Want to use a motorcycle on an anniversary card? Read this article to learn how to make one that is absolutely gorgeous.
Each August, for many years, my husband and I would pack up and go on a ride through the Wild, Wild, West on our motorcycles. We'd always begin the trips by stopping in Sturgis for a couple of days. Actually, we would stay in Custer and then explore everything from the Badlands, and Mount Rushmore to heading into Sturgis to get a T-shirt.
And then, we'd go somewhere wonderful from there. Some years we'd go up into Montana and then down through Beartooth Pass into Yellowstone. In other years we'd go on to see the canyons beginning at Bryce and ending up at the Grand Canyon. There is so much to see and experience out west! And, it's even better on a bike!!
So, when Honey Bee came out with their latest release, I took one look at Dad's Garage and Take A Ride and had to have them. The motorcycle looks an awful lot like my husband's current bike, a Harley-Davidson Road King, one that he really loves.
I know that it's kind of unorthodox to use a motorcycle on an anniversary card. But, our anniversary is coming up and I use these stamp sets to make a card for my husband that perfectly captures our marriage.
Background for the Motorcycle on an Anniversary Card
Blending
To make the card we'll begin by blending a sunset onto a piece of blending card. The sunsets out west are fabulous. They are filled with color and they are just breathtaking. Therefore, our goal is to replicate one using yellows and oranges.
HINT: There are a couple of things that you can do to get a really good blend like the one on this card. Probably the most important thing is to use good, very smooth cardstock. I have tried a lot of different cardstocks and have found that X-Press It Blending Card is the very best for me.
HINT: The other thing that influences your blending quality is the brushes that you use. Altenew's large blending brushes are my favorite to get a beautiful smooth blend over a large space like a card front.
Our card will be oriented in landscape, or horizontally (with the long side across the top and bottom). To blend this sunset, we'll begin by blending in a kind of arch across the top of the panel using yellow ink, Sunray. And, we'll make sure that we have plenty of color in the top two corners when we do so.
Next, we'll blend in Snapdragon right below and into the yellow. And then, we'll do the same with Orange Cream, Firebrick, and Mahogany Bark. But, we're not done yet. Now, we'll clean our brush and then we'll blend in the same order only this time we'll start with the Mahogany Bark at the bottom. And then we'll blend the lighter color inks into the darker ones.
Stenciling
Now that we've got our beautiful sunset established, we're going to add in some shadowed foreground. And, we're going to do that with a great layering stencil, The Sedona Scene Maker. What is great about this stencil set is that you can use each edge of the stencil frontwards and backward to get two different versions of the stencil.
We are going to use what I call the “monument valley” stencil three times. Using low-tack tape to hold the stencil in place over the sunset about one-quarter to one-third of the way down from the top of the card panel. And, then lightly blend down from the top using grrr!. You want the monuments to be defined and a little darker at the tops.
Next, we'll use the monuments on the opposite edge of the stencil placed about halfway down on our card panel, and we'll use woof! in the same way that we did the first monuments. And then, we'll finish the monuments by flipping over the first edge of the stencil we used and using grrr! to add more monuments in the lower third of the panel.
Now that the monuments are stenciled on, we'll finish the background by attaching the cactus stencil so that just about a half inch is showing at the bottom of the card panel. And we'll blend Shady with a heavy hand, especially over each of the cacti and across the base of the card panel.
Stamping and Coloring
My husband's current bike is a beautiful deep maroon metallic Road King. That is what I'm using to create my motorcycle for this card.
To create the focal point, we'll stamp the motorcycle on a piece of blending card with black waterproof ink.
Next, we'll color the motorcycle using alcohol markers. So, we'll use two tones of maroon, a light one, and a dark one to create some shine and dimension. Then, we'll color the wheels and the seat with darker shades of gray. And then, we'll use a variety of lighter cold grays for all the chrome.
Finally, we'll die-cut the motorcycle using the coordinating die set. Hint: I trimmed the bottoms of the tires off before I die-cut the motorcycle to give it a more realistic look of sitting on the ground.
Before we put the card together, we're going to stamp the sentiments. We'll add “Some things never get old” directly onto the front of the card using the dark gray, Shady, that we used for the cacti. Next, on the inside of the card, we'll stamp “Loved you yesterday, love you still”. And then, “Happy Anniversary” right below it.
Finally, we'll add the card panel to an A2 card base using a tape runner. And then, we'll pop up the motorcycle with foam tape and that is it for our motorcycle anniversary card.
Supplies for a Motorcycle on an Anniversary Card
The following list may contain affiliate links. If you purchase something by following a link on this page, I may receive a small commission at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting my blog.
- Cardstock: Card base – Neenah Classic 100lb Solar White; Card panel – X-Press It Blending Card
- Stamp: Honey Bee Stamps Dad's Garage, Take A Ride, It's Always Been You; Hero Arts Message Strips Stamp
- Die: Honey Bee Stamps Dad's Garage
- Stencil: Simon Hurley Create Sedona Scene Maker Layering Stencil
- Ink: Altenew Crisp Inks Sunray, Snapdragon, Orange Cream, Firebrick, Mahogany Bark; Simon Hurley Grrr!, Woof!, Shady; Amalgam Ink – Gina K Designs Obsidian Black
- Blending Brushes: Altenew Large Ink Blending Brush
- Alcohol Markers: OLO Markers R1.7, R1.8, C-G9, C-G7, C-G0, C-G1, C-G3
- Adhesives: Tape Runner – Gina K Designs Adhesive Dot Runner; Foam Tape – Altenew Dimension Foam Tape
Want To Look At More Unique Anniversary Card Ideas?
Check out Need A Unique Anniversary Card?