Wren and Blossoms

I like to think that I don't have lots of bits and pieces lying around in the craft room. In my mind, I cut and stamp exactly what I need for my project, and then move on to the next creation. But the truth is, I have a couple of little drawers filled with stamped images, sentiments, some fussy cutting, bits of cardstock, etc... I think you get the picture. I don't visit those drawers too often, but today I decided to drag some of the bits into the light to see what I could make with them.

Wren and Blossoms

The little birds from the Blue Wrens set coordinate beautifully with the Cherry Blossom flowers, with the pretty pinks and bright blues creating a fantastic contrast. I added a border of shiny pearls, some silver mirror cardstock, and an embossed sentiment to give the design a nice lift.

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Little Blue Wren

A simple card, created with layers of patterned paper and silver mirror card, a heat embossed sentiment, die cut bird, and some organza ribbon. The white spots are tiny drops of Nuvo paint.

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Layout - "Boyhood"

I actually spent some time creating a scrapbook layout today, but I think the design would also be great for a card... just on a smaller scale. I used a combination of the toned images from the Blue Wrens cut sheets plus torn strips of patterned paper to create a vintage-looking page. Some black Nuvo drops and pieces of twine add a little more texture and offer a nice contrast to all the straight lines.

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Tutorial - Embossed Silhouettes

Back in January, I shared a tutorial about heat embossing on the coloured, cut sheet images. That same technique can be applied to the silhouette images from the Blue Wrens cut sheets, giving you beautiful results that would look wonderful on wedding or anniversary cards.

1. Secure the die cut silhouette image to your stamping platform with a small piece of double sided tape or repositionable glue. Don't add too much or you will have trouble lifting the image from the platform.

2. Carefully position your stamp over the silhouette image, lining up the edges as best you can. It helps to have a very clean stamp so you can see through to the image underneath.

3. Use an embossing buddy on your image before stamping with versa mark ink. Apply your embossing powder as normal, then set with a heat gun.

Combine the image with matching mirror card and crisp white cardstock for beautiful results.

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Wishing You A Beautiful Day

Nesting dies are very handy for creating beautiful dimensional frames, and you can make them with whatever shaped dies you have. Just add some foam tape or off cuts of chipboard between the layers to give the extra dimension.

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To Someone Wonderful

Rather than fill the entire background with one sheet of patterned paper, consider cutting it into pieces for a more interesting look. For more contrast, you could switch out one or two of the pieces for other colours... and don't forget to add different layers for extra dimension.

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A Little Bird For You

Brown and blue is a fabulous colour combination, or in this case, kraft and blue. I always have a healthy stack of kraft cardstock in my stash, I find it comes in handy for most holidays and occasions.

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Birthday Pair

The Blue Wrens Cut Sheets include some images that are toned or shaded for a more vintage look. They combine beautifully with the muted blues and greys from the patterned paper set, particularly the grid papers that have light images of the little birds.

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Tutorial - Nest Card

Every little bird needs a comfy nest to come home to.

Luckily for us, we can create a nest using a few simple items that you may already have in your stash.

1. Start with this little bird from the Blue Wrens set. I've used one of the images from the Blue Wrens cut sheets, but you can stamp and colour your image if you prefer.

2. Use a small pair of scissors to remove the legs and branch from the bottom of the image, then separate the legs from the branches.

3. You'll need a piece of paper for the background, a scrap of kraft cardstock, and a small piece of hessian or burlap. Use a pencil to draw a rough outline of a nest, which will look a bit like a curved sausage... it doesn't have to be perfect as it will be covered by the hessian. Make sure your nest is big enough to hold your bird.

4. Cut out your nest shape and colour it roughly with different coloured brown markers or pencils. Again, don't worry too much about the colouring as most of the nest will be covered by the hessian.

5. Pull the hessian apart so you're left with lots of strands.

6. Apply a generous amount of glue to your cardstock nest and start securing the hessian strands over the top. The strands should run roughly in the same direction, but make sure they cross over, intertwine, and have messy edges.

7. I added a few sprinkles of flower soft for a bit of variation. You might like to look around your craft room for little pieces of thread or yarn, or perhaps go outside and collect some very tiny, dry twigs.

8. To construct the card, I secured a large kraft cardstock frame around my patterned paper with foam tape. Then I played around with the positioning of the nest and branches. Once I was happy, I began to secure the different pieces in place, starting with the main branch that will hold the nest.

9. I find it easiest to secure the little bird and the end branches to the back of the nest rather than adhering them to the paper. It's easier to adjust the placement first and then adhere the whole thing to the background.

10. Now add the panel to your card blank and you're done!

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