Free As A Bird Birthday

It is Thursday and time for the Create with Connie & Mary Challenge.  What is the Create with Connie & Mary Thursday Challenge?  This weekly challenge alternates between a sketch and a color challenge.  The challenge will hopefully inspire you to create a project and then share it on the Create with Connie and Mary Facebook group.

I chose the Free as a Bird stamp set for this challenge.  I liked the idea of the branch instead of the strip and thought the flowers would also work for the sketch.

I used Stampin' Blends in So Saffron, Pool Party, Old Olive, Crumb Cake and Flirty Flamingo to color in the images. I wanted to add some blending to the background so I tore some Post It notes to roughly cover up the colored image.  I used Blending Brushes in Pool Party and So Saffron ink around the branch.  It still felt a little bare so I added some ink splatters.  I watered down some Tuxedo Black Memento ink and used a Water Painter and gently flicked the brush to create the splatters.  Once I was done fiddling with the panel I colored and fussy cut the flowers to add to the card.

I noticed on the sketch that the strip extended past the layer it was on so, I decided to add on to the stamped image.  I stamped just the end portion of the branch, colored it and cut it out.  I tried to mimic the markings on the branch to disguise where I grafted the extension.  If you look really closely you can see where I added the piece on but for the most part it looks pretty good.  Another tip that helps mask the addition is I used the brush end of a Basic Black Stampin' Write Marker to color around the edges of the fussy cut piece.  

Check out the centers of the flowers.  I used Iridescent Rhinestones for the centers and they are picking up the So Saffron color.  Love those rhinestones!  They really go with everything.

Inside I stamped and colored only a part of the branch.  You know I believe in decorating the insides of your cards.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out what the rest of the design team created for the challenge!