Red Castle Meets RubberMoon: Canary Coaster by Judi Kauffman for The Queen’s Ink

There’s something so appealing about canaries. Though the birds aren’t all yellow, that’s the color we think of first. I wanted to spruce up the coffee table with a new set of coasters and the sheet of stamps called ‘Canaries, a Study of’ from Red Castle, available exclusively at The Queen’s Ink, seemed like a perfect starting point. The images are realistic and full of life, so beautifully drawn! If you don’t need coasters, these 3.5” squares can serve as oversized fridge magnets or be framed and displayed as wall art.

The ingredients for this project include Claybord squares from Ampersand Art Supply, Red Castle rubber stamps (canaries and textures) and RubberMoon Stampstracts (‘what’s it’ and ‘bubblesndots’).

Because it is so difficult to photograph, I have not yet added the 2-part pour-on resin coating that will make the coasters impervious to liquids (EnviroTex Lite). That’s the final step as explained in the instructions.

Instructions:

1. Stamp one or more canaries onto a 3.5 x 3.5 Claybord square. (The stamp sheet includes ELEVEN!). Stamp the same canaries onto lightweight paper and fussy cut to create masks.

 2. With masks in place, stamp the background, using a mix of stamps that please your eye or duplicate the project as shown. Also stamp seeds on the ground in front of the canaries. (The stamp sheet includes tiny seeds, but I wanted larger ones, therefore I went with the Stampstracts image.)

3. With masks still in place, smudge on a second color ink around the canaries.

4. Remove the masks and color with pencils and markers. Use a scratch art tool or craft knife to add details and white highlights. (A quick Internet image search will yield a wide variety of options for coloring the canaries! Some are a beautiful shade of red-orange and the shades of yellow vary widely…)

5. Following the manufacturer’s instructions*, add a 2-part pour-on coating. Alternatively, cover the surface of the coaster with clear adhesive-backed film. Back the finished coaster with adhesive-backed cork. (*Depending on the inks and markers used, a coat of clear drying glue may be needed prior to the pour-on coating.)

Supplies:

• Red Castle ‘Canaries, a Study of’
• Red Castle ‘Textures Plate 1’ and/or Red Castle ‘TexturesPlate 2’
• RubberMoon kp5434C ‘what’s it’
• RubberMoon kp5407c ‘bubblesndots’
• 3.5 x 3.5 Claybord square (one per coaster)
• Permanent ink (StazOn or other) in any dark color (shown: Teal)
• Permanent ink in a coordinating color (shown: Pumpkin)
• Acrylic block to temporarily mount Red Castle stamps
• Low-tack double-sided tape for acrylic block (3M Poster Tape)
• Markers
• Colored pencils
• Scratch art tool or craft knife
• To seal as a coaster:
• EnviroTex Lite 2-part pour-on coating or adhesive-backed film
• Adhesive-backed cork