Thanks a Hoot!

Really, I mean it, thanks! I want to thank all of you who have left comments or contacted me about my blog. I'm having such a good time and I'm just getting started! Okay, now on to this card...

I have to admit, I've never been one to keep up with trends in the craft world. Now I know that owls and birds are very popular right now, but I wasn't sure I wanted to jump on the fowl bandwagon. But that all changed when I saw the Wise Owl set from Papertrey Ink!

I started this 4 x 4 white card by rounding the corners using my corner rounder punch. I then stamped the background and cut a one inch band out of Dark Chocolate cardstock. I distressed the band using my edge distresser. I then adhered the band to the center of the card.

The owl was stamped on Kraft cardstock, but I wanted to add some pattern first. I used my Sanded background stamp from Stampin' Up! and stamped a small piece of cardstock. I find it's much easier to use these big stamps if you turn them upside down and place your cardstock on top of the stamp. That way you can really see what you are doing.

Next it was time to build the owl! This set comes with all the pieces you need: eyes, beaks, wings, bellies, etc. Even though the owl eyes will end up white, I went ahead and stamped the eyes on the kraft cardstock as a "place holder" for later. I punched the owl out using my circle punch. To make sure I got the whole owl to fit in the circle, I turned the punch upside down to see what I was doing.

I punched a scallop circle out of the Spring Moss and glued the owl on top. I then stamped the eyes on white, cut them out, and glued them to the owl. The final step (for now) was to color my owl. I used my blender pen and pad to do the coloring. To do this, you just squeeze the stamp pad lid against the pad, open it up, and on the lid is enough ink to use with the blender pen.

I didn't want to over do it, so I just colored the beak and belly, and then added light coloring to the rest of the owl. I then glued the whole thing down to my card base and added the saying at the bottom right of the card. But wait, there's more...

For a little extra somethin' somethin', I added some diamond glaze to the owl's eyes. While it's not totally necessary, it really adds a fun touch and makes those owl eyes "pop." The trick when using this stuff is to keep the air bubbles out. To do this, you can use a needle to poke at the bubbles, but I still had bubble issues. But it doesn't really matter, it's still pretty darn cute.

Warning: When I get something new, I tend to use it over, and over, and over again. So the owl will be back!!!Pssst...hey, you! How about subscribing to my blog? You'll get updates emailed to you automatically, and it's free! Go ahead, do it...look for the envelope up there, on the right hand side of my blog.

Supplies:

Stamps: Wise Owl by PTI, Sanded by SU!
Ink: Dark Chocolate and Spring Moss Palette by PTI, Creamy Caramel and Pumpkin Pie Classic by SU!
Cardstock: Dark Chocolate, Spring Moss, Stampers Select Kraft and White by PTI
Tools: circle punch by Punch Bunch, scallop circle by Marvy Uchida, blender pen by SU!, edge distresser by Heidi Swapp
Other: Diamond Glaze by Judikins