Happy Father's Day Loons

With Operation Write Home's deadline for Mother's Day cards just past, and the deadline for Father's Day cards at the end of April, I have shifted focus to making cards for dads. I have had this loon stamp, which I got while on holiday in Maine, for a long time. (Sorry, but I don't know who made it.) And, like so many things in my stash, I have never used it. I finally decided to pull it out and get it inky.

I based the design on this sketch from Operation Write Home:

I rotated the sketch 90 degrees, and substituted an oval for the rectangle, but otherwise stayed pretty true to it.

I stamped the loons on watercolor paper, intending to color the area surrounding the birds with a blue watercolor pencil, fading the color out towards the edges. After stamping with Archival Jet Black ink, I die cut & embossed the oval with a Spellbinders Classic Ovals die. I colored with the blue pencil, washed over the color with my water brush, and set it aside to dry.

I chose the harlequin patterned paper from 7gypsies' "Venice" 6x6" paper pad, and the newsprint paper for the banner from Echo Park's This & That "Charming" 6x6" pad. I inked the edges of the latter with Walnut Stain Distress Ink.

I lightly marked in pencil where the larger patterned paper strip & the oval would go on the card front panel, so I'd know where the greeting could go. After scanning the panel into the computer to aid in placement of the text, I chose a greeting from this digital stamp set by Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps, & printed it directly on the card front.

I decided to trim the oval down slightly, so just cut it around the embossed line. I also didn't like the stark contrast between the "clean" look of the watercolor paper and the distressed look of the patterned papers. So I lightly went over all but the loons with Antique Linen Distress Ink, and inked around the edge with Walnut Stain. I felt that helped blend it in with the rest of the card better.

I adhered the patterned papers & loon panel to the card front, and inked the edges of the front with Walnut Stain. I threaded 3 brown buttons with embroidery floss, tying it in a simple knot. Then I glued the buttons to the top right corner with Glossy Accents. Finally I mounted the front to a standard A2 card base. While I don't have much experience in making masculine cards, I think this one turned out rather well.

I'm entering this card in the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday "Anything with Buttons"
Sweet 'n Sassy Stamps' Challenge #6: "Use a bird, birdhouse, or rose"