January’s Elements

Happy New Year everyone, let’s hope that 2021 is a bit kinder to us all than 2020 turned out to be. 

Daring Cardmakers are back from a little festive break with the first elemental challenge of the year. As ever, just choose at least three elements from the inspiration picture (chosen by Dawn this time) to kick start your project. 

I chose a bird, bokeh background and colours. I could probably count squares too since I started with the intention of making this a standard A6 card but maybe looking at the inspiration pic cast a square spell since that’s what wanted to happen once the image was painted! Hubby got me some watercolours as a birthday gift and this is my first play with them. They do behave differently than the inks I’ve been using when I’ve done watercolour style projects and I need practise but it was fun to have a little try out with them. 

The bird was stamped with a light brown ink and used in much the way an artist might use a pencil sketch as a guide. The bokeh circles might be a bit subtle, I think I’d let the paint dry too much to have much success in lifting the colour with water so I used some white watercolour to add circles over the top of the base layer. I used Gansai Tambi White Gold (another birthday gift) for a few of them so they have a slight sheen.

The current Lost Coast Designs challenge is things that begin with B - I have a Brown Bird on a Bokeh background so I’m hooking up there. If you stamp a project featuring something that begins with B why not join in too, there are always prizes on offer!

Oh, Gundi (who often takes part in the Card Chain Challnge) just alerted me to a new-to-me challenge - thank you Gundi! The current theme at Day of the Month is National Bird Day so I’m entering this card there, too. I love bird images, I suspect they’re the second most common thing in my stamping stash (after florals). Our garden attracts a great variety of birds too - DH always jokes that the pheasants know they’re safe here as we’re vegetarian!

Here's this month's inspiration picture at DCM:

Stamps:
Perching Bird (Crafty Individuals)

Paper:
Watercolour
Kraft

Ink:
Tim Holtz Distress ink by Ranger (Antique Linen)

Other:
Winsor and Newton watercolours
Stitched Square frames dies (Paper Rose)
Gansai Tambi Starry Colours set

  

Thanks for stopping by, stay safe!