Two Birgittas

OK, so I stumbled across Pam Spark's blog (Expressions with Heart), several months ago.  I am in awe of her talent.  She is amazing at putting together fabulous elements and creating a piece-of-art-in-a-card.  Please take a few minutes to check out her website ... you'll be glad you did.  Pam is a designer for All That Scraps, and I just received my latest order yesterday ... I purchased figure stamps.  I never thought I would ever try these, but Pam's creations are so wonderful and she freely shares her tips and tricks, so I made the plunge.  I actually bought four figures all together and today I'm posting two cards I made with "Cute Birgitta" ... she's an adorable member of the Swiss Pixies.  I also purchased a few Promarkers and this is my first attempt at coloring faces - so please don't look to closely :)

The first card is done with layers of designer paper, some die-cuts and embellishments (Birgitta's jumper is paper-pieced).  I used Pam's cards for inspiration ... this is really out of my comfort zone, but I had fun ... although I spent HOURS making this card.  I'm happy with how it turned out ... and it is for the Color Throwdown Challenge (CTD193 - Marvelous Magenta, Garden Green, Summer Sun, Pumpkin Pie).  I had to sub for the Marvelous Magenta (Rich Razzleberry), and for Summer Sun (Daffodil Delight).  Hope you like.

"Birgitta Says Hello"

Stamps:  Cute Birgitta, Spring Bench (C.C. Designs); Friendly Flowers - sentiment (Fiskars)

Paper:  Ruby Red, Watercolor, Pumpkin Pie, Daffodil Delight, Garden Green, Rich Razzleberry DP, Very Vanilla (SU); Indie Chic "Ginger" (My Mind's Eye)

Ink:  Basic Black, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Baja Breeze, Old Olive, Garden Green, So Saffron, More Mustard, Rich Razzleberry, Baja Breeze (SU!); Ivory and Vanilla Promarkers (Letraset)

Accessories & Tools:  Aqua Painter, Blender Pen, clear embossing powder, heat tool, Nesties Squares (Spellbinders), Grass die-cut (C.C. Designs), Flower Border die-cut (C.C. Designs), mini Ruby Red brad, sponges, sticky strips, adhesives, and dimensionals

Here's a close-up of Birgitta:

____________________

The second card for today uses the same images but is Clean and Simple (CAS) ... and definitely more in my comfort zone.  It's for SCS Free For All Challenge (F4A118 - Feeling hot, hot, hot - use hot pink on your card).  I also used the sketch Challenge from Clean & Simple (FTL192).  Hope you like.

Here's the sketch for today:

"Thinking of You Birgitta"

Stamps:  Cute Birgitta, Spring Bench (C.C. Designs); Wish you were here (Hero Arts)

Paper:  White Cardstock (All That Scraps), Watercolor paper, Melon Mambo polka-dot DP

Ink:  Basic Black, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Daffodil Delight, So Saffron, Cameo Coral, More Mustard (SU!); Ivory and Vanilla Promarkers (Letraset)

Accessories & Tools:  Aqua Painter, Blender pen, white gel pen, black sharpie, sponges, clear embossing powder, heat tool, pink twine (The Twinery), glue dots, sticky strips, glue, and dimensionals

Both cards were done very similarly.  I stamped the image onto watercolor paper and embossed in clear.  I colored the face, hand and legs with the Promarkers.  I used Stampin' Write markers to color the rest of the image, blending the ink with the blender pen.  I sponged Cameo Coral on the cheeks of the second Birgitta and blended with the promarkers (the first Birgitta, I used a Promarker for the cheeks and had trouble blending it).  Birgitta's jumper and top are paper pieced.

The sky for the first Birgitta was sponged in Baja Breeze ink using a hand-cut template of randomly-sized scallops.

The border for the second Birgitta was hand-drawn using a fine tip black sharpie.