January Twofer Challenge

Hi there everybody.  The Twofer Card Challenge is run by our lovely blogging friend Darnell and the theme this time is birds, and as the title suggests to enter you make two cards using the same stamps, stencils or dies but for two different occasions, and the bird central to both my cards is an image from a set by Chocolate Baroque called  Let Your Heart Sing, and here they both are.

As I was running out of time and I wanted to get an entry in this time, the first card is one I made for the Chocolate Baroque TV shows last month but which hasn't been seen anywhere yet.  A bit of a cheat but OK I hope.

I started with a Brusho background in shades of green, Emerald and Leaf Green, and also some Yellow.  I darkened the edges with some Fossilized Amber and Spiced Marmalade Distress Inks.  I then stamped a border using a small flourish stamp from the set and added a small bird on a branch in the centre using Onyx Black Versafine Ink.  I decided to make it like a tile so I covered it with Versamark Ink and heat embossed using WOW Clear Gloss Embossing Powder.  I did this twice to build up the shine.  I finished the topper by matting it on to a Crealies Pierced Rectangle using white card.

I then embellished the card base using another of the bird images from the set along the bottom and up the sides using Versamark Ink and heat embossed with WOW Gold Metallic EP.  I then blended some Fossilized Amber DI over the top using a blending tool, and faded the colour out where the stamping ends.

I decided not to use a sentiment on the front as I didn't want to cover up the pretty gold embossing.

For my second card I decided to make a circle shape with some leaves from a set by Inkylicious called Mini Branches which I was lucky enough to win over at The Playground recently.  I started by cutting a mat using the largest square stitched die from a set by The Works.  I was going to use a Gina K Wreath Builder stencil which was also part of the prize, and using my stamp positioner, to place the leaves in a circle.

I wanted to use a slightly larger square than the 4" one the stencil allows, and although I managed to make it work on a piece of copy paper by overlapping the card on the stencil the same amount on either side of the cut out positioning places, when I came to do the same on the actual piece for some reason, probably user error..lol, it wasn't going well, so I decided to just place the stamps around by hand, still using my Misti, and it didn't finish up with the neatest circle ever but having spent quite a long time doing it I decided to go with it.   I used Brushed Corduroy Distress ink on the stems and Peeled Paint DI for the leaves.  I then placed the bird within the circle again using Brushed Corduroy for the bird's perch, and then Broken China and Fossilized Amber DI's on the bird itself, with some Aged Mahogany on the three little flowers.   I took the ink pads to the stamp inside the Misti for both the leaves and the bird, using one colour at a time to colour the image, stamping in between until I achieved the right result.  Rubbing the ink off the stamp from any areas I didn't want it was a bit fiddly but I do like the end result.

I then added the background brushing the ink on making sure to keep within the confines of the leafy circle which is easier with a stencil brush, again using Broken China and Peeled Paint DI's and using a mask cut from a piece of paper for the hills, and also a straight edge to use below.

I finished by adding the sentiment to the topper using Versamark Ink and heat embossing with WOW Copper Metallic Embossing Powder.  I then mounted it on to a piece of craft foam before adding it to a white 6" square card.

I really wanted to enter the challenge this time as I have missed the last couple of  months, and as I was running out of time using the one card which I had already made helped me along a bit, but this is a slight cheat and hope that Darnell thinks my shortcut is an acceptable one.

Thank you for visiting today and I'll be back soon.