Flamingos for Breast Cancer

Flamingos are really in right now, and I'm actually with the crowd for a change!  My two cards were inspired by Leigh Penner's card I found on pinterest (I tried to find the direct link to the picture on her blog, but the picture isn't directly linked).  I was able to save her card to show you, instead.

What I liked about this card is the background and the flamingos facing each other.  I'm not crazy about the mirror image of the flamingo, though.  CTMH's flamingos show some individuality within the group.  : )





Another inspiring aspect of making a flamingo card is for Amber's friend's mother.  She is part of a group who flocks people's yards in San Diego with flamingos to raise money and awareness for Breast Cancer.  I told Mary I had the perfect stamp set, and that I'd be happy to make some thank you cards for the flocked...

As is my typical fashion when working off inspiration, I make at least a couple versions to save on time and thought.  Of course these two could easily have bloomed into more.


I cut Watercolor Paper (Z3146) down to 4" x 5.25".  I took 1/4" washi tape and layed it across the watercolor paper with 3/4" in between the washi tape.  You can see at the top that 3/4" will leave a little bit left over (I didn't do any math to get the right proportions).  After the paint dried, I removed the washi tape to reveal crisp lines.

The Flamingos are stamped with Pixie ink while the wings and heart are stamped with Cotton Candy.

"Pink" was outlined with Tender Pink ShinHan Marker (Z2464).

The watercolor paper was adhered to a 4 1/8" x 5 3/8" piece of Cotton Candy cardstock.

For this card, I started with a 3.75" x 5" piece of watercolor paper that I painted on.  I used the brush width to mostly define the width of the colors.  I was able to control a little more of width of the color bands, thus fitting "exactly"(I got really lucky with this)!

I mounted this (once it was dry) on a 4"  x 5.25" piece of White Daisy cardstock.  This in turn was mounted on a 4.25" x 5.5" Pixie cardstock (the card base could be this color if desired).

The Flamingos are stamped with Cotton Candy ink while the wings and heart are stamped with Pixie.




A few extra details...

These Flamingos were NOT hand cut.  They were cut using my Cuttlebug and the Thin Sets corresponding to the stamp set!  The eyes were hand drawn in though (they were white before, so I knew exactly where to put them!).  The watercolors I used for these cards are (from top to bottom) #4, #13, #12, #25, #1 darker (less water), and #1.

The wings are mounted with Thin 3D foam.  If I weren't making Breast Cancer thank you cards, I think the background cardstock would have been Crystal Blue.

I like the second card's watercoloring better (can you believe that I'm going against symmetry?!); the first card's flamingo and heart colors; the second's layering; the first's saying (although I don't mind "you are FABULOUS!" either).  I'll see what Mary likes.