For the birthday boy

My uncle's birthday is coming up. I swear, he is the sweetest, most supportive husband to my aunt. She's a breast cancer survivor. He'll dress up in his pink hat and shirt and head on out to any walk or other cancer support event she wants to attend. He puts the bumper stickers on his van. He takes care of her when she's not feeling well (although she is currently in remission, thank God). The two of them together are so lovey-dovey that it's nauseating, even after 30+ years or marriage. So, anyway, when his bday was coming up, I knew I wanted to use this image from Anita Be Stampin'. She's called Busty Betsy, and you can find her here. She's a digi image and all proceeds from her purchase support Breast Cancer cure efforts. I wanted to highlight the pink ribbon, so I used a very light earth tone for the rest of her outfit. The inside of the card says "May all your wishes come true!"

I have a really, really hard time with masculine cards, but I think this one turned out okay. It's based on a sketch at Anita Be Stampin's challenge blog. I used chestnut roan and creamy brown cat's eye inks around the edges of the papers. The tan paper is Basic Grey. The script paper is K&Co. I am not sure about the brown and white polka dot paper, though. It was in my scrap pile. She's got glossy accents on her pouty little lips, to make them shine like she's wearing lip gloss. I used a pink stardust pen on the ruffle of her bustier and for her headband.

I tried shading around the image for the very first time. I definitely need some serious practice. I have a really hard time with the whole light source thing, for some reason. I've read the tutorials (or watched them, as the case may be), but it just eludes me for some odd reason. Anyway, I used W1,3,5,7 and the blender pen for the shading around the image. The rest of the copics I used are pictured below.

As always, thanks for looking and I appreciate any comments. Suggestions for shading or coloring (or anything else) are always welcome, too. Constructive criticism helps me grow.

Oh, and if you're like my town and covered in snow right now, I hope you are safe and warm. The poor kid next door shoveled my driveway and cleaned off my car today, only to have the snow start again in earnest. My car is slowly but surely getting buried. Perhaps this means no work tomorrow??? One can hope! I love my job, but I don't turn down a day at home here and there, either!