Fishing Masculine Birthday Card

My husband enjoys fishing, and his birthday is coming soon. Newton's Nook Blog is having a challenge, and I love challenges. I only own one NN stamp set, Campfire Tails, but what great coincidence! It has a bear stamp carrying a fishing pole.

With the help of Cricut Design Space, I created the elements of the card based on the sketch. I cut a Fish Trophy from Cricut Outdoor Man cartridge, but I only used the base layer. I sized it to fit the bear. This was cut on a Canson Watercolor Paper.

I cut the waves from Cricut Going Places cartridge. I cut the top layer and used the Contour feature to cut a matching solid layer. I cut the top layer using a blue cardstock and cut the solid layer using a blue vellum. I switched mats when I cut the vellum. The cut was impressive. The only complain I have is that the vellum curled as I was peeling it off the mat which was fixed by adhering it to the cardstock.

I stamped the bear to the trophy cut-out using Ranger Archival ink. I used the Misti Tool since the texture of the watercolor paper does not allow one-time smooth stamping. The Misti Tool allows you to re-stamp with the assurance of precise placement. I watercolored the bear using Gansai Tambi Watercolor. I had to mix colors on a palette to create custom colors. I painted the bear's background with watercolor as well. I inked the edges using Tim Holtz Walnut Stain Distress ink. I stamped the sentiment on top of the bear using Versafine Onyx Black.

I stamped fish images on watercolor paper using the Lawn Fawn Fintatstic Fish stamp set. I die cut this using the coordinating metal die. Lawn Fawn images are cut with a white border around it. I do plan to adhere the fish behind the vellum. The white border might not matter but to hide the white border, I painted the border with blue to have the fish blend with the blue vellum. I also applied clear Wink of Stella to the fish.

I chose an old Basic Grey patterned paper for the background and cut this at 5 1/2" x 4". To add more texture, I used Wendy Vecchi Translucent Embossing paste on a Wendy Vecchi Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend stencil. I set this aside to dry. I inked the edges with TH Walnut Stain Distress ink.

I stamped the hook from the NN stamp on Neenah Solar White cardstock. I embossed it with Hero Arts Silver embossing powder. I colored in the hook using a silver gel pen. I fuzzy cut the hook. I stamped two of this and I am sure glad I did. I made the trophy cut-out into a tag. I punched a hole on the top but the hook was too short for the space between hole and the edge. I cut off the eye part of the hook that's showing up front. Then, I cut the sharp edge of the other hook and adhered it to the back of the tag, positioning it so that it seems like it is long enough. Nice illusion, right? I poked a hole on the eye using a sewing needle, through which I threaded a silver thread.

I adhered the fish first making sure they can be seen through the vellum. I adhered the waves next. I applied clear Wink of Stella to the vellum for added shimmer. I adhered the trophy tag using adhesive foam. I taped the end of the thread to the back of the background paper. I matted this with a Bazzill Hot Fudge cardstock. I adhered this to a white note card.

I rarely stamp sentiments inside a card but I combined two stamp sets to create this customized sentiment which matches the theme of the card. I used LF Fintastic Friends, Milo's ABC and Party Animal.

Thanks for viewing my blog. Have a brilliant day!

Maria Giselle B.

 I am submitting this creation to:

http://www.newtonsnookblog.com/2016/04/inky-paws-challenge-31-sketch.html