My Black Headed Feathered Friend Tutorial

A dear friend, Deb, loaned me her Stampin Up Bird punch and I have had so much fun making some lovely cards with the punch outs. This is one of my favourite uses. I know I saw something similar on the 'net, but I can not find the original designer to give her (or him) credit where it is due!

This is the finished card.

So here is a tutorial on my Black headed feathered friend.

STEP 1: punch cut 2 images, one from white and the other from grey card scraps. I only wanted 1 wing and from the grey card and then sponge ink the edges.

STEP 2: You will need to cut the upper body shape from the grey bird. It will peak just below the eye placement and curve gently under the upper wing placement area. Use the photo to understand my description better. Hint: I made a template on a post it note and use this to cut my bird body. Also cut it keeping the head area intact as we will use this in the next step.

Template of upper body cut on a post it note.

The post it note template on the grey bird shape

The body cut away. The head area is coloured in black permanent marker ready for Step 3.

STEP 3: Colour in the head area with black permanent marker. The cut the head apart from the rest, leaving the dint in the head from the upper body cut away. Discard the bottom grey piece.

STEP 4: Now grab your favourite sponge and  spong the edges of the grey upper body and the grey wing in a darker grey. and the bottom belly part of the white body in a light tan colour. I like to also edge the head part of the white shape with a black pen to ensure no white shows up later.

You can see the ink pads I choose only because it is what I have on hand. (I am not loyal to one particular brand!)

Here are the same shapes but on a blue background for better clarity.

STEP 5:  Now we are just about done. We stick the pieces together... Stick the head on first, lining it up on the white body. Then the grey upper body should fit with the tip fitting into the little notch in the head. The the wing is added later. I like to use a pop dot for the wing, lifting it off the body just a tad for dimension.

Now all you need is a white gel pen and to dot in the eye placement.

Here is the finished card again, this time I used the leaves punch in green. The borders of the punch were done with a Fiskars Border punch and I mitered the corners for the lacy edging.

I hope you enjoyed my first on line tutorial. Do ask any questions if you feel I have left something out or need clarification of something.

This card and others are available for sale in my shop, Inkspirational Designs.

See you next time around!