A blog devoted to the cards I make in my tiny upstairs space. When my sister stays there, she calls it an "artist's garret". I'm not an artist, but am an enthusiastic cardmaker - hence the title "Cardmaker's Garret".
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Saturday 20 January 2018

Twofer Birds with a Nest

The wonderful Darnell of djkardkreations has started a new challenge blog called "Twofer".  The idea is to make two cards using the same stamp or die for two different occasions or celebrations.  The first prompt is:


I have no feather stamps or dies but I do have lots of birds.  So here's my Twofer:


I used a new die of a branch, nest, and birds.

First up I made a birthday card for a friend who is an avid bird watcher.


I've always been full of admiration for people who can colour die cuts that have no lines or definition on them.  But I gave it a try.  My results did not make me that happy, but thanks to advice from a few stamping friends, I went back over it and added more shading and definition and am now happier, though I'm going to practice with some less complex dies!

My colouring was done with Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, but then I went back in with Inktense pencils to deepen up the birds, add a bit of shading on the large branch, and some twiggy texture to the nest.

The background was done by sprinkling some blue Brushos on coated cs and spritzed with water.  When dry, I stamped the sentiment with StazOn and trimmed the panel with a stitched rectangle die.


My second card uses the same die to create a pale silhouette against blossom to use as a card to celebrate spring:


The die is cut from a piece of cs I'd sprayed with a slightly shimmery grey spray - it was sitting in my UFO box.

For the background, I sponged various pink and green Distress inks through a stencil, added a sentiment in green ink, and used a co-ordinating pink card base.

It's certainly far easier and quicker to use a die cut as a silhouette than to paint it!!

Looking forward to Darnell's next Twofer challenge - it's fun to come up with two ways of using the same stamp or die.





Supplies:
Stamps - unknown birthday sentiment, Stampendous spring sentiment
Ink - StazOn black (first card); Distress Peeled Paint, Tattered Rose, and Picked Raspberry (second card)
Paper - white and coated cs, watercolour paper (first card); white and pink cs (second cs)
Size - A2
Accessories - Ali Express die (both cards); blue Brushos, Gansai Tambi watercolour paints, Inktense watercolour pencils, Li'l Inker stitched rectangle die, fun foam (first card);  Tim Holtz blossom stencil, shimmery grey/silver spray



11 comments:

  1. waue I do love your watercolour card, so great with birds/die cut ourt and more, your painted birds i totally love

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  2. Great details on the first die cut! Love those robins and their cozy nest! The spring card is so pretty with the stenciled flowers! The sprayed paper adds good dimension to the die cut!

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  3. Fantastic work on your first watercolouring of die-cuts, Susan. LOVE your sweet birds in a best. Adding the details with the pencils really stepped up the design. Love it over top of the Brushos background.

    Your stenciled background on the second card is so pretty. Love pink and green together. This is definitely a reminder that spring is just around the corner. Great visual texture on the bird die-cut with your spray of gray. Thanks for sharing with us at Twofer Card Challenge. xx

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  4. Susan, awesome use of your die cuts and amazing colouring. Love our background splatters and stenciling.

    This is definitely something for us to play with on our get together's.

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  5. Yes I think its an art to colour in die cuts and you seem to have mastered it. It's not something I've tried...as yet x Great to see the two different dies used in totally different ways x

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  6. What you did with this die amazes you. The first card looks so realistic, I love how you colored the cut out element. The second card is equally beautiful, I am delighted with your background and the beautifully coordinated frame based on the card. Two amazing cards!
    Hugs,
    BożenA

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  7. I love both your cards since I too, love cards with birds. I particularly love the shading on the red ones! Love how the pencil brought out the shadows and highlights! Love the beautiful, spring colors on your spring card too. Reminds me of the warmth we won't see for a while here.

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  8. I love your enthusiasm for Twofer, Susan, and I appreciate both the shoutout and that you played with us with your two gorgeous cards made with your birds on the nest die! I would not have thought you were a novice at filling in silhouette die cuts; I think you did a sensational job with the shading and extra dimension with your pencils! The Brusho background is perfect! And your spring card just makes me smile! Pink and green are synonymous with spring, so well done with the colors and I love how the light grey shimmery card works with those colors! I look forward to seeing what you make next month!! Hugs, Darnell

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  9. Two gorgeous scenes, Susan! The colouring of the die cut on the first is fabulous, you created such a great sense of depth and dimension ... brilliant against the delicate brusho sky! The softly stencilled blossoms make for a delicious spring-like background to the shimmery grey die cut ... seems these little birds are nest building! Thanks so much for playing along with us at Twofer! Anita :)

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  10. Your cards are both wonderful! You should give yourself more credit when it comes to definition on your painted die cut. I think it's fantastic! The Brusho makes a great background. I love how you changed things up on your next card with the silhouette emphasizing the spring tree blossom background. Thanks for joining in on the fun at Twofer Card Challenge!

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  11. Two terrific twofers. Beautiful colour choices. Can’t wait to learn how to colour die cuts. 😉

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