Monday, May 21, 2018

Nature's Inspiration


The current AAA CAS card challenge, Inspired by Nature, really was a challenge for me because all of nature inspires me! Especially this time of year. You too? So for this challenge I looked to the particular part of nature capturing a lot of my time lately: my new Baltimore Oriole feeder. I spend a lot of my free time at the window, hoping for a glimpse of those fabulous orange and black birds and have been rewarded many times.



Since I don't have a bird stamp, I decided to start with just the colors, orange and black, as a basis for my card. Using a piece of Strathmore Vision Cover Stock watercolor paper, I smooshed Distress Oxide ink in Wild Honey and a little black . I threw couple slashes of black, using my Kuritake Fude calligraphy brush pen, I then sprayed everything lightly with water. My intent was to have a light background over which I would stamp either a flower or sentiment or both, and I anticipated the black slashes to bleed more than they did. However, when I looked at the result all I could see was a chubby little birdie with two legs! Not orange or sleek enough for an Oriole, but a birdie just the same. So my background became a bird.


I added a little Distress Oxide ink in Peacock Feathers for the sky area, then chose the sentiment from Simon Says Stamp's Beautiful Day set. I stamped it in Versafine onyx black then heat embossed with Hero Arts clear embossing powder.

I thought about adding a few sweeps of black to indicate wing feathers, but decided to just leave it as is. For a whimsical touch I added blue crystal jewels for eyes and an orange one to symbolize a beak. I trimmed the watercolor paper using Spellbinders A2 Card Creator die, which I really like because it cuts to just the right sizes for layering. I adhered the trimmed piece onto a Neenah Classic Crest card front, leaving a large enough margin for white space.

A little nutty, but hey, inspired by nature!

Supplies used (some compensating affiliates; I get a small commission when you click and purchase. Thanks!):

 

4 comments:

  1. Mesmerisingly different! Loved reading about your creative and thought process. Thanks for joining in with the Inspired by Nature Challenge at AAA Cards.

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  2. Kathy, this is so unusual and funny card! Love the colour scheme and the jewels. Thank you so much for sharing your card with us at AAA Cards Challenge. - Sweet Kobylkin
    Join in our 4th Birthday Celebration at AAA Cards Challenge.

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  3. Such a beautiful card! And lovely story. Thanks for joining AAA Cards! Hugs Åsa

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