Introducing Daryl: The Quirky Turkey!!

I'm back!! (from 'crafty' maternity leave, but not 'work' yet!!).

Time has flown and now we are thinking Christmas cards. I know, it is early, but us crafters are SUPPOSED to be organised and start making months beforehand. Do you? Honestly? If you do, then I salute you crafty friend! I am sure it will be last minute for me AGAIN this year - best intentions and all that! Anyway, at least I have been making some samples for Lisa...

I had fun this month with the new Hobby Art Daryl the Quirky Turkey stamps. He is a very comical chap and rather fun to play with at that...

As always with stamps that require colouring, my first task is always to practise. My weapons of choice in this case were Promarkers (just as an aside, Lisa has some cracking deals on her website for Spectrum Aqua Markers and Spectrum Noir Pencils which would also look fabulous with these stamps! I feel a treat coming on...) I stamped Daryl several times on some Super Smooth card with Tuxedo Black Momento Ink and then tried loads of colours out until I was happy. At this point I admit - I had no idea what colour a turkey's face was! Can't say I have ever stared one in the face before; probably not a good idea before roasting it (apologies vegetarians). Thank goodness for internet images though, as most types seem to be blue! Go figure... Anyway, once I was content 'ish' I stamped him again, coloured and then wrote around the image the colours I used. This always becomes my reference tool for the future and saves repeating the process each time.

To create the base layer I used some more Super Smooth card and stamped Daryl in the middle. It didn't matter if it wasn't straight, as you can manoeuvre this piece of card until you are happy with placement (cutting off any that may protrude). I then stamped Daryl onto a sticky note to create a mask. Placing this mask over him, I used an Ink Blending Tool to add Vintage Photo Distress ink all around his face. I found the best way was to work outwards from the mask to avoid disturbing it as you apply the ink. Once this was done, I coloured his face in.

The next step was to create a layer to resemble wrapping paper. Cutting the paper to the correct size for my card blank, I planned where I wanted the 'parcel' to open. When making these types of cards, I always find that a die can help me know how far to tear my paper. I chose a die that would give me the correct amount of the image to be shown. I then placed this on my paper and cut in lines from the centre of the die to the die edge. I cut in wiggly lines with a craft knife to make it look more natural.

Once I had my 'torn' section I rolled the edges up and then placed my coloured turkey underneath. After manoeuvring the image into place, I stuck it down with Cosmic Shimmer glue. Before matting and layering, I chose some coordinating ribbon from my stash and added to the card. I also wanted to add a label for Daryl, so I stamped a Hobby Art sentiment onto some card and cut into shape (my sentiment was from the old Christmas set, but there are some lovely new ones this year which you can buy called 'Christmas Frosting'). Finally I added the word 'Gulp!' from the Daryl set, again matting and layering, finishing with some googly eyes! (this stamp set is CRYING out for these!!)

I hope you like him, I will be showing a new card each week this month using the same set and explaining how it came to life.

Happy crafting and thank you for reading!

Love

Martina

xx