Is
it just me or have owls become a trend as of late? I've
seen jewelry, sweaters, shirts, hats, party themes and even bedroom decor based upon
them.
Well, trend or not, I'm loving
it. In fact, a little while ago, I made this card for my dear sister (who is a big
fan of owls too) for her birthday. It is probably the most time consuming card I've ever made, but completely worth it.
If
you love owls too, or have a owl enthusiast in your life, this card might be
just the ticket!
If
there is any interest down the road, I just might create a more photo detailed,
step-by-step guide for how to put this card together.
You will need:
At least 3 (three) pieces of paper in contrasting colors
A pencil
Scissors
Scallop scissors (you can find these for a little under $5 at a Micheal's Arts & Crafts)
Tape or Glue (whichever you prefer, but I would suggest a good glue so your attachments stay put)
Black ink pen (I used a fine point Sharpie)
Pink ink pen (for "stitches" around the inner ears and eye lashes) Note: if your card isn't pink, you might just want to use a ink pen in a darker color than your body color.
Razor blade or X-acto knife
1. Your first step will be to chose at least three contrasting colors for card stock. I'm using six colors, and you could make the colors contrast as much or as little as you wish. I do suggest always having white as one of the colors though, for the whites of the eyes and the inside of the card. White, a darker color, and a matching lighter color, is all you really need. This is also a great project to use up scraps because besides the body of the card, you don't need big pieces of cardstock.
2. After choosing your body color (I chose a medium pink color), decide how big you want your card to be and if it is slightly smaller than 4 1/4 x 5 1/2 inch piece of paper (aka, a folded up width wise piece of printer paper) then go ahead and fold your 8 1/2 x 11 inch paper and make sure to make a good crease. Note: if your paper is bigger (12 x 12) don't fret, just figure how wide you want the card to be, and then make a crease when it's as wide as you want.
3. Now, using a pencil, trace out the shape of a owl with no wings or feet (those are both added later). It should resemble the "BACK OF CARD" part of my photo up there. A more accurate owl would probably have either a smaller head than body or the same size, but since this owl is supposed to be cute, a big head and eyes are what you're looking for. Be sure to draw it so the head and body both at least touch one edge of where the card is folded. This is what will hold the front and back of the card together, once you trim out the shape.
4. Cut out your card. If the folded edges seem a little weird to you, as in they are too straight compared to the more curved edge of the opposite side, that's alright. You can try to minimize this for the head, but for the body, you'll be covering that edge with a wing, so it doesn't matter.
5. Now the fun part (and most time consuming) the feathers. We'll start with the chest feathers:
6. Taking a piece of contrasting paper (in my case, light pink) cut out a piece of paper that is as big as you want the middle chest to be. Make the top of the chest a slightly more narrow than the bottom. With your scallop scissors, cut the bottom edge off leaving a scalloped edge.
Note: If you've never used scallop scissors before, try them out on a few pieces of scrap paper (your cheaper printer paper, not your expensive paper) They can be tricky, especially when you are continuing the cut and trying to keep the line straight.
7. Next, you are going to scallop the edges of several strips of paper, and then layering on the main piece, from the bottom up. Try to line the dip of the scallop with the high cut in the scallop; then vice versa with the next layer up If you really want to make your "feathers" pop, then you could use contrasting colors for each row. It's all up to you, make it as contrasted or non contrasted as you'd like.
Trim the ends off of your scallop strips once you've attached them to your main piece. It's much easier to trim things after you already know they fit, than try to cut them by eye.
8. Glue/tape your chest piece in place when you're done.
9. Now start work on your wings. Start by cutting out two wing shaped pieces from a separate of paper. Round the bottom tip with the scallop scissors.
10. Just like with your chest feathers, layer them up, making sure to secure them. Then trim them back to wing shape.
11. Here's a tricky part: when you tape/glue/secure your wings only a bit will touch the body of the card, so I would suggest to secure them with the strongest option you have available. The added weight of the layered paper will make the wing heavier than you'd think, so if you're giving this card away, you want to be sure the wings won't fall off.
12. With smaller scraps, sketch some feet for your owl. You could do a heart shape, and have on 2 toes or 3 toes by freehand-ing it. You could either attach them to the front of the card or like I did, and attach them to the back of the cover.
13. On to the face, start by cutting out, matching inner ear triangles, and then securing them to the outer ear. Add dashed lines to the edges of the inner ears for added cuteness.
14. For the eyes, find two circular shaped things (a glue stick cap or scotch tape ring could come in handy) to use as a stencil for your circle. You want two sizes, one slightly larger than the other The smaller one should by white (for the whites of the eyes) the other could be whatever contrasting color you wish.
15. Cut out two of each sized circle (two eyes), then secure them to each other. This next part is just easier to observe using the picture above. Using a pencil first, draw a circle within the white disk, then erase a little bit of one edge in the high right corner. The pupil I used is basically a pie missing a slice, and then a white spot left nearby. Outline over your pencil with your ink pen and then fill it in.
16. After you attach them to the face and are sure they are where you want them to be, you could draw on "eyelashes".
17. Cut out a triangle for the nose. Flip it upside down and then attach. I made my nose a lite wider at the bridge and the more cut off at the tips.
18. If you want you could add the little peace sign and flower, but it is all up to you. For the flower, I just used a hole punch, then paired down the disk until it was small enough. Then I freehanded a flower shape and put the dot in the middle. If you want you can pull up the petals of the flower to give it some dimension, and it you want the petals to remain popped up, you can bend them forward all the way and then gently flatten them back out.
19. For the peace sign, using a cap or anything to make a perfect circle, trace, and cut out. Then, trace a peace sign on the circle you've just created. Using a razor blade, cut out the middle pieces. Attach wherever you desire.
20. Last step! I promise! Open your new card and using a piece of white paper add a nice spot for you to write a message and sign. You can also write directly on the paper inside, but if there is any texture to the inside of the paper, it might be harder to write.
Ahh, you're done! It's time for this wise owl to take flight and hopefully bring a smile here or there. :)
I'm hoping that it is because I went into so much detail that there are 20 steps (yikes!), but they are 20 steps you hopefully will one day wish to follow.
Lastly, good luck! If you have any questions, comments, I'm more than willing to answer.
