- Dec 3, 2019

Penguin Christmas Card

Lindy's Stamp Gang Whimsy Stamps Penguin Christmas Tree

Hi everyone, today I’m on the Lindy’s Stamp Gang blog with a cute Christmas card project, for which I used lots of gorgeous Lindy’s Stamp Gang colours! Let’s get started!

Step 1:

I started my project by stamping this adorable penguin image (Whimsy Stamps Penguin Christmas Tree stamp) onto some Strathmore Bristol Smooth Surface paper using Versafine Onyx Black ink and heat embossing afterwards using Lindy’s Stamp Gang embossing powder in Clearly Clear. This way the lines stay black and crisp no matter how much water I add later on.

Step 2:

Next I coloured my penguin image: I started with the penguin itself using Lindy’s Stamp Gang Squirt in Hockey Puck Black for the dark parts and Lindy’s Stamp Gang Spray in Sea Grass Green for the lighter parts. I added some of the colour to my palette and picked up the colour with my brush. Making the colour lighter on the paper using water and darker by adding more layers after each layer dried.

Step 3:

Then I worked on his little feet and his beak as well as the large star image. For my orange I choose Lindy’s Stamp Gang Magical in Hag’s Wart Orange and for the gold star I choose Lindy’s Stamp Gang Magical Shaker in California Poppy Gold. I applied the colours in the same way as I did with the previous ones, building layers until I liked what I had. Just remember that once the colour is dry, you can’t lift it like you can with regular watercolour paints!

Step 4:

Next I coloured the baubles using Lindy’s Stamp Gang Magical in Pretty in Pink Pink. When colouring a round object the highlight (the lighter part of the image) will be round or oval as well, if you are not sure how to colour an object look that same object up on the internet and use that as an example. I always pretend that my light source is in the top left hand colour (unless there is a light source visible in the image itself like a candle, a lamp or the sun), so that way I always know on what side of the object my shadow will be.

Step 5:

The only parts remaining uncoloured are the string of lights and the last decoration as well as the area around the image. For my bright yellow and green colours I choose: Lindy’s Stamp Gang Magical in Bonjour Butter and Lindy’s Stamp Gang Magical Shaker in Cathedral Pines Green. I applied these colours in the same way as I did with the others. Lastly I coloured around the image using a mixture of colours of Sea Grass Green for the bottom part and green, yellow and gold for the area around the penguin.

When the colouring is done and dry I added some highlights using a white Gelly Roll Pen and then I fussy cut the image, leaving a small border, with my scissors.

Step 6:

Time to work on my background panel: I die cut a square panel, two sizes smaller then my card base, from some watercolour paper. I stamped one of the sentiments from the Lili of the Valley stamp set called Christmas Handwritten Phrases onto this panel using Archival ink in Jet Black and applied some The Crafter’s Workshop white Modeling Paste over a snowflake stencil (TCW2162) using a palette knife and let that dry.

When dry I applied my colours of choice to this panel: I used the California Poppy Gold, Pretty in Pink Pink and Sea Grass Green for this part of my project. I started by adding the gold colour little by little adding powder to the panel, spraying with water, which makes the colour run, drying the panel with my heat tool and so on until I liked how dark the colour was. Then I added some splatters with the pinkish red colour and spraying them directly, before they dried, creating a bit more depth to my background. To ground the penguin a little bit more I added the gray green colour with a brush on the bottom left hand part, sprayed the colour with water and dried it. Ending with a last layer of the gold colour to brighten the bottom left hand area a bit.

Step 7:

For my final embellishments I choose some star shaped chipboards by Wycinanka. I pressed each star image in a VersaMark ink pad (which is a clear sticky ink) and then added Lindy’s Stamp Gang embossing powder in Cafe au Lait on top, tapping of the excess and melting the powder with my heat gun. This way I added three layers and finished with a little bit of Lindy’s Stamp Gang embossing powder in Tannenbaum Green Gold over a few area’s of the chipboard (use one corner of the VersaMark ink pad and rub it over the area you want to add the green colour to, sprinkle the green embossing powder on and melt it).

Step 8:

Now I’m ready to put my card together: I die cut a slightly larger square panel from some matching dark pinkish red card stock and adhered both square panels together using liquid glue. When your watercolour panel is warped then this is the moment to put the combined square panels in a thick book at let it sit for half an hour. When you take it out it will be perfectly flat. This combination I can now adhere to a creme coloured square card base using one millimetre thick foam tape.

Next I adhered the star shaped chipboards on top using Ranger Multi Medium Matte in the small bottle and then the penguin image on top using one millimetre thick foam tape.

To finish my card I added some Ranger Glossy Accents on top of the baubles, the Christmas lights and the star the penguin is holding (and letting it dry) for an extra 3D effect!

Some detail pictures: