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Sunday 2 June 2013

A wise old owl sat on an oak; The more he saw the less he spoke; The less he spoke the more he heard; Why aren’t we like that wise old bird? - Edward Hersey Richards


I designed and created this card for my amazing friend, Matt (Click Print Scrapbook or CPS Blog). His favourite colour is blue and that served as one of three inspirations for his birthday card.  


The other inspirations come from my love of owls and circles or dots.  Do you ever find yourself attracted to some artwork or embellishment, sticker set or stamp set?  Sure.  And when I ask myself what it is that drew me in to falling head over heels with something I usually can find a few little nuances of myself in the item.  I am often attracted to things which include owls and dots.  Dresses, jewelry, scrapbooking materials, home decor and stuff in general that incorporate owls or dots in the design (can you imagine if it had both? I would be over the moon!)always catch my attention, attract me and take great energy to not bring homeIt's a good thing that I am (a)able to put things back on shelves and(b)not willing to have everything in my life become one-dimensional.  I love variety and I consciously decide and seriously consider which item comes home with me.  This little one was a gift from my friend, Sveta, who lives in Israel.  It surprised me that she remembered my adoration for owls because we never really talked about it.  In fact, I've never talked about owls as much as I just did.  I guess you bring out the chit-chatty in me.  If you look really closely you can see this momma owl has a little guy in her belly.  Sweet little momma owl.



How do you bring all these different ideas together to make a cohesive card that works?  Make sure you have colours tying in the theme or, in my case, themes together and use a ribbon.



The base of the large owl tag was created using Tim Holtz Distress Inks (vintage photo, broken china and spiced marmalade).  The owl is courtesy of Recollections Cling Stamps and the coloured touches have been made possible with Marvy BRUSH MARKERS (no. 64 plum, no. 92 celery and no. 6 brown).


I really have to thank Dawn, owner of The Inked Stamper Scrapbook Store for taking time late one Friday afternoon to demo the distressing inks and more importantly to allow me to be messy and set my inner mess free.  If you ever get a chance, because you're roaming the streets in Edmonton/St. Albert, take the time to stop in.  It really is worth your scrapbooking time.  Dawn also sold me on the importance of Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black.  This ink kicks ink butt.

The leaves are part of the Recollections Cling Stamp pack that came with the owl and the brad is also a Recollections piece. Notice how the music stamp made an appearance?  The ink colour is fantastic and gives it so much punch (made by Studio G).


The mini owl is tied on with jute.  It's a Stampin' Up punch.  I couldn't resist.  A punch owl.  Seriously.


I had to finish the back of the large tag given that it hangs over the backside of the card.  I used the same paper as the mini owl and the front of the card to bring in some continuity.  It's cardstock taken from the Recollections: Tattered and Worn paper pad (the thing is so large and packed with amazing paper someone could get hurt).


I love the colours and feel of the argyle cardstock but I really fell in love with the circle images which was taken from the same Recollections package.  The sheet was covered in circles and I cut out a few select ones which I thought were fun.  It was a bit of a stretch to bring the pink in but I like the contrast to the other colours.  It adds a little je ne sais quoi - n'est ce pas?  The soft blue paper was embossed with a Happy Birthday cartridge and the ribbon pulls in some of the rusts, oranges and mustard in the argyle pattern.




I found the bottle cap embellishment at a local scrapbook store Treasured Memories.  It's a fun little store where they make some of their own embellishments (they didn't make the bottle cap.  That came in a bag of many).  The owl in the centre of the bottle cap is from the same circle image paper. Fits very nicely, I think.


I thought the top of the card needed a little movement and by cutting out the diamonds and popping them up I added some whimsy.



I used all of the same materials on the inside of the card to keep the idea continuous.  I distressed the Happy Birthday tag with Tim Holtz Distress Inks (vintage photo, broken china and spiced marmalade) again and stamped the message in the Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black (I love this ink!).  Simple.  I like to keep my busyness to the outside of the card.



I waited to post this card because I didn't want Matt to see it before the official presentation which was earlier tonight.  The party was incredible and I'm so grateful to have such amazing friends.  My family and friends are for whom I design and create.  They are the reason I enjoy loading my work up with love and appreciation.

I think the next few posts will be devoted to Father's Day cards.  Check it out soon!

2 comments:

  1. I love the pop-up argyles. I was reading your blog, looking at the photos and then when I got to the pop-up diamonds, I had to pause. Well done.

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  2. Thanks again Pam! I love my card!! <3

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