I find making masculine cards a challenge. I tend to buy cute or pretty stamps and they don't work on "guy" cards. This week, I needed two thank you cards for men that I don't know very well. I had been thinking about a technique using my Crazy Bird stamps and Pan Pastels and I had one of those "Aha"moments...I realized that the Crazy Bird stamps would be perfect for the thank you cards!! Everyone loves them and they are definitely not feminine!! The technique I wanted to try was to use Versamark Ink and Pan Pastels to add some texture to the birds while coloring them. I got out a bunch of texture stamps...crackle, numbers, swirls, harlequin, chicken wire and a word stamp. First, I stamped the birds with Ranger Archival black ink, then I masked the eyes and beaks and stamped a pattern/texture onto each bird with Versamark Ink. I took my brightest Pan Pastels and colored the birds. When you color over Versamark with Pan Pastels, the stamped areas get much darker so the patterns although subtle, looked great! Here are the two cards that I made.
I didn't want the sentiment too mushy because like I said, they are guys and I don't know them very well so the outside says, "Life is tough..." and on the inside, it says, ...Kindness matters. Thank you". Short and to the point! You can see the crackle texture on the blue bird much better than on the red bird but it is on both of them. Here's a close up of the red bird card. You can see the crackle a little better here...
I wanted to make a little scene for the bird to stand in, so I used the new MFT die-namics called Rolling Hills. I love how you cut the fence and then cut another fence out of green and use the waste for the grass to glue below the fence! It is so cool. I know I'll be using this die a lot!
I used Pan Pastels to color the sky. I used Pthalo Blue Tint and Violet Tint. The leaves are another one of MFT's Die-namics called Wild Greenery. Here are some of the texture stamps I used. I found that I got the best results when using stamps with smaller less dense textures...although I really like how the bird with the numbers came out. Here is a sampling of the texture stamps...
I put Crystal Laquer on the birds eyes to make them shiny. I love how the shiny eyes catch the light...I just love these birds, they make me laugh!
I hope my cards inspire you to get out your stamps and play!
Thanks for stopping by to take a look :)
Janet
I am really having fun making these tags! For April, I made two versions. I think I did it because I had to use my new Bird Crazy stamps! For my other tag I used a Stampin' Up background stamp called Pleasant Poppies. When I first looked at Tim's April tag I didn't think I was going to learn very much. I've done lots of watercoloring and that's all I saw when I looked at the tag. It's when you sit down and try to duplicate what he's done that you realize there are lots of little things that make it look like it does. Here are my tags...
I just love the background. It was made by spraying lots of water on the watercolor paper and then using a spritzer to spray little dots of color into the water. When the ink hits the water it floats and moves and does weird things and as the water evaporates it sinks down onto the paper where it is. You really don't have any control of where it goes or how it lands. It is subtle but really gorgeous when it dries! Here is a close-up of the poppy tag.
And the Bird Crazy tag! Everyone has been talking about how much fun the birds are to color and they are right! You can use any wild combination of colors and they look amazing! I'm so glad that I got them! The birds needed something so I added some Brushed Corduroy dots around them using one of Tim's layering stencils called Bubble
Here are some other things that I learned while making these tags.
I learned that I've missed using markers and a water brush to color stamped images on watercolor paper. If you are like me, you've put your watercolors away and you're using your Copic markers instead. I also learned that my Pumice Stone reinker is the perfect color to add a shadow around the edges of my images to give them a more 3-D look. It worked well for both the poppies and the birds!
Another thing that I learned is that you don't have to always use another layer. You can make slits in the original and slide something underneath!! Love this idea! This tag reminded me that distressing around the edges and sponging on some darker color adds texture and interest. I really need to make a list of these things and keep it close by..so they will be in my face and I will use them more often!
I didn't have the word blocks dies so I used Emmit Alphabet from My Favorite Things! I laid the letters down how I wanted them and then used a piece of Post-it tape to hold them together and in place while I ran the tag through my Big Shot. It's a bit crooked, but not bad at all! I really love the new Adventure Words Script dies from Tim Holtz and Sizzix! They are small enough for all of us card/tag makers to use...and the font is gorgeous! There are a few more sets of these and I think I "need" them!!
Oh and one more thing...I used my markers to color on satin ribbon and it is beautiful! We all have lots of that in our stash, but who knew it would take dye and you can even blend two or 3 different colors to give it a variegated effect!! So cool.
Thanks so much for visiting. Stay tuned...my plan is working and making these tags is decreasing my mixed media anxiety. I just finished a botanical mixed media canvas and had a ball making it!!!! I'll post pictures soon :)
Janet
Supplies Used:
Card Stock: Canson Aquarelle Watercolor paper, Ranger Kraft tags
Ink: Ranger Archival black, Distress Brushed Corduroy & Pumice stone reinker
Stamps: Tim Holtz Bird Crazy, Stampin' Up Pleasant Poppies
Markers: Tombo 025, 126, 173, 177, 335, 397, 725 845, 847, & 885; Stampin' Up Early Expresso marker
Dies: Sizzix/Tim Holtz Adventure Words Script, MFT Emmit Alphabet
Miscellaneous: Tim Holtz Spritzer, Idea-ology Philosophy tags & Mirrored stars and his Bubble layering stencil & dauber, satin ribbon, Janome sewing machine, white thread
