Merry Christmas Cardinals

The August challenge at Christmas Card Throwdown is to make a fractured card. Usually (at least from what I can tell), the strips on this card design are solid cardstock with patterned paper in the background. I wanted to do things a little differently, so I pulled out some old-ish cardinal washi tape that I got a few years ago at Paper Source. Because it's translucent & I wanted it to stand out a bit, I adhered lengths of the washi to a couple of scraps of white cardstock & trimmed the cardstock to the same width as the tape.

 

 

 

At first I was thinking of using solid cardstock for my background, & maybe having each section be a different color. I also considered using an embossing folder to add texture. Because the washi tape is about 9/16" wide, I needed a larger card to implement my idea. So I went with a 5x7" card. This ruled out a lot of my smaller (~A2 size) embossing folders. And the multi-color approach just seemed a bit too fussy. So I decided to stamp a subtle background with the "Holly's Snowflakes" set from Mama Elephant (discontinued). (I just couldn't leave the background too plain! 😆)The grey branches against the white background in the washi design inspired me to stamp with white pigment ink onto a light grey cardstock, for kind of a reverse effect. The white ink kept the stamping subtle while still adding a little interest.

 

For the focal image, I chose the single cardinal from Hero Arts' "Holiday Cardinal" stamp set. I stamped it on a scrap of Strathmore smooth bristol paper with Versafine Clair Nocturne ink & heat embossed with clear powder. Originally, I die cut that with a Waffle Flower "Additional Squares" die & painted the bird with my Zig Clean Color Real Brush markers. However, I couldn't come up with anything for the bird to stand on, & I didn't want him just "floating" on a white background. So I thought of having him stand on a greeting strip. But short of cutting around just his feet with a craft knife & slipping a strip into that slit, I couldn't figure out how to accomplish that. So I ended up die cutting him with the coordinating die so I could easily tuck the strip underneath his feet.

 

I stamped the greeting, also from "Holiday Cardinal," onto a scrap of white cardstock, & cut it into a banner. I glued that onto another layer of cardstock, to make it a little sturdier, then cut around it.

 

I die cut another square for my diamond from a scrap of blue parchment paper. I adhered that to my card front, centered side-to-side but a little up from the horizontal center of the card. I adhered my washi tape strips around the diamond, cutting the ends around the edges as I went. Finally, I glued down my greeting strip & glued the bird "standing" on top of that. Even with the journey this card became, I am in love with the final result! I'm sure the recipient will love it as well.

 

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

 

Simon Says Stamp's Wednesday Challenge: "Stamp It"

613 Avenue Create's August Challenge: "Anything Goes" (not playing the optional twist)

Critter Crazy Challenge #114: "Anything Goes with a Featured Critter"

Allsorts Challenge #857: "All Creatures Great & Small"

The Paper Funday Challenge #91: "Anything Goes" (not playing the optional twist)