Saturday, August 20, 2011

Leapin' Lizards!

Happy Saturday People!

Yesterday, I realized (quite belatedly), the the youngest kiddo has a birthday party to attend TODAY.  Somehow, I got it in my head that it was next weekend.  Doesn't matter.  What matters is, I had to come up with a birthday card PRONTO.  Which is a scary thought when my mojo and I are just holding polite conversation with each other versus chatting like old friends.

But!  We managed to come up with this card, that was inspired by the picture of the birthday boy holding some reptile, on the invitation to join him at the local reptile store for his party.

So help me if my kid starts begging for another reptile.  Been there, done that.  I do NOT miss hearing crickets chirp at all hours of the night, nor do I miss finding the escapees throughout my house. 

Anyhoos!  I digress!  Here is the card that I came up with!



I bought this lizard stamp years ago at a little stamp store in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  I bought is purely for the fact that the wood mount has the imaged carved onto the block!  It is a showcase of craftsmanship!  I didn't care if I never used the stamp.  The carving is an incredible piece of art.


See what I mean?!  I can't imagine the time it took to carve this incredibly small detail!

I stamped the image with Memento Rich Coco onto a left over piece of paper that I had done my version of Wrinkle Free distress. This means, I have NO idea what particular distress inks were used.  Or what Glimmer Mists I used.  I think that Antique Brass was one as some of the shimmer looked brassy.  I then had to fussy cut the lizard.  It would seem that someone really didn't plan the angle of her stamping correctly!  shhhh.  I think that might have been mojo.  But, heaven knows!  I don't want to tick her off by mentioning it!

The lizard was then adhered to another Wrinkle Free sheet that was Pure Luxury white based.  The inks that I ended up using were Distress Frayed Burlap, Weathered Wood and a touch of Shabby Shutters.  I spritzed the ink with a combination of Tattered Angel's Glimmer Mist in Antique Brass and Patina.  I then roughly sponged around the edges with Distress Walnut Stain.  I then ran the background piece through the Big Shot with an old Fiskers Leather texture plate, to give a subtle texture and added dimension.  The lizard was attached with a combination of Scor-Tape and a Quickie Glue pen (for those little toes).  I used my Copics, B45, C1, C3, to add some more shading around the lizard to make him pop off the background a bit more.  The sentiment is from SU's, It's Your Birthday.  I did some masking to have the words layered versus in a straight line as the stamp is.  The whole shebang is attached to a Ivory Pure Luxury 5 1/2" square base. 

That's it for me today!  But!! Before I leave, I wanted to remind you all that you have until tomorrow, Sunday, August 21, to add your creation to to the Egg-cellent E-Team challenge! 


 You don't want to miss the chance at a $40 gift certificate to shop all the new goodies that Daisy has in the eP store!!

'Till then..........................




7 comments:

Glenda said...

That is one incredible stamp! And so is your card! Love the detail of the background piece. You were totally inspired!

Sylvia said...

This is a wonderful birthday card, Starla! Your kids friends are getting a nice collection of cards this year! My boy birthday cards would not have been so inviting. Love that stamp and what you did with it! Wonderful techniques as always!

Melody (lacyquilter) said...

Fun stamp. I love the texture in the background.

CuddlyBunny said...

Starla this card is so great!

Carolyn King said...

wow....that is a great spur of the moment card. love it. and love the carved stamp too!

Stef H said...

i sincerely doubt your work would be this gorgeous if you did it WITHOUT the pressure! you're ALWAYS scrambling and it's ALWAYS fantabulous!

you handle the glimmer mist beautifully too.

thank you soooooooo much for your kind words, thoughts & prayers. you always make me smile and it's always good to see you.

hugs :)

Cathy Y said...

Your card is gorgeous! And I recognized that stamp. I bought a number of stamps with the designs laser-cut into the wood at Guadalupe's Fun Rubber Stamps in Santa Fe several years ago. What a lot they have packed into a tiny store. And those stamps are beautiful enough to put on a shelf anywhere in your home!