Foxy CAS Birthday Card

Hi, Friends......

Don't ask me why this fall-themed MFP Stamp CAS challenge is appealing to me so much!!!  I don't even understand Clean and Simple cards!!!  I am so serious.  When I look at CAS challenges and then when I look at what the design team members make.....it doesn't seem to correlate.  I guess I am too left-brained, that is, what's left of my brain!

But....I am attracted to the idea of CAS cards....and I like CAS cards that I see.....I just feel that they are missing something (like a LOT of something) when I try to make them.  Nevertheless....here is another attempt and this one looks more autumny than my other "late fall" one!  lol...

NO.....This autumny fox is NOT sitting in a wintery snowstorm!!!  It's CAS, all right???!!!!  :)

My fox and sentiment are both from the Mark's Finest Papers - What a Fox stamp set.  I stamped them with Versafine ink in Vintage Sepia and then heat embossed with clear powder.  Then I colored it with my waterbrush and watercolor pencils.  I mounted it on a chocolate brown card base.

You would chuckle to see the evolution of this card because originally I was going to make this a one-layer card.  I stamped and heat-embossed it on a white card base.  It looked very white, but it certainly was CAS!!!  Then I cut the card base up and tried the white image panel on the brown card base.  This looked better, but still soooooooooo bland.  At the risk of really messing the whole thing up, I decided to watercolor the fox.  I think I am glad I did.  It brightens the card up a lot.  

I really wanted to make some paint splatters, too, but decided I better stop while I was ahead.  Who knows where it all would end?....more layers?...die cuts?...leaves?...trees?...dry embossing?... twine?... burlap belly band?...photo corners?...brads?...  Eeek!!!  You see why CAS is not my style???  I like STUFF too much!!!  

Okay, this blog post is taking me longer than the card did...so I better get this linked up.  Thanks so much for taking a look at my cards.  You make my day with your sweet comments.

<3
Janis

Thank you for the honor of entering this card in the following challenges:
1. MFP Stamps Challenge #32 - CAS with Fall Theme
2. SRTC August Challenge - Anything Goes
3. Critters & Creatures Linky Party 6 - Feature a Critter or a Creature
4. The Sisterhood of Crafters - Close to Nature
5. Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Let's Go Wild
6. Unicorn Challenge #12 - Animal Kingdom