A Little Birdie

This is a birthday card for a guy and it did not come together easily . . .

Initially, I colored the background with green spatters and left the embossed fern white. But there wasn't enough definition around the fern to be able to see what it was.  So I inked the tips and along the sides of each frond in black.  No go.  I darkened the space between the fronds with more green ink.  Nope.  I darkened the fronds themselves with more green ink.  TA DA!  Light at end of tunnel switches on . . .

That led me to the final solution:  ditch the pristine white frond idea and cover the whole thing in dark green ink.  I've had better results, but I'm happy that this one finally came together before I decided to make a flaming offering into the waste basket . . .

Cardstock:   Bazzill Light Green, Strathmore #90 Watercolor paper

Stamps:       A Stamp in the Hand Words Background Script, Tim Holtz

                        Crazy Talk: “A little birdie told me”

Inks:             Distress Mowed Lawn, Hero Black

Dies:            Mama Elephant Femme Frames, Memory Box Stitched

                        Rectangle Trimmings, Lavany/Amazon “Bird on a Fence”  

Stencil:        Dreamweaver Fern Frond