10 year old's Magical Birthday Card

I attended a 10-year-old boy's birthday picnic in the park the other day. I had to make a card super fast. When I need instant inspiration, I turn to sketches. I made this card using the Deconstructed Sketch #163.

I really like the Deconstructed Sketches because they strike a great balance between complexity and simplicity. I find a lot of challenges (especially colour ones) have too much going on. I find them overwhelming. Deconstructed Sketches, though, they have a great blend between interest and clarity.

Here's my dragon card:

I think this image is so sweet. It's part of the Sweet November line from C.C. Designs. I coloured it with Copic markers. I swiped my grey ink pad over the sentiment strip to create that texture. I made this card lightning fast compared to my normal rumination and creation pace. The next day, I thought of the poem for the inside while on lunch at work. The day after that, the card went to the recipient!

I used three colours of Copics: a base colour, a mid tone and a dark tone. The mid and dark tones I simply dotted over the image which I completely covered in the base tone (the lightest colour).

I fussy cut around the bottom and tail so I could fit the sentiment underneath. I hope this card was enjoyed! Funny thing, the gift sort of went with it. It was completely unplanned this way but we got Grimlock, the Dinobot as the gift. Dragon, dinosaur, close enough!

I've since made a few more with different dragon colours and papers. It was pretty simple!