Sail Away for As You See It
By the Tide for Addicted to CAS #67

Yin and Yang - Happy Birthday

Hi Everyone.  Happy Friday.

I saw this great sketch across at Retrosketches and was inspired to use it to create a masculine and a feminine birthday card.

 
I really am trying to make the English Garden DSP work for me.  I love the colors of the DSP, but, as I've said before, some of the patterns on the paper are really large and my immediate reaction was to put it with all the other DSP that I buy and end up putting in my cupboard.  It's such a waste and I am determined to make it work. :-)
 
So, for today's cards, I used the sketch from Retrosketches and the English Garden DSP along with the retired SU stamp - Four Feathers.  The only thing that changed on the two cards is the sentiment stamps.  
 
Let's start with the masculine version of the card.  I played around with multiple browns for the card base - Espresso... too dark.   Baked Brown Sugar... too light.   Soft Suede.... mmm... a little too dull.... Then, I remembered I had the Corrugated cardstock and decided to try that.  Voila!  Perfect for what I wanted.  I also love the extra texture it adds to the card.
 
Here's my masculine version of the sketch:
 
Feathers masculine (1 of 1)
 
Even though it is busy, I love the background DSP and I love the fact that it has so many colors in it.   I stamped the feather in Soft Suede and then fussy cut around them.   I used Crazy About You for the sentiment because it has a gender neutral font and I thought it was perfect for a masculine card.
 
I adhered the larger feather to the sentiment layer and then mounted the second feather with dimensional tape - to lift it and give a little more interest.   I finished it off with some hemp twine.
 
Then, I set about creating the feminine version of the card.  The differences:  I used Mint Macaron - gorgeous color! - and Endless Wishes for the sentiment.  The font is much more feminine.  I stamped the feathers in Mint Macaron and fussy cut them.  The hemp twine really wouldn't cut it :-) So I used some fine silver cotton thread and finished it off with some rhinestones.   Here's my feminine version of the card:
 
Birthday retro (1 of 1)
 
You can't see it in the photo - but I added Wink of Stella clear gel pen to the feathers on the feminine card.  Let's see if you can get a bit of an idea with this shot... it's really hard to capture how pretty it looks as the sunlight tends to wash it out.
 
Birthday retro closeup (1 of 1)
 
I really think the DSP works well for both versions of the card and love the fact that this sketch allows me to feature the DSP, but the horizontal layer helps to break it up.  
 
So, I hope I have inspired you to get out your unused DSPs and give them a little love :-)  Also, if you are looking for more inspiration - don't forget to check out the Retrosketches challenge site!
 
On a personal note:
 
I'm still trying to get used to my new camera and the settings and how flexible it is.  I love the extreme zoom on it, but am finding it hard to really get a good closeup on zoom .... it really needs a tripod.  However, the birds don't seem to want to sit around and wait for me to putz around focusing, trying to set up my tripod, etc. etc.  I don't know why they aren't a little more patient :-)   However, I didn't need much of a zoom to get this photo of the female ruby throated humming bird.     the problem is that the feeder is in perfect focus... the hummer - the main topic of the photo - not so much so!!!!
 
Hummer at the feeder (1 of 1)-2

I never get tired of the hummers.  They are just the most amazing little birds.  I'll never forget the first one I ever saw.  We were cruising the Caribbean many, many years ago and had taken a tour in Jamaica.  We stopped to take some photos of the view and I got so caught up watching a hummer feeding from a flower that I have no idea what the view was... I was mesmerized by the hummer!
 
I never get tired of these guys either....  it wasn't until we came to live here that we realized what characters the woodpeckers are!   Our little bit of woodland is perfect for them and they love the feeders that we have put up.   I managed to get a decent shot of this little guy
 
Woodpecker (1 of 1)
 
 I'll  back tomorrow with another card.  In the meantime, warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight and, if you are traveling, travel safe!
 
Hugs
Jaydee
 
Card recipe - All ingredients Stampin' Up!
 
  • DSP:  English Garden
  • Cardstock:  Whisper White, Mint Macaron, Corrugated
  • Inks:  Mint Macaron, Soft Suede
  • Stamps:  Four Feathers, Crazy About You, Endless Wishes

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