Christmas Cardinal for Freshly Made Sketches Anniversary

Hi Everyone.

Happy Friday.  I don't know about you, but I am over the moon that it is Friday!

For the past couple of weeks I have been unable to join in the fun and celebrate Freshly Made Sketches 400th anniversary.  I've really wanted to play with the fun retro sketches - such a cool idea, by the way!  FMS is one of my favorite challenges and one of my always go to places for sketches everytime I craft.  So, congratulations ladies on celebrating 400 sketches and thank you all for your hard work and amazing inspiration every week.

Here's this week's sketch:

 

I had an idea which set I wanted to use.  The new Christmas Cardinal set that will be available from the SU Holiday catalog next week.  I LOVE this set and really wanted to use it.  However, it took me 30 minutes going backwards and forwards and around and around on what papers to use with it.  No matter what I tried, they distracted from the fabulous bird.  In the end I decided to go with white on white on white but with varying textures to add interest and break up the rectangles.

 

Here's a closeup of the layers:

 

I love the smoothness of the vellum with the cardboard and woodgrain layers.  As you can see - the red really pops off the page now.

 

I went with a soft grey/green ink for the branch and added that behind the sentiment and the cardinal.  Here's my card:

 

I stamped the Cardinal with black ink and then colored him with pencils.  I used 5 different colors of red, dark blue and brown to get the shading and color variation.  Normally I blend the colors but, as the bird has feathers, I decided to emphasize the texture of his feathers by using deliberate and noticeable flick strokes with the pencil, varying the colors over each other.

 

Here's a closeup:

 

I was really pleased with how the card turned out and think that going with texture, instead of papers, helped to ensure that the cardinal really was the star of the show.  I absolutely LOVE this set and I think you will be seeing it quite often :-)

 

I hope you will join in the fun and help celebrate the hard working gals at FMS.  I'll be back tomorrow with my Paper Players card.  In the meantime, warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.

 

Hugs

Jaydee

 

Card recipe:

• Stamp:  Christmas Cardinal - Stampin' Up! - available Sept 3
• Inks:  Ink on 3 - black
• Card base:  woodgrain card stock - Altenew.  Corrugated from stash.

Comments

[jaydee]

Thank you, Jeanne :-)
hugs
jaydee

[jaydee]

Thanks, HJ. I love the textures, too. I need to find some more of the textured paper :-)
hugs
jaydee

[jaydee]

Doris, thank you! I really love this image and tried stamping it in red and coloring the face mask in black and it was a disaster, so I decided to stamp it in black and work with it and am so glad that I did. This version is so much better than the initial ones I did.
hugs
jaydee

[jaydee]

Norma
thanks! Honestly, coloring is all about practice. I've learned so much, but still have so much to learn. I also find that coloring the same image multiple times helps me to get better at it. This is very different to the first time I colored the image - and you'll be seeing that card in a couple of weeks and see how different it is.
Hugs
Jaydee

[jaydee]

Thanks, LeAnne. It took all of my restraint to not blend it and just go with the flow :-)
hugs
jaydee

[Karren Johnson]

Gorgeous card full of wonderful texture. The white with the pop of color is so striking. Thanks so much for joining us at Freshly Made Sketches.

[Jeanne H]

Yes! Your coloring is just wonderful. Lovely card.

[HJ]

Beautiful coloring for your stunning card. Love the textured pieces to make the cardinal pop. Enjoy your day!

[Doris D.]

Oh my goodness. Your coloring is outstanding, prettier than the catalog. What a fantastic card.

[Norma rennie]

What a amazing card. It looks so real. Wish I could color like that?

[LeAnne]

This is wonderful...I love the texture you created from the white pieces! And the "feathers" look so realistic!!