Bird on a Sign

It has been a long time since I played along with a challenge over at Splitcoaststampers, but it's really fun for me when I do. This week I thought I would use the sketch challenge as my muse, particularly Sketch Challenge 607. Here is the sketch:

And here is my card!

 

I started out by making a background. I used some fall leaves on the edges in Dapper Denim and Always Artichoke ink (Stampin Up's alliterative color names), and then stamped a French script background. All of these stamps are retired.

Maybe my favorite element is this brick. I used a brick embossing folder and then just dragged Crazed Cajun, Real Red, and Cherry Cobbler ink pad across it.

This bird is from the Best Birds SU stamp set. As you can see, I airbrushed him with Copic markers. This is an unbelievably quick way to color something, but it only works if you are going to cut it out. I have the die that matches this stamp, but it doesn't cut as closely as my scissors.

I worked and worked  with an entirely different background for "Panel 6" (see above), and I just couldn't get one that would look awesome with this bird. So I browsed through my dies to get some inspiration, and I found it! The sign holder was cut from black paper and then I used some metallic rub-ons. The sign itself was cut out of white cardstock, the frame was colored black with a black Copic marker, and then the same metallic rub-on was applied. The stamp is from SU's Established Elegance stamp set.

Then I put it all together.  I'm going to go home tonight and see what other Splitcoast challenges strike my fancy. That was fun!

Cyndi