Today I am sharing with you my Cardinal Anniversary Card using the Toile Christmas Stamp Set and matching Christmas Cardinal Dies by Stampin’ Up! I was asked by a good friend to create a custom anniversary card for her to give to her husband. She mentioned that he loves cardinals and she would like one on the card. So, I decided to that two cardinals, a male and female, would be perfect for an anniversary card. Did you know that cardinals mate for life!

I decided to create a Fall scene with the Woodland Embossing Folder and the Gilded Autumn Specialty Designer Series Paper since they were married in October. I love the copper and gold gilded leaves on the paper! To tie in the gold accents, I embossed the sentiment from the Well Said Stamp Set in gold. For an anniversary card, I had to pull in the hearts with the Stitched Be Mine Dies! Some Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels and Shimmery Crystal Effects on the berries add a bit of sparkle to the card.

I used a number of techniques to colour my birds such as the No-Lines, Flicking and Tip-to-Tip. I included more information below, as well as some colouring videos at the end of this post.

For the male cardinal, I used Cherry Cobbler Light/Dark Blends and the Dark Smokey Slate Blend to darken the shadows in strategic locations, such as his tail, his breast and wing, giving the bird depth. For the female cardinal, I used Crumb Cake Light/Dark Blends and Light Crumb Cake/Dark Cherry Cobbler Blends.

No-Lines Technique

I coloured these beautiful cardinals with the no-lines technique. This technique uses a light colour to stamp the image. For the cardinals, I used the Sahara Sand Classic Stampin’ Pad. The lighter colour gives you a guideline for your colouring without the harsh black lines and makes the image more real and vibrant.

Flicking Technique

Once stamped, I used a flicking technique with my Blends to create a lot of texture. This technique is achieved by applying ink in quick, single strokes. The key to this inking technique is to flick the marker tip across the page to create a single stroke that goes from dark to light.

1. Holding the marker loosely, start a downward movement towards the paper
2. As the marker tip touches the paper, quickly move across the paper, bringing your hand up and away from the paper. This will apply more ink at the beginning of the stroke and less at the end.
3. You may need to turn the paper to accommodate the angle that is most comfortable for you.

Flicks can be left unblended to create texture such as for hair or feathers (like this card). Or, they can be blended out to create smooth shading.

The Tip-to-Tip Technique

To combine two different coloured blends on the female cardinal, I used the Tip to Tip Blending Technique. This gives you a smooth transition of colors and doesn’t end up looking all blotchy where the colors meet. I’ve chosen the Light Crumb Cake Blend and the Dark Cherry Cobbler Blend for the female cardinal.

1. Brush the tip of the Light Crumb Cake Blend over the tip of the Dark Cherry Cobbler Blend to pick up some color. The Crumb Cake Blend then acts as your brush to apply a mix of both colors.
2. As you apply the Crumb Cake Blend, the Cherry Cobbler will eventually run out and only Crumb Cake is left. This creates a smooth transition between the two colours. I kept working these blends together until I was happy with the amount of Cherry Cobber I had on the bird.
3. Don’t worry about your markers being contaminated—all you need to do is run them over some scrap paper a few times and the nibs will clean themselves.

Supplies:

Stamps: Toile Christmas Cling Stamp Set (150469), Well Said Stamp Set (148796)

Dies:  Christmas Cardinal Dies (150640), Stitched Be Mine Dies (151814)

Inks: Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad (132708), Sahara Sand Classic Stampin’ Pad (147117), VersaMark (102283)

Paper: Cherry Cobbler (119685), Crumb Cake (120953), Very Vanilla (101650), Whisper White (100730), Gilded Autumn Specialty Designer Series Paper (153520)

Accessories: Woodland Embossing Folder (152881), Cherry Cobbler Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack (154880), Smoky Slate Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack (154904), Cajun Craze Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack (154879), Crumb Cake Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack (154882), Soft Suede Stampin’ Blends Combo Pack (154906), Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder (109129), Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels (146924), Shimmery Crystal Effects (150892), Bone Folder (102300), Stampin’ Seal (152813), Stampin’ Dimensionals (104430), Mini Stampin’ Dimensionals (144108), Mini Glue Dots (103683)

Measurements: 

• Cherry Cobbler:
  • 8 ½” x 5 ½”; scored at 4 ¼”
  • 3 ½” x 3 ¾” (large heart)
  • 2 ¼” x 2 ³/₈” (small heart)
• Crumb Cake: 5 ¼ x 4”
• Very Vanilla: 5 ¹/₈” x 3 ⁷/₈” and scraps for sentiment
• Gilded Autumn Specialty Designer Series Paper: 3” x 3¼”
• Whisper White: 2 pieces of each
  • 2 x 4 ½” (cardinal)
  • 2 ½” x 4 ¼” (branch)

Instructions:

1. Fold the Cherry Cobbler card stock in half.
2. Stamp the cardinals and branches in Sahara Sand on Whisper White card stock.
3. Colour the cardinal using the flicking technique described above in Cherry Cobbler Light/Dark and Dark Smokey Slate for the male.
4. For the female, use Crumb Cake Light/Dark and the Tip-to-Tip Technique with Crumb Cake/Cherry Cobbler.
5. Use Basic Black Light/Dark for the masks on their faces and Cajun Craze Light/Dark for their beaks and feet.
6. Colour the branches in Cajun Craze Light/Dark for the leaves, Cherry Cobbler Light/Dark for the berries and Soft Suede Light/Dark for the branch part.
7. Using the Christmas Cardinal Dies, die cut the cardinal and branches.
8. Add Shimmery Crystal Effects to the berries on the branches and set aside to dry.
9. Emboss the Very Vanilla piece with the Woodland Embossing Folder.
10. Stamp the sentiment in VersaMark on the scraps of Very Vanilla and heat emboss with Gold Stampin’ Emboss Powder. Trim to fit.
11. Die cut in Cherry Cobbler the large scallop heart and the small filigree heart from the Stitched Be Mine Dies.
12. Die cut the Gilded Autumn Specialty Designer Series Paper with the heart that layers into the scallop heart.
13. Using Stampin’ Seal adhere the Crumb Cake piece to the card base.
14. .Adhere the embossed Very Vanilla piece with Stampin’ Seal to the Crumb Cake.
15. Attached the Cherry Cobbler scallop heart to the Very Vanilla piece towards the top and aahere the DSP to the centre of it.
16. Using Multipurpose Liquid Glue, adhere the filigree heart to the scallop heart in the top right-hand corner overlapping the card base.
17. Using glue dots, adhere the branches to the cardinals.
18. Pop the cardinals and branches up with dimensionals.
19. Pop up the sentiment with dimensionals.
20. Scatter 5 Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels on the card.

For Further Info for My Cardinal Anniversary Card:

Hope you like my Cardinal Anniversary Card!

My Colouring Notes from my Colouring presentation:
https://stampwithlaurie.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/Stampin-Up-Blends-2020.pdf

Part 1: Whiskey Business Card using Blending Different Colours Technique
Video Tutorial: Blending Different Colours Together

Part 2: Country Harvest Card using Light to Dark Technique
Video Tutorial: Light to Dark/Dark to Light Colouring

Part 3: Beautiful Poppy Birthday Card using Smooth Colouring Technique
Video Tutorial: Smooth Colouring

Part 4: Let’s Gather Together Card using Tip to Tip Blending Technique
Video Tutorial: Tip to Tip Colouring

Part 5: So Grateful Cardinal Card using Flicking Colouring Technique
Video Tutorial: Flicking Colouring

Part 6: Let’s Celebrate You Card using Flicking of Different Colours Technique
Video Tutorial: Flicking of Different Colours Technique

You will find the items listed above in my online store.