Easter Pastels for Aurora Wings

Our new challenge starts today at Aurora Wings with the theme of

I've made an Easter decoration using the adorable Mama, It's So Fluffy available HERE on Etsy and HERE in the AW shop and Easter Chick 2-pack available HERE and HERE.  I like to call it "Hanging with my Peeps".  I've had the paper mache egg shell with wire chicken feet for years and used to line the inside with plastic and fill it with wheat grass (I actually have 3 of them in different heights) for the Easter table.  We now go out for Easter dinner so I was thrilled to find a cute new use for this fun little receptacle.

Here's a closeup of the sweet kitty and all his "peeps".  I've colored with Copics with additional fur detail from Prismacolor pencils.  Mama, It's So Fluffy comes in jpg form only, but I've used the png version of Easter Chicks to merge two of them directly in my printing program.  I also flipped and printed some additional chicks to add to the scene.  They've all been fussy cut and I find when cutting fluffy animals, it's easier to use my curved manicure scissors rather than my craft knife, although I did use the knife to cut the small areas between their legs first.  For the really fluffy guys I snip into the fur to get the definition, while I just sort of rocked the scissors around the edges of the less fluffy guys which suggests texture rather than just cutting a harsh straight line .

All of the elements are stuck into some natural fiber "Easter grass" that fills the egg.  The woven basket is a new die from Gina Marie, as are the candy "Peeps" that I've run through my Xyron face down and dusted with glitter.  The lovely doily is from Heartfelt Creations.  I cut all of these element twice so I could sandwich a toothpick between them for stability.

Here's how the back of the basket looks.  I've cut it from digital paper from KJ Arting that actually is a basket weave.  The pattern is quite subtle because I reduced it to the size of the die cut.  However, the colors available were too dark for my pastel theme, so I experimented with changing the color in my Printmaster Platinum Program until I'd softened it enough. This doesn't work with all digital papers but it's always worth a try.  You can come up with some surprising results.

I wanted the decoration to be decent looking from all angles.  The gorgeous pastel crinkle ribbon is from DL.Art, the pink poufy things and mint green dealy bobs have been in my stash forever and helped fill in some space.

Even from the back the view is acceptable.  WooHoo!  I really had fun with this project.  Now run along and check out the gorgeous inspiration from my Stella Teamies and please come and play along, but not before you check out the fabulous Coupon that runs through Tuesday April 4th, good on both AW Etsy and AW.com.

Oh, and BTW, the new April 2017 FB contest just started in the Stamps by Aurora Wings FB Group.  Check it out HERE.  Did you know that you can enter the FB contests with coloring only, or even previous projects that fit the current theme?

Here's how to keep up with all that's happening at Aurora Wings.

Aurora Wings Challenge Blog

Aurora Wings Showcase Blog

Aurora Wings Etsy Shop

Aurora Wings Digi Shop (newly revamped!)

Aurora Wings FB Group

Aurora Wings FB Fan Page

I'm entering this in the DL.Art April Linky Challenge, SUYP (Cats Only) March Furrything Goes, the Outlawz Saturday Paper Ala Mode AG, 2 Crafty Critter Crazies April #1, Simon Says Wednesday AG, 613 Avenue Create Spring has Sprung, Come and Get it Easter, Crafting When We Can #141 Animals, Dragonfly Dreams April AG, Dragonfly Journeys How Eggciting, Glitter and Sparkle #233 Use Pastels, Lil Patch of Crafty Friends #55 AG, April Classic Design Team Open Challenge #13 AG,  Crafty Animals April #1 AG, CCC Digi Creations #70 Include An Animal, and Crafts Galore Encore AG.