My Little Chickadee

The theme over at the Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge Blog this week is "Cute and Cuddly".  I don't normally do critters for the most part, so I have very limited supplies in the cute and cuddly category and what I have tends to lean in the direction of Christmas. However, I just happen to have this New Day Stamp Set from WPLUS9 Design Studio.

I love Chickadees. Just the name sounds happy and cheerful. There are so many trees budding and blooming this time of year and so many little birds surveying the landscape from their branches. It's definitely one of my favorite times of the year with all the blooming flowers and trees.  There's the Redbud, Crabapple, Plum and Pear trees all providing fragrance to the air around us and signaling the new day.  Last year we had so much rain that my magnolia blooms only lasted a few hours before they were so heavy that they fell off the tree.  I'm hoping this year we get to enjoy it more.

I water colored this little Chickadee using Distress Markers in Pumice Stone, Gathered Twigs, Black Soot, and just a hint of Worn Lipstick.  For the halo effect around the bird, I used a combination of Tumbled Glass and Spun Sugar to try to convey the feeling of a new day. For the buds on the tree I used Light Pink Zig Clean Color Real Brush Pen with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink for the early Spring leaves. I also put a dot of white gel pen on each little bloom for a highlight.  To help make the mask a little bit whiter and brighter, I used a White Prismacolor Pencil with my water brush.

I also wanted to participate in this week's challenge over at The Paper Players #287 with the "Celebrate Spring" theme.  The design is to be Clean and Simple (CAS).  

Happy Spring Everyone!  Have a great week and please feel free to comment if you stop by as I treasure each and every one of them.