Kingfisher and Eucalyptus

When designing the Kingfishers clear stamps, I was careful to leave enough space between the little bird and the blossoms to make masking easy. I knew I would eventually want to create cards featuring other types of foliage, including eucalyptus leaves and gumnuts. Today's tutorial is a step-by-step guide for doing just that.

1. Choose the cardstock, ink and papers that you want to use for your project. I'm going for a neutral, monochromatic colour scheme, with black and warm grey cardstock and black ink. I'll be adding some additional colouring with grey toned alcohol markers and white pencil.

2. Place the stamp on an acrylic block or stamping platform. Use a sticky note, some tape or masking paper to cover the little blossoms. You might need to cut away some of the mask if it covers any of the bird image.

3. Ink the stamp, remove the mask, then stamp onto the cardstock.

4. Choose the foliage you want to add to the design. I find it useful to lay the backing acetate from the stamp set over the cardstock to see how the images will merge. 

5. Use the same masking method to remove any details that will obscure your little bird. In my case, I had to mask a leaf that would cover the bird's beak. 

6. If necessary, use a black pen to fill in any lost details, such as the branch the little bird is sitting on. Make sure you take it up into the foliage too.

7. Time to colour. I used the darkest shades of grey in the background and the lighter shades on the bird and foliage. This helped to bring the images forward.

8. Add some white pencil in the highlight areas, including the top of the bird's head and beak, the high areas of the stick and leaves and the gumnut blossoms. Don't forget a little touch of white in the bird's eye.

9. I finished with a liquid layer of mica dust to give my little bird a sparkle.

Stamps:

Sending Smiles

If anything is going to bring a smile to someone's face, it has to be a pond full of penguins!

I've included a few process photos for those who are curious...

Digital Stamps:

Love Is In The Air

This cute image is perfect for Valentine's Day, engagements, anniversaries or even a playful wedding card. I added some Wink of Stella to the figures for a little extra sparkle and shine.

Digital Stamps:

Tutorial - Magic Rain Shaker Card

I'm going to say from the outset that even though I love the effect these little seed beads give, this card is a one-and-done for me. It wasn't an overly complicated card to create, but it was definitely fiddly and time consuming. On the plus side, it can be created in any size and is easily personalised with images and sentiments. 

1. Print or stamp an image onto a piece of patterned paper. (You could ink or colour a background if you prefer). Secure the image onto the front of a card blank, leaving a small space at the top and bottom and borders on the sides if you wish. (For those who are curious, I used an A5 card blank).

2. You'll need thread that is either clear or matches the background of your image, and a roll of foam tape. Apply a length of the tape to the top and bottom of your card. I also added small pieces on each side to give my patterned paper a little more support.

TIP: If you want your "rain" to come down evenly along the card, use a ruler to measure the distance between each piece of thread. I wanted a more random look so spaced the thread unevenly.

3. Start by securing a thread to the top piece of foam tape with the length running down the card. It needs to be at least an inch or so longer than the card.

4. Thread seed beads onto the strand using a needle if necessary. I used between 3 and 10 beads per length for a random pattern.

5. Press the end of the thread into the foam tape at the bottom of the card. Take care to keep the thread taut without pulling it off the top piece of foam tape.

6. Repeat the process with more thread and more beads. As I mentioned above, I'm randomly spacing my threads and applying between 3 and 10 beads per length. If you prefer, you can be more consistent with the placement and number of beads.

7. I added glue to the thread to help secure it to the foam tape as I worked.

8. Once you've threaded the beads on each strand of thread, add another layer of foam tape to secure the threads in place and allow room for the beads to slide. (The small pieces will also require a second layer of tape).

9. Trim the ends of the tread, then add patterned paper over each end of the card. Embellish as desired. When you tilt the card, the beads should slide freely down each thread creating a cascade of little "raindrops".

Digital Stamps: