comment section, share your thoughts about doodling...Do you do it?  Why do/don't you doodle?  When do/don't you doodle?  I'll pick one lucky winner and on the last day of July, I'll announce the winner.  It's that EASY!!!