It's party time!

Hi all I've been wanting to use my Party die from SSS forever so when I saw the theme from the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge was Go Wild with animals, wildflowers or colours. I decided that I'd make a bright colourful shaker card for my friend Fee for her birthday. She maybe in her 50s now but she she shook it up real good & had a huge grin on her face.

My base card is 5-1/4" square as I needed quite a bit of room to fit on the bird, pressie & balloons. I also discovered that the largest SSS stitched circle die was the right size to make my hole in the top base card, it was just a smidgeon smaller than the party die which glued very nicely to the "stitch".

I used my Copics to colour all & then added quite a lot of Wink of Stella to make more sparkles, than the lime green glitter. Here's a snap with my phone on my work desk late at night showing a selection of the Copics used :

Recipe:
Stamps: Bird Crazy, Crazy Things (both Stampers Anonymous)
Paper: Thick Whisper White, Xpress-It Blending Card, Green Glitter paper (CTMH)
Ink: Memento Black, various Copics
Dies: Large Party Circle (SSS), Stitched Circles (SSS), matching Bird Crazy & Crazy Things - adore the fine details these dies have - look at those balloon strings
Other: Sequins ($2 shop vial), WRMK Fuse tool to make my acetate bag, foam adhesive strips (SU!), clear Wink of Stella brush (ZIG), Glossy Accents for the bird's eyes

Well there's some lovely colourful & fun images on the challenge site so have a peek or join in on the challenge too.

Have a fab weekend all, my tummy is still groaning from birthday lunch which was a long Italian lunch held to celebrate Restaurant month in Auckland & obviously for us, Fiona's birthday.

✿ Karen ✿

Birds go Crazy for Love

Happy Valentine's day all, Pete & myself take a low key approach to V-day but any excuse to make a card & share chocolate is always a good day.

 I have to say those crazy birds from Tim Holtz are perfect for sharing a wee bit of love with. My card's final dimensions are 4" x 7" (so I used a piece of Smoky Slate 8" x 7" & folded at 4"). The DSP is 1/4" smaller on all sides.

I followed California Girl Richele Christensen colouring techniques as I think her Bird Crazy birds are the best on the internet.

So I stamped my wee bird on watercolour paper & then die cut her out. "She" was wetted with water, then coloured in with distress ink smeared on my craft mat & watercolour paint brushes.

 I covered the bird all over with Tattered Rose, then used Aged Mahogany to colour the lower body & her wing.

At the top I used Scattered Straw & Wild Honey.

I also used Vintage Photo to add a bit of shadowing & to colour around the edges of the cut-out.

The eyes were coloured in with Tumbled Glass, the wee beak & feet were Fossilized Amber.

I then spritzed the top with Wild Honey & the base of the bird with Aged Mahogany.

I popped up the wing & the eyes on dimesionsals & added Crystal Effects to the eyes to make all glossy.

The heart I stamped in Hero Arts Soft Granite (as it's a waterproof ink), then coloured all over with Tattered Rose again, the bow was a combo of Worn Lipstick & Aged Mahogany. When the heart was dry I covered all over with my clear Wink of Stella pen to give it a wee bit of sparkle.

Recipe:
Stamp sets: Bird Crazy & Crazy Things (Stampers Anonymous), Good Greetings (Stampin' Up!)
Ranger Inks: Archival Jet Black, Tattered Rose, Worn Lipstick, Aged Mahogany, Tumbled Glass, Scattered Straw, Wild Honey, Fossilized Amber
Other inks: Soft Granite (Hero Arts), Smoky Slate (SU!)
Paper: Watercolour (Ranger), retired DSP from SU!, Soft Sky (SU!), Smoky Slate (SU!)
Others: Dimensionals, Crystal Effects, Spritzer, clear embossing powder, clear Wink of Stella pen, round 2 & round 4 brushes, Bird Crazy matching framelits, sponge, craft mat.

Well we're off to see Deadpool at the movies which should be a nice end to V-day.

✿ Karen ✿