Shake Our Tail Feathers

Every now and then, a stamp just cries out for a certain medium. It's weird how certain stamp styles seem to go with certain techniques or mediums.

When I saw this glorious, somewhat abstract peacock tail, I knew exactly what it needed. It needed some A Bit Jaded, Slime, and Violetta infusions. I used this masking tape across the front of a watercolor paper card front first, and then stamped the image in Nocturne and dried it, and then sprinkled the powders all over the image and sprayed them with water to activate them. I dried that and removed the tape and stamped the sentiment from the same set in the void. Then I took the gold glimmer ink - I love this ink - and a colour shaper (my fave tool for working with metallic inks), and I added gold details to the feathers in places. These are silicone, so the ink cleans off them easily but they also grab and hold the ink for precise application. 

Even with that detail work, this is like a three minute card and so fun.

Remember this video? That's how I created the background for this art journal spread. Then I took these gorgeous girls, stamped them and cut them out with the matching dies, and colored them with Copics. I accented each one with this fun Jane Davenport tape from my friend Kat, and then stamped these sentiments in the background. I love partially completing art journal spreads until just the right focal point calls to me.

Speaking of pretty girls - the sun came out today - finally - so I wanted to make this girl a little sunkissed. I colored her with Q-tips and this beautiful pastel palette I got to try with the ACTUAL Jane Davenport at Creativation. She is a DELIGHTFUL, joyful human being with so much passion for art. I could have watched her for days. She is a ray of sunshine herself.

I made the background with a favorite Alexis Toupet trick from the show - adding Distress ink (listed below) in layers to this Gingham stamp and layering the colors with the MISTI. Since Distress ink stamps sort of blotchy - it makes for beautiful texture in the background. I cut her out with her matching die, and the circle die is this one.

 Then, I made this last card while I was on the phone with my friend Brian. I stamped this koala in Black Hybrid Ink, and colored him with Copics. That circle that I used on the card above? It's from where I cut this shaker window out - they are double stitched dies, so each side gets a stitch. Then on the card base, I used the Life Changing Blender Brushes and the Random Dots stencil to create a background. I used Blue Raspberry, Sea Glass and Lovely Lavender inks. I built my little sequin dam with these shaker strips, and used them around the edge of the card front too. Want my cheaty trick for getting shaker card fronts perfectly aligned on the base? Use two pieces of acetate! I always felt so blind holding my card base over the upside down card front with the open shaker recess to get it JUST RIGHT which it never was - and then I realized, I can put a piece of acetate down behind the opening, build the shaker foam, fill the void with sequins, remove the liner tape, and then put another piece of acetate on that! Then I can flip the whole thing, position my card front in the corner of the MISTI, and put the shaker section down perfectly aligned on top. Why was I being so cheap with my acetate before now? The simplest things make the biggest difference, I swear.

All the products I've used today are below, along with the rest of the Picket Fence release. Sweet Nicole and her daughter (who does her shipping) had a terrible fight with the flu and still managed to pull off all of this awesomeness AND get ready for a show next week! They are superwomen, like most stamp company owners. If you are lucky enough to be in one of Nicole's classes at a show next week, please give her a hug for me. She's a peach. The two of us will be doing a Create & Take at the Simon Says Stamp CREATE event this spring - so if you're coming, be sure and stop by and say hi! 

And, I think Valentine's Day is stupid, but I do love you! Meanitbye.

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