With Thanksgiving less than a week away, I wanted to share one more card for the occasion. The Caffeinated Turkey from The Rabbit Hole Designs is such a fun focal point, I had to use him again.
For today’s card, I stamped my turkey with Warm Glow ink and Copic colored him, before cutting him out with the coordinating die. To create the embossed background, I ran a tan sheet of cardstock through my die cutting machine, sandwiched between a squishy pad, and the Splish Splash stencil. This is one of my most favorite stenciling techniques (it’s fast and mess free too)!
To pull the card together, I glued the embossed panel to a slightly larger white panel, then glued that to a sand colored card base. Foam tape pops the turkey up. The sentiment is a combination of heat embossed, and die cut words. To make them pop, I used white powder on black Perfect Sentiment Cardstock. This black cardstock is coated, so embossing powder melts fast and smoothly, without sinking into the paper. A few gold gems finish the card.
Before I go, I wanted to share a side by side comparison of Caffeinated Turkeys. I still have the card I made with him last year, and when I pulled it out, I was pleasantly surprised to see how far my coloring skills have come! I no longer emboss before coloring. I’ve ventured into no-line coloring, and I’m not afraid to choose markers with big gaps between numbers. I’m not looking for gradual transitions from one color to the next, I want contrast. Obviously, I have lots of room to grow, and I really want to practice more with adding colored pencil details, but I’m happy with my progress so far! I’ll have to remember to color this stamp again next year, and see the difference then.
I have to thank Kathy Racoosin for sharing her coloring tips and techniques. I’ve taken two of her classes in person. (Remember when we used to be able to travel?) And I’ve tried to incorporate her techniques into my practice. If you’ve never taken a class with Kathy, they are available online too. You can also color along with everyone during her coloring challenges; just post photos of your work and use the hashtag #thedailymarker30day. You’ll be inspired and encouraged as you go. There’s one going on now!
I’d also really like to thank Courtney Kreeber from Create and Inkspire, and Jammie Clark from Sweet Sentiment. I’ve taken virtual classes with them both, and following along in real time makes a huge difference! You get a chance to see what colors they pick (they pick markers with big gaps between the numbers too), and you can compare your own strokes to theirs as you color along. You start to see areas you can improve on; it’s very helpful.
Thanks for stopping by today. I’ll be back again soon with another fun card to share! Until then, I’d love to know… Who are your coloring gurus? Any good tips you’ve discovered along the way? And what do you think of my turkeys? I actually love both cards. Lol, so now the question is, do I send the cards out? Or hoard them to compare again next year? Let me know in the comments below.
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