Handmade Tattoo Art I Love You Card and Nuthatch Nursery

Peek at My Handmade Tattoo Art I Love You Card

Colorful and classic tattoo art fascinates me. Although I myself don't have an urge to obtain a tattoo, I do have the urge to use a classic tattoo as the focal point for a handmade card. Looking through my Dover tattoo books I came across a classic tattoo design that I thought would make a beautiful handmade card. It featured a bird and a heart wrapped in a banner with the words "I Love You" on it. I thought this tattoo would be versatile and could be used for a card fitting many different occasions from anniversaries to birthdays to love notes. I also thought that with the right coloring it could be given to a man or a woman. Since I wanted the tattoo art to be the focal point of my handmade card, I sketched a simple card design and did not use any patterned paper. I selected a color combination of red, white and blue because the tattoo reminded me of patriotic soldiers (ooh la la) and I thought the colors were versatile.

The World Around Me

Since the card I created features a lovely bird, I thought I would share a grand happening in my backyard. We have many birdhouses throughout our property, but there is one that the nuthatches come to every year. This particular birdhouse is really a woodpecker house and is attached to a tree about 20 feet off the ground. Every year since we have put this house up the nuthatches have built a nest in it and had a family. They are always the first ones of the season and this year is no different. I have spent lots of time watching them prepare the birdhouse for their family and now I hear little ones in it. These days Mom and Dad are busy all day long feeding their vocal youngsters. I have always missed the little ones leaving the nest...maybe this year will be different. Anyway, I have a few pictures of Mom and Dad bringing food for the little ones. These pictures are from a distance because Mom and Dad won't come to the birdhouse if I'm too close.

Nuthatch on Top of Birdhouse with Food to Feed Babies

Nuthatch Hanging off Top of Birdhouse with Food to Feed Babies

Nuthatch Scurrying Down Face of Birdhouse with Food to Feed Babies

Nuthatch at Birdhouse Opening with Food to Feed Babies

My Love of Papercrafting Challenges

I follow many challenge blogs and my handmade Tattoo Art I Love You Card reflects the following challenges:

• Cute Card Thursday theme is "one for the boys" and I think my handmade tattoo art I love you card is appropriate for giving to the man in your life.
• The Poodle Parlour challenge is anything goes and my handmade tattoo art I love you card fits this criterion.
• Crop Stop challenged to "emboss it". I dry embossed the outer edge of the shaped background panel on my handmade tattoo art I love you card. 
• Wags 'n Whiskers Stamps challenged to incorporate distressing. I used distress ink around the edges of the image panels of my handmade tattoo art I love you card to give it a more vintage appearance.
• Cupcake Craft challenge theme is "Ooh La La" and I think my handmade tattoo art I love you card is befitting of this theme. It sports a beautiful classic tattoo and is red, white and blue in color.
• Come and Get It Challenge theme is "let's hear it for the boys" and my handmade tattoo art I love you card is masculine enough to be given to that special man.
• Digi Doodle Shop challenge is anything goes and my handmade tattoo art I love you card fits this criterion. 
• Crafty Cardmakers challenge theme is "for the boys" and making my handmade tattoo art I love you card appropriate for the masculine recipient was on my mind when I created it.
• Ooh La La Creations challenge theme is "Make it Manly" and creating a card that could be sent to a man was one of my goals when I made my tattoo art I love you card.

Handcrafting My Handmade Tattoo Art I Love You Card

Card Statistics

• Final Card Size: 5.5" tall x 4.25" wide
• Tools: tattoo stamp, scoring board, paper cutter, blending tool, scissors, ruler, blending stumps, computer, Cuttlebug machine, dies
• Materials: cardstock, cover stock, adhesive, gamsol, colored pencils, inks
• Card can be Purchased in My Polished Moxie Etsy Shop: Handmade Tattoo Art I Love You Card

Front View of My Handmade Tattoo Art I Love You Card

My Handmade Tattoo Art I Love You Card

I created the card base from white cardstock that I scored at the top so that it opens vertically from the bottom. I layered the top of my handmade card with a red cardstock panel.

For the focal point of my card I printed the classic tattoo art on white cardstock and colored it using gamsol and colored pencils. I die cut my colored image out in a circle shape and used my blending tool to apply distress ink to the edges to give it a vintage look. I matted my completed image with blue cardstock and set it aside.

As a backdrop to my matted image I die cut a shaped panel from white cardstock and dry embossed its outer edge. I left my die cut in place and with my blending tool applied the same distress ink used around my image. Upon removing my die cut, I had a clean white edge around my background panel to emphasize my image. I popped my matted image slightly off the surface of the background panel and affixed the completed panel to my card base. I did not add any other embellishment to my card because I thought it would distract from my colorful image.

Angle Views Of My Handmade Tattoo Art I Love You Card

Angle Left - Handmade Tattoo Art I Love You Card

Angle Right - Handmade Tattoo Art I Love You Card

As you can see from the two images above, my card is a pretty clean and simple design. The only dimension on my card is the circular image panel popped from the card surface and the visual depth created from my coloring and the blended ink.

Inside Panel of My Handmade Tattoo Art I Love You Card

Inside Panel - Handmade Tattoo Art I Love You Card

For the inside panel of my card I layered the card base with red cardstock. I die cut a shaped panel from white cardstock and dry embossed the outer edge. Leaving the die cut in place I used a blending tool and applied distress ink around the edges of the panel. Upon removal of the die cut there was a nice white border. I affixed the completed panel to the red cardstock.

I constructed a white envelope from heavy cover stock and decided not to decorate it in any manner.

Final Handmade Tattoo Art I Love You Card and Handmade Envelope Set

My Handmade Tattoo Art I Love You Card and Handmade Envelope Set

I absolutely love the way this card set came out so rich in color, yet clean and simple in architecture.

This card set is available in my Polished Moxie Etsy Shop: Handmade Tattoo Art I Love You Card.

Card Recipe Specifics for Handmade Tattoo Art I Love You Card Set

• Cardstock: Hammermill, Wausau, Recollections
• Cover Stock: Staples
• Digital Stamp: Dover Copyright Free Classic Tattoo
• Ink: Ranger Distress antique linen
• Prismacolor Pencils: metallic gold, crimson red, crimson lake, pink, chocolate, powder blue, ultramarine, pink rose, kelp green, grass green, apple green, spanish orange
• Dies: standard circles large, standard circles small, and curved rectangles all Spellbinders Nestabilities
• Tools: scoring board, paper cutter, blending tool, scissors, ruler, blending stumps, computer, Cuttlebug machine
• Misc: gamsol, adhesive
• Techniques Used: die cutting, gamsol, dry embossing, stenciling, sponging

So ends another jaunt along my handcrafting card journey with my handmade tattoo art I love you card. A unique card fit for that special someone. Thank you for visiting my blog and allowing me to share my handmade card and photography with you. I hope you enjoyed your visit and will come back soon! 

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