Love and Good Cheer

Hi Creative Friends,

Now that we are getting into our winter months, it is time to share a wintery card design with sweet little birds. The stamp and die set I used was Feathered Friendship from the new collection of Penny Black.

As many of you know, I love birds, so this set was perfect. There are two designs, each with birds. I chose the sweet little birds on top of a basket for my design.

I began by stamping the design onto hot-pressed watercolor paper (see supply list below). I used a waterproof ink like Versafine Black Onyx. Then started painting. I mostly used distress reinkers. I love their intense color. For the tiny areas like the berries, I used red and orange Tombow pens. Here is a guide to the colors used:

Basket: Vintage Photo, Rusty Hinge, Black Soot
Greenery: Crushed Olive, Rustic Wilderness
Birds: rusty Hinge, Black Soot, Crackling Campfire
Berries: A few red and orange Tombow pens

Once the painting was all done and dry, I cut them out using the matching die set.

To create the card base and background, I first made a 5″x7″ Alabaster card base. Then, cut a 5″x7″ panel from Bristol paper and mounted it on the front. The Bristol paper panel was ink blended on Chipped Sapphire and a touch of Seedless Preserves.

Next, I cut another 5″x7″ panel, this time from Spellbinders Porcelain Cotton Paper, and cut out an arch using the Spellbinders Essential Arches set. The panel was then embossed using another Spellbinders product: Holly & Foilage embossing folder.

With all the pieces nearly done, I stamped the sentiment using Versafine Black Onyx ink. Then, I splattered white ink onto the berries and basket with the birds, as well as the ink-blended panel.

I was now ready to put it all together by mounting the arched embossed panel onto the front with foam, tucked in the berries. To give a ‘ground’ for the basket, I tore a piece of cotton paper and ink-blended on some Chipped Sapphire blue. It was then mounted to the front along with he basket and birds to complete the card design. ♥

Goodies Used: