say hello to my feathered friends!

ok, technically, they are gina's feathered friends...'cause she designed them, see??!


yes sirree, that girl is ON FIRE with the digital kits--this is her *fourth* full-sized release in just the last couple of months! you can check them all out in her etsy shop, plus she has a gorgeous and totally FREE butterfly looking glass mini-kit so that you can try out digital design before you make a commitment. (of course there are still plenty of hand-carved stamps in her etsy shop too, if you're not quite ready to make the leap!)

(all digital images from the feathered friends kit by gina cunningham, tyggereye art...printed on 3m inkjet transparency & avery full-sheet labels; handmade paper: pearl paint; patterned paper: basic grey (layered behind tree trunk) + vintage sheet music; kraft cardstock: bazzill; leaf die: cuttlebug inks: colorbox; adhesives: tombow monorunner, uhu gluestick, 3m foam tape, sewing machine)

as you know, one of my *VERY* favorite things to do when i make hybrid cards is to vary the media on which i print my elements. i think this gives a lot more variety and interest, and it sort of exponentially multiplies the things you can do with any one kit! i print on plain paper and cardstock...sticker paper...photo paper (for a lovely glossy look!) ...and i especially love to print elements on transparencies!

in the card above i combined several elements of the kit using broderbund's printshop software...i placed the tree trunk on top of the green tree patterned paper, and sized everything 5x5". then, after the transparency was printed out, i layered it over some vintage sheet music.

every time i talk about printing on transparencies i get a few questions, so here are some general tips:

• THE MOST IMPORTANT THING: you MUST use transparencies that are made for inkjet printers!!! if you try to print on hambly you are going to get an inky, smeary mess! i like these by 3m which i get much more cheaply at my local staples (ok, they're still pretty dear at nearly $40 for 50; if you've got scrappy friends maybe you can club together and share a box?)
• be sure to print on the *TEXTURED* side! (this is the key to not smearing...one side has a slightly "rough" texture to hold the ink!)
• the above means...if you have text or anything that needs to be oriented in a specific direction, you need to select "transparency" or "iron-on" as your printing medium OR check the "print reversed" in your printer's dialog box (i actually have forgotten to do this and used the transparency anyway with the "pebbly" side up--they are too expensive to WASTE!--and you CAN get away with it...but it looks better if the shiny side is on top!)
• when printing PHOTOS or digital patterned papers, this techniques works best on lighter, clearer images...if you have very dark or very detailed images they may lose a bit in translation (or you can lighten them a bit in photoshop!)

i hope i have inspired you to try this out...because it really is A LOT of fun! do feel free to ask for more detailed info if you need it, and i will do my best to help! ♥