Pheasant Details

Stampin‘ Pastels, Stampin‘ Write Markers, and Blender Pens were all that I needed for this effect. After masking the area where the pheasant was to be positioned, I established the horizon. I did this by touching the tip of the Blender Pen onto the Always Artichoke pastel. I then gave the illusion of a tree line in the background. Because I did not feel that I had enough definition, I outlined my mounds of trees using the thin tip of the Always Artichoke Stampin‘ Write Marker. To soften this line, I once again applied the Blender Pen.

To achieve the look of the sky, I used a Blender Pen and the Brocade Blue pastel. Because I was using Stampin‘ Up!s watercolor paper, I was able to “scrub” the color, giving the sky a natural, patchy appearance. The foreground utilizes Chocolate Chip and Close to Cocoa pastels and blender pens. I made it darker closer to the tree line and lightened up as I neared the bottom edge. Once again, scrubbing the colors gave a more natural appearance. When I finished the above steps, I wasn’t quite happy with the end results so I added just a touch of Always Artichoke pastel with the blender pen to the lower left hand section of the foreground to break up the brown.

My next step was to remove the mask and stamp the pheasant image. Of course, for this step, I definitely had to rely upon the Stamp-a-ma-jig. Because I wanted to showcase the new In-Colors, I inked the stamp with Soft Suede and stamped away.

After researching the colors of ring-necked pheasants, I looked for Stampin‘ Pastel colors that would work for their natural coloring. I dipped my Blender Pen into Rose Red and proceeded to tint the feathers around the eye. Oops! Do you know what I forgot? Since Soft Suede is not waterproof, the Blender Pen began to smear the ink slightly. A close look at the photograph will reveal the proof of my “blender pen blunder”. I should have used Basic Brown, but it was too late. At this stage, I moved to Plan B: pastels only. The breast of the pheasant is Bravo Burgundy, fading into Pumpkin Pie as we near the wings. Barely Banana was then brushed over the wings.

As I took one last look, I felt that the tree line was still missing something. As a final touch, I added the bare trees by using the fine tip of my Soft Suede marker. I also underlined the bottom of the pheasant and the tail feathers to make him “pop” a little more.

For all of you who emailed me with questions, I hope that this helps. So what’s in store for tomorrow? How about a little sneak peek at the Level 3 Hostess gift, “The More the Merrier”!

Please feel free to leave me a comment. I would love to hear from you! Until next time…

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(For complete card)
Stamp Set: Autumn Days (115452—Available July 1st)
Inks/Markers: Soft Suede Ink (115657—Available July 1st), In-Color Stampin’ Write Markers (116329—Available July 1st), Always Artichoke Stampin’ Write Marker (105113)
Paper: Manchester Designer Series Paper (112464—Last Chance List), Textured 12 x 12 Very Vanilla Card Stock (106530), Dusty Durango—for button thread (115321—Available July 1st), Water Color Paper (105019)
Tools: Stamp-a-ma-jig (101049)
Other: Stampin’ Pastels (105542), Blender Pens (102845), Fresh Favorites II Buttons (107422)