The Birds

It's a funny thing--I love to use birds on cards, but in real life, I really dislike birds. All birds...not just pigeons and crows...well, penguins and ostriches are okay (the non-flying birds). I think it's from watching Alfred Hitchcock's "The Birds," when I was too young to be watching it. But birds on cards are safe...they aren't going to be trapping me in my house like in the movie.
Die Cuttin' Divas has a Shadows Challenge this week. Here's the backstory behind my (non-traditional-for-me) card. We recently moved from an acreage in Pennsylvania with a 4 acre spring "pond." At night when I looked out at the pond, I often saw birds (and swooping bats). The birds on the pond was the inspiration for the card below:

The background was brayered using a variety of inks and a little sponging at the top. The birds were cut using the Serenade cartridge for my Cricut. I used the shadow function to get the silhouette. The sweet stamp is from the Little Paper Shop "Everyday" set. Bummer about the store closing...

Here's a side view:

This view shows how I did the water. I inked it using blue pigment ink, heat embossed the ink with holographic embossing powder, and then inked over the embossed image using a darker ink. It was close to the effect I was looking for...the water looked so glittery at night.

This card was definitely different for me...distressed, artsy, masculine, but it's good to try something different. Thanks for looking!

Here's the scoop:
Cardstock: Smoky Shadow, White (PTI), Confetti Tan (Stampin' Up)
Stamp: Everyday (Little Paper Shop)
Die Cutter: Serenade cartridge (Cricut) Birds 1, 3, 4 cut at 1" in shadow
Inks: Worn Lipstick, Spiced Marmalade, Mustard Seed (Ranger Distress Inks); Atlantic Blue (Versacolor); Mediterranean Blue (Tsukineko); White (ColorBox)
Embossing Powder: white (craft supply)
Tools: Brayer