Poultry in Motion

German Phrase of the Day: Ich geniesse das Leben. = I am enjoying life. I like this phrase, because this is how I try to live...enjoying each day for itself, and being sure to get the most out of what you are given.

Today I was truly enjoying life, because I went upstairs to stamp!! I got so much new stuff while in California it's going to take me a month just to get it all processed and put away, much less play with it all! I'll start "mounting" my new SU! stamps soon, but in the meantime I wanted to make a card with these adorable GinaK stamps that I won as blog candy from Emily, one of the very talented artists on Gina's design team.

I really loved this turkey the first time I saw him on Gina's blog. I mean...just look at that expression! He just knows he's bound for the table come Thanksgiving Day! I started with a half sheet of Chocolate Chip CS, and sponged it (Beate's rubbing off on me!!) and I KNEW I had to use my new Apple Cider designer paper (speaking of which...have you all heard about the November special from SU!??? I can't WAIT to load up on more DSP!!!) I sponged the edges of that (first with Old Olive because I wasn't paying close attention to the colors, then I realized it was actually garden green...) then sponged the edges of my Garden Green matting. I stamped my little guy with Basic Brown on naturals ivory cardstock, because I wanted to color him with markers, and the posts I've been catching up on say that marker strokes won't show on the more porous cardstocks. It's true for the most part, except when coloring with lighter colors (like the creamy caramel for his wing and head)

After coloring this little guy in with Creamy Caramel, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie and Really Rust, I very lightly sponged the edges with really rust, and mounted him on some sponged really rust. I've realized I can have a heavy hand when sponging on my neutrals...so this time I went over it twice. once VERY lightly holding the sponge perpendicular to the paper to just color the edge, then again holding the sponge at a little more of an angle to add a little more color in about a quarter inch from the edge - you can see it a little better in the detail photo.

Once I had the main elements ready I started playing with embellishments. I thought I was going to use some light brown polka dotted organdy from May Arts...but then I decided that some paper hinges with my word window punch would work well. And then with this sorta country feel, I realized faux stitching would be better than ribbon. For the sample shown I drew on a blanket stitch. After piercing all the way around, I drew on the lines, and the outline in chocolate chip. I stamped the greeting in Basic Black, then mounted Tom on with dimensionals to make him pop up a little. I'm very happy with this card, and since I made 2, one will go to Emily, the other to Gina as a little thanks for the fun stamps!!

Supplies: (all supplies are SU! unless otherwise noted)
Stamps: Turkey and Poultry in Motion from GinaK
CS: Chocolate Chip, Garden Green, Really Rust, Naturals Ivory, Apple Cider DSP
Ink: basic black, Chocolate Chip, Garden Green, Really Rust ink pads; Creamy Caramel, More Mustard, Pumpkin Pie, Really Rust and chocolate chip markers
Acc: word window punch, antique brads, crafter's tool kit, sponge, dimensionals

TFL!
-Jana