Christmas Cardinal

One of the things I love about Asela Hopkin's newest stamp set, First Christmas, is how versatile it is. Although it is perfect for those "first Christmas" celebrations, all of the images can be used for any Christmas or seasonal occasion.

Today, members of the Gina K Design Team, Center Stage Spotlight Team and friends are having a special blog hop featuring First Christmas. Are you ready for some more Eye-Candy!? Stop in at Asela Hopkin's blog (our featured Illustrator tonight) and see what she has prepared for us.

Then, check out these GinaK Designer's blogs for their projects:

Carolyn, Donna, Erika, Jessica, Lee, Melanie

as well as our CenterStage Spotlight Designer's blogs:

Deb, Karen, Diana and Sharri

Remember, the Idea Center has lots of tutorials, photos, and links that will provide even more ideas for you with this stamp set!

And, if you haven't already done so, be sure to leave a comment on GinaK's blog for a chance to win this stamp set tonight too! If you have already purchased this set, you may swap it out for any other GinaK stamp set valued at $23.95.

I did a Google image search to look at cardinals before coloring and I came across this picture and loved it so much I just had to case it for my card.

To start, I colored the cardinal from First Christmas, using an R29 Copic Marker.

Added R27.

Added R24.

I wanted a warm look for the highlights, so I used YR02 to fill in.

Then went over that with R22.

Used my blender pen to lighten some areas.

For the beak, I used YR02 and YR12.

To create my background I used Weathered Wood Distress ink and sponged from the center of my Pure Luxury White cardstock.

Next I stamped the branch from Winter Foliage using Memento Tuxedo Black. Then inked up just one side of the mountain scene stamp from Happy Camper, using Gable Green ink and stamped that on the left.

Then I inked up the other side of the mountain scene stamp, using the Weathered Wood Distress ink again. I stamped that side repeatedly, re-inking each time.

I used G28 and E35 to add some color to the branch, then added some shading to the rocks using N3. I thought the foreground looked a little plain, so I used Post-it Notes as masks and sponged a little more Weathered Wood to look like snow banks.

The cardinal was popped up using Pop Dots and I added a sentiment from Festive Frame. The button is from the Autumn Button Assortment. I layered with Pure Luxury Black Onyx and Moonlit Fog and used White heavy base weight for the base.

Thanks for stopping by. Have a great weekend!