Playful Penguins for boys birthday cards

Last week it was one of my nephews birthday and I always struggle to come up with fun cards, but this time this uber cute penguin came to my aid.  He's from the Playful Penguins stamp set in the soon to arrive Stampin' Up! winter catalogue.  It is one of those 'not just for Christmas' sets as whilst it has scarves and hats for the penguins and sentiments to wish everyone warm wishes for the festive season, it also has some sentiments to suit other occasions not least a young boy is very cool!

I  used painters tape to secure my piece of water colour paper to a board to keep it flat and then I sectioned off each colour rough rectangle to add water colour washes in Mango Melody, Granny Apple Green, Coastal Cabana, Bermuda Bay and Pacific point.  As I removed the tape for each section I dried it with my heat gun but then blended slighty with the section above when I started the next one. 

I stamped the penguin with black Tuxedo Memento ink and fussy cut him out before adding a touch of Mango Melody to his beak and feet. I also used a black marker to seal the edges and stop any white peeping to make sure his shape stayed defined. 

The sentiment as I've mentioned is from the Stampin' Up! set Playful Penguins and it is stamped in black too.  I've added some frosted and clear epoxy dots for the final touch.   The design is adhered to a retired piece of galvanised foil card and a Pacific Point base card. 

To the inside of the card I added a stamped Happy Birthday using the sets Well Said and Merry Christmas to all and another penguin looking very grown up which I know my nephew thinks he is at 10.

Anyone else like me and can't resist a cute penguin?  Brings back memories of TV ads years ago and of course you have to ppppppick up a penguin!!

The countdown is on now for our winter catalogue. I wonder which sets you will choose first.  Will you be a Playful Penguin fan too?


Have a great day and pop back on Friday night for the Totally Techniques Global demo blog hop when we are sharing uses for the embossing pastes.

Thanks for checking in.
Hugs Zoe x

 LAST FEW DAYS

Stampin Up Demonstrators team up for the Totally Techniques Blog Hop - Brusho Crystals

Welcome to February's Totally Techniques Blog Hop.  You may have arrived from Annette's blog where she has worked wonders with her chosen technique which is ideas for using the Brushos Crystal Colours.  On the market for some time, but new to the Stampin' Up! product offering I have    become addicted to these fabulous powdered paints.  They are so versatile and if, like me, you like playing about or rather getting messy with ink then you will love them too.  

Here's a short video to show you how to get started with some tips for more advanced or should I say a little more adventurous crafters too. 

You'll see from the video that I used a mixture of techniques. I first coloured the daffodil heads by adding water to the flowers and then adding the yellow powder.  I built up the background by using a block as my palette and adding the paint with an aqua painter. I used kitchen paper to mop up excess water and also allowed the piece to dry before adding more colours and that allowed me to add darker shades if needed.  

The sentiment is part of the Stampin Up You're Inspiring set and that is simply stamped on black card stock in white craft ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder.  I hand cut the pennant but if you need to be sure it's perfectly straight a trimmer and punch can be used.   I've added some sliver/white baker's twine and a couple of matting layers of white card to frame my image letting it speak for itself. 

This card is a mixture of painting with BrushOs mixed in a palette and sprinkling some crystals in two colours namely yellow and red to create the leaf colours and I used an aqua painter for moving the ink around the leaves and also to paint the blue background.    The leaves were stamped with archival black and allowed to dry thoroughly before painting.  Once painted I used a fine tip glue pen to add some gold fine glitter for that bit of bling that I love. 

You can see another one of my 'plays' with Brushos on this stamping scene post where I used the Stampin' Up! Saleabration stamp set Epic Celebrations with a fun card for teenagers.

Thank you for joining us this month I hope you find lots of inspiration for our hop and don't forget to visit us next month for our Totally Techniques Hop which will be Crinkled Background Technique. 

Thanks for visiting me 

Zoe x

Now you're off to see Kelly. 

1. Annette Elias - The Netherlands

2.  Zoe Tant UK - You are here

3. Kelly Acheson - USA

4. Marine Wiplier - France

5. Satomi Wellard - Japan

6. Lynsay Mahon - Canada

7. Barbara Meyer - Austria

8. Paula Dobson - New Zealand

9. Nadine Weiner - Germany