Peace Love & Joy Cardinals

 

I created this card for Christmas Card Throwdown's September sketch challenge.

For this card, I basically turned the sketch diagonally. I made my greeting the center element, with the cardinals on either side. I added an extra bit of branch at the top to act as the banner in the sketch.

I began by stamping the cardinals, from Hero Arts "Vintage Christmas Post" stamp set (discontinued)--one of my favorite Christmas sets. Because I wanted a second cardinal facing the opposite direction, I used a mirror image stamp & my MISTI stamp positioning tool for that one. I stamped it on Strathmore Vellum Bristol paper, using Memento Tuxedo Black ink. I had to stamp it about 3 or 4 times to get a good enough impression. I stamped the other cardinal in the original orientation.

To die cut the reversed bird, I used a trick from Jennifer McGuire. I positioned the die on the back of the paper, and held it over my phone with the flashlight turned on. The light shining through the paper allowed me to see the outline of the die, so I could position it correctly. Thankfully, for the other cardinal, I was of course able to position the die on top, so it was much easier to do!

After I'd die cut both birds, I colored them with my Prismacolor colored pencils. I made one a male, and the other I colored as a female. I then added a bit of white gel pen detail to the eyes.

For the background, I decided to make a subtle cloudy sky. I used My Favorite Things "Cloud" stencil & Tumbled Glass Distress ink on white cardstock. I made sure to keep my blending soft, so it would not compete with the cardinals and greeting.

I chose a greeting from Hero Arts' "Very Merry Christmas" set (discontinued). I stamped it with Lawn Fawn Doe ink onto a scrap of tan cardstock. I die cut that with a Hero Arts "Nesting Oval Infinity" die, and inked around the perimeter with Brushed Corduroy Distress ink, just to make it stand out from the background better.

I die cut a branch from brown cardstock with the "Bare Branch" die from Impression Obsession. After adhering my greeting oval just above the center point of my background, I positioned my papa cardinal to where he slightly overlapped the oval. I used that to help me position my branch so he would stand on it, then glued both him & the branch in place. I glued the mama cardinal standing on the greeting oval. Finally, I die cut another branch piece, and glued it to the top left corner. I adhered my panel to a white card base, and that finished this card.

I'm also entering this card in the following challenges:

 

Simon Says Stamp's Monday Challenge: "Use Your Favorite Stamp" ("Vintage Christmas Post")

613 Avenue Create: "Anything Goes" (not playing the twist)