Wednesday 12 August 2015

A Birthday card and some more photos

Here is the Birthday card I made for my niece before we went on holiday. The stamps used are all from Inkylicious and I used my ink dusters to shade the central aperture and the base card. I used memento inks in Teal zeal and lilac posies for the main stamping. I stamped the background grass in shaded lilac distress ink. The circle was dusted with dried marigold and faded lilac distress ink. I am trying to adapt to using inks that aren't Adirondack (now they have stopped making them), and for most I can find a decent substitute, but I haven't found a substitute for Eggplant yet.The Dragonfly was from an Inkylicious acetate sheet. I coloured the wings and body with a turquoise promarker, then put glossy accents on the back and added a sprinkle of glitter. The glossy accents was also the glue I used to attach it to the card.
Now for a few photos. When we were in Scotland there were posters in the visitors centres encouraging people to see if they could spot the '3 Reds' - Red deer, Red Kites and Red Squirrels. We set out to have a go all in one day!
We started the day at the Red Deer range for a Ranger led 'Come and meet the Deer' session. If you ever want to get close up with wild Red Deer this is the way to do it, as they come to see the Rangers for a bit of easy food at 10am each morning!
 The hinds would take the food from your hand and we were allowed to hand feed a few...
 but the Fawns were only about 6 weeks old and were quite timid still.
We then went on to see the red kites being fed at Ballymack Hill Farm.
The sky was full of Red Kites waiting for a meal...
Then along came this lady with a bucket of food and as she threw handfuls, the kites swooped down to catch it.
Once the spectacle was over, we went for a little walk at Ken Dee Marshes RSPB reserve. We had no idea that we would see our third red there, but when we got to the first hide, look who was feasting on the Peanuts!
 It was a rather wonderful day.
Thanks for looking!

16 comments:

Sue's Crafty Corner said...

A beautiful card Sally, I love the dragonfly. Your photos are stunning, especially the kite's in flight. We are lucky, here in north hampshire they were released back into the wild and now we have quite a few in the area. Even though we live on an estate in not unusual to see them flying above the rooftops.

Sue xx

Sue Jones said...

Beautiful Photos Sally, I have never been to Scotland - it looks beautiful.. and I adore your card. I love the inkylious stamps.

Canonbury creations said...

Beautiful card Sally, love all your stamping, something I must get back to when my craft room is finished. Dies seem to have taken over the world.!
Your photos are stunning what a great experience.
Val x

Shaz in Oz.CalligraphyCards said...

Ohhh Sal, love th card, such soft colouring...
And your images, those deer are so cute, especially th fawns.. Saw red squirrel in Finland, and also in UK, but not many of them mostly grey. I loved Scotland, saw highlands and lowlands, hard to,say which was favourite though.had great weather on first visit, but wet one second time around.
Hugs, Shaz in oz,x

{Calligraphy Cards - Shaz in Oz}

Mrs A. said...

Internet is playing up today so bt sure if my previous comment has posted so will send again.
I didn't know that they hade stopped making their ink pads. I was slowly collecting them too! I love your card with all those gorgeous colours.
We h ave red kites flyover our house most days. With their distinctive call we see hear them before we spot them. Hugs Mrs A.

Sandma's Handmade Cards said...

A pretty card Sally and I love the Dragonfly on it. I also love your holiday pics. We went to Scotland on 2008 and the scenery was just breathtaking. I don't know if you are aware or not but Deby still has some Adirondack Eggplant over at Inkylicious. They are just my favourite inks and I'm really sorry that they're not making them any longer. The Adirondack ink pads always seemed to go on forever and the colours were so vibrant. x

Kay Carley said...

Love the photos especially of the red squirrel!! Love the card too xx

SYLVIA-ANNE said...

A beautiful card Sally - love the soft colours and the fabulous Dragonfly.
Thank you for sharing your wonderful photos - they really have the WOW-factor!
Sylvia xxx

Lynne K said...

Fabulous! Gorgeous card and stunning photos! x

Helen said...

The card is beautiful - I love that dragonfly!! The photos from Scotland are great - love the red kites, and the squirrel too - only ever seen one in Beatrix Potter books, lol! thank you for your very kind comment on my last Kew trip. xx

Jean said...

Your card is really beautiful, the colours are lovely and I love the stamps and pretty dragonfly.
The photos are great too especially the deer.
Jean x

Jackie said...

What a beautiful card, so pretty.
Stunning photographs, I love them all :o)
Jackie xx

Faith A at Daffodil Cards said...

I love your card and the dragonfly looks almost real. Love your clever stamping and colours.

What a great day to see all the "reds" fab close ups too. Beautiful photos. Aren't the Kites incredible when they swoop for the meat, I didn't realise they were so big.

Elaine said...

What a pretty card Sally, such a lovely selection of colours and soft colouring in the background. I didn't know Adirondacks were being discontinued, they were my first inks that I used for ink shading and my initial pads are still going strong at present. As you say Eggplant is quite a unique colour, one I often use for shading around the edges. These days I do also like Chipped Sapphire distress ink too. I have red squirrels in my garden, but if doesn't make me appreciate them any less, so glad you got to see one! Elaine x

Princess Judy Palmer said...

Lovely card! The acetate dragonfly is a nice touch, has a very realistic look to it. Great nature photos, you sure can get up close and personal with the local critters.

SewPaperPaint said...

Truly amazing photos! And beautiful card.