Mooch with Honeysuckle

Hi everyone, today I’d like to share another page from my 2025 Lavinia calendar … that’s 4 completed now, only 8 to go (!!) For this one I decided that my design would reflect the illustration of Mooch on the page, so I did a variation on a theme I have used before - honeysuckle climbing against a wall, with Mooch gazing up at the flowers and the dancing bees and butterfly. 

I cut a piece of white stamping card 19.5cm x 14.5cm and started by creating a softly stencilled brickwork background using my Lavinia Red Brick stencil and Confetti Elements ink. I stamped the honeysuckle several times using Morning Mist VFC to give a slightly softer look than Nocturne, then stamped some trailing foliage in the opposite top corner using a mixture of Avocado and Shady Lane VFC. I stamped Mooch looking up at the flowers then positioned my bees, butterfly and dragonfly. I coloured the honeysuckle, butterfly and bees using watered down Posca sparkle pens (very fiddly … my extra fine Lavinia paint brush came in extremely handy for that!) and added a little clear Sakura Stardust pen to the bees’ wings, then I added a few white Posca highlights and gold Posca dots on the flower stamens. Finally I grounded Mooch using a Mini Hill mask and Black Soot Distress Oxide - I think I might have overdone that but hey, it’s done now! 

Here’s an angled picture to try to show the sparkle and shine of the Posca pens, though not very successfully!  You may notice I haven’t actually stuck the panel down yet in my calendar, and that’s because I’m not yet100% sure whether I like it, but having invested the time in making I will probably go with it in the end!

Stamps: Lavinia Honeysuckle, Mooch, Vine Flourish, Bee Mini, Butterfly Mini, Fairy Bugs;

Media: Lavinia Elements ink (Confetti); Versafine Clair (Nocturne, Morning Mist, Avocado, Shady Lane); Posca sparkle pens (pink, red, yellow, green, orange, turquoise); Sakura Stardust pen (clear); Posca pens (white, gold);

Tools: Lavinia  Red Brick stencil, Mini Hill masks.

Challenges I would like to enter:

Addicted to Stamps and More #481 - Make Your Mark (2nd entry)

Beautiful Blossoms #23 - Anything Floral Goes

Crafts Galore Encore #129 - Anything Goes

Crafty Animals #89 - Include an Animal

Crazy Is Our Fame, Stencils Are Our Game (November) - Use a Stencil with option Sparkle and Shine (2nd entry)

Creatalicious #283 - Anything Goes

Daring Cardmakers - Sparkle

Dream Valley #325 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Love to Craft #83 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Mix It Up #74 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

Simon Says (Wednesday) - Sparkle & Shine

Triple B (November) - Birds, Butterflies and/or Blooms (3rd entry)

Try It On Tuesday - Sparkle All the Way (3rd entry)

Word Art Wednesday #675/676 - Anything Goes (2nd entry)

I was a bit concerned whether May is too early for honeysuckle, but then I remembered a trip we took in May this year to Rufford Old Hall where it was in full bloom!

Hope you’re having a great weekend whatever you’re doing.

Take care, and thanks for visiting.

Hugs,