Christmas Cardinal

Good Wednesday morning.  I have another nature inspired Christmas card for you today.  This time I have used the Tim Holtz Christmas Cardinal and paired it with the Impression Obsession Pine Branch and Bare Branch.

I cut the cardinal using red cardstock and cut away the branch leg sections of the die. I lightly added black around the face and shading on the body using a distress black soot marker and a brush. I lightly distressed the bird from the back with a stylus to create form the body so it wouldn’t appear so flat.

I wanted the bird and pine to pop and thought it would look great layered over an all white wood grain embossed background. I used the Tim Holtz Bricked and Wooden folder. I cut the pine and brushed  brown ink in the branch sections and distressed to form.  I cut the bare branch using kraft and sponged it brown. I attached the branch and pine to the card base using glossy accents.  I used rolled up glue dots placed under sections of the branches to hold them in place.  I didn’t want the cardinal to be totally flat against the pine so I placed three layers of mounting take to the back so it could be attached with a more natural dimension.

I applied glossy accents lightly over all the branches and sprinkled polar white flower soft all over to create the perfect snowy finishing touch.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful day.

Paper:  Red, White, Kraft, Olive   Ink:  Distress Ink Vintage Photo, Black Soot    Accessories:  Sizzix Tim Holtz Christmas Cardinal,Texture Fades Embossing Folder Bricked and Wooden,  Impression Obsession Pine Branch, Bare Branch, Flower Soft, Glossy Accents, Brush, Stylus, Glue Dots, Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool ,  Black Soot Distress Marker