Saturday 23 January 2016

Toucans... better together...

Hello there, and welcome to my new look blog.  I hope you like it, and that you find the links and other features I've added helpful.  A huge thanks to my dear friend Emma Burns whose tips and advice have made it all possible.
 
I thought I would share this card I made for step son's 30th birthday at the beginning of January.  Can you guess the tipple of choice for the celebrations?
 
 
 I had made the background a while ago using a technique that Pauline Butcher demoed at Port Sunlight last autumn.  I sprinkled colour bursts onto a piece of stencil card, then sprayed on ordinary spray starch.  A piece of cling film was scrunched over, then the piece was set aside to dry.  Barbara Gray does a very similar trick using just water on coated Clarity cardstock;  you can check out her You Tube video here.  With the spray starch you can use any cardstock, and I find if anything the cracked effect is intensified. 
 
I stamped the toucans into place in the centre of the card using black archival.  I also stamped them again onto a scrap of stencil card, and onto a post-it so I could cut out a mask.
 
Once I had masked off the toucans, I pulled grunge paste through the olive wreath stencil and set aside to dry.
 
I replaced the stencil, and sponged through distress inks.  I'm not 100% sure of the colours I used now, but I think it might have been spiced marmalade, faded jeans and twisted citron.  These merge and blend beautifully.
 
I coloured the toucans on the scrap piece of card using spectrum noir pencils and glued into place.
 
The edges were finished with a ruler and a black Sharpie pen, before mounting onto a card blank. 
 
 
Thanks so much for visiting.  I'd love it if you could take the time to leave a comment.  I read and value them all.  Till next time.  Xxx   


9 comments:

  1. Such a fabulous background, Barbara and the Toucans a fab too! xx

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  2. So nice love the colours you have used

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  3. I love this Barbara, the grunge paste through the stencil is fab when it's inked. I got some grunge paste and have only used it once. I think I may have another go. Yours looks really good. Fab background technique too.
    Enjoy the rest of your weekend. Xx

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  4. Wow loving the background you have achieved on this card in particular, it really looks like a rainforest which is perfect for the toucans. I'll have to try this with my brushos, thanks for the inspiration xx

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  5. Spray starch has been added to my shopping list Barbara - what a fab piece of inspiration for the crafting community. I love the blend of colours and these toucans are adorable....another stamp I have that gets over-looked far too often. I may well get them out to spread their wings over the next few weeks :-) Have a fab Sunday xxx

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  6. what a fab piece of artwork! So lovely ! xx

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  7. what a fab piece of artwork! So lovely ! xx

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  8. Fab card Barbara I must get some spray starch and give this a go x

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  9. Fab card Barbara I must get some spray starch and give this a go x

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