Today’s card has a little bit of a county feelin’ staring a spunky little rooster from Sale-A-Bration level one stamp set Home To Roost, if you have not heard of Sale-A-Bration it is the most magical time of the Stampin’ Up! year, I mean who doesn’t like free product. That’s right if you spend $90 (before postage) you can redeem this guy for free! Or if you like Frogs check out this little guy here.
The rooster has been stamped in Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad on Whisper White cardstock, I used my Stampin’ Blends to colour him. Normally when I colour with Stampin’ Blends I am aiming to achieve a soft transition of light to dark shades. This time around I used strokes of colour to replicate feathers, it was important that the colours layer upon each other so I needed to allow a little drying time inbetween colour layers. Starting with the tail in Bermuda Bay Stampin’ Blends Markers, the strokes of colour follow the curves of the image. Moving to the belly using Smoky Slate before starting to layer Mango Melody from the eye down to the tip of the wing and Cajun Craze was added last. 
I am ALL about texture! Often on my cards have “unnoticed” texture, I say “unnoticed” as many of the details do not always show up in my photos unless you really look. I have used the Pinewood Planks Dynamic Textured Impressions Embossing Folder for the background, over the top I have used the Sponge Brayers to lightly add a layer of Crumb Cake to add a little contrast to the debossed sections in the woodgrain. I have added this image below to highlight the two different tones.
Last week I shared my first youtube video in 6 years, check out more of my tricks to texture.
Inside the card. Have you noticed the gingham paper, Wondering which Designer Series Paper I have used? Well, it is Botanical Butterfly Designer Series Paper also part of Sale-A-Bration, it is black and white but I have coloured the paper with Cajun Craze Dark Stampin’ Blends, the key is to really saturate the paper.
This is gorgeous!