Heartwarming Cards with Hearts and Birdhouses

Hello.  I'm here to share a touch of Spring.  

It's April on the calendar, however there is still snow where I live.  I need spring cards to help keep my hope alive. 

Helping keep the hope for spring alive at my house is the gorgeous Celebration 12x12 collection from Maja Design. 

These are the papers I am using: 

Celebration Collection - Congratulations

Celebration Collection - Entertainment

Celebration Collection - Festivities

I've also added some darling chipboard embellishments from Creative Embellishments.  The wonderful Heart Flourish Frame 2 has been painted with white acrylic paint and the chipboard Birdhouse was slightly whitewashed with acrylic paint added to a sponge.  

The key to the soft white wash effect is the sponge.  Use a dab of white acrylic , a few drops of water mixed together, and dip the sponge lightly into the wash.  With the softest touch, LIGHTLY dab the sponge to the chippie.  Less is more.  I do not want to cover up the delicate lines in the birdhouse with a lot of heavy paint. 

These are the chipboard pieces I used:

  Creative Embellishments - Heart Flourish Frame 2

Creative Embellishments - Birdhouses

The designs from this collection range from bold to delicate. It's such a versatile collection.  As you can see, I am using the soft and delicate papers for this card. 

The Prima flower vine has been wrapped around the heart to accent the blues in the paper.

Here is one last look at the finished card.  

Thanks for stopping by to look.   

Where to shop? 

You can shop for Maja Design papers right here. 

Shop  for all the Creative Embellishments products here. 

It's Spring - Time for Robins, Birdhouses, and Flowers

Spellbinder's Sew Sweet

I've been playing with the newly released dies at  Spellbinders  from designers Tammy Tutterow and Becca Feeken.  

Spellbinders introduces the   

Sew sweet Collection by Tammy Tutterow  and the Elegant 3D Vignettes collection by Becca Feeken.    

The die combo has been fun because both sets of dies allow the crafter to "build your own" fun, so to speak. 

Today I'm using the Sew Spellbinders Sweet Tweets birdhouse dies - a set of wonderful "build your own" dies with bird house, bird and various embellishments. 

The birdhouse is being embellished with custom flowers made from Spellbinders Cinch and Go Flowers III , part of the Elegant 3D Vignettes collection by Becca Feeken/Amazing Paper Grace.  This collection is all about the layering and dimension.  

Here are some close ups of my finished card using the dies: 
Spellbinders Sweet Tweets - Sew Sweet Collection
Spellbinders Cinch and Go Flowers III

I've recently featured other dies from the Sew sweet Collection by Tammy Tutterow  and the Elegant 3D Vignettes collection by Becca Feeken.   

Here is one last look at the finished card.  

Thank you for stopping here and thank you to Spellbinders for inviting me to be part of the Spellblogger Team.  Such a wonderful opportunity to share the best dies in the world. 

Where to shop? 

You can shop for all your Spellbinders dies right here .

You can click here Tammy Tutterow.

You can shop for all your Spellbinders dies right here .

You can click here for the Amazing Paper Grace Collection (which includes the Elegant 3D Vignettes collection).

Spellbinders Sweet Tweets -Sew sweet Collection by Tammy Tutterow S6-142

Spellbinders Cinch and Go Flowers III - Elegant 3D Vignettes Collection by Becca Feeken - S4-867

Going Off the Page - With Flying Unicorns Wooden Birdhouse and Frank Garcia

Going Off the Page with Flying Unicorns 

Hello  - I'm here to take you "Off the Page".  

The Flying Unicorns June "Your Passion Your Art" kit was chock full of wonderful delights this month (well always actually). This month, Alda added a cool wooden birdhouse to the kit as the monthly "Off the Page" surprise.  

The "Off the Page" projects or OTP's - are a fun way to stretch your paper crafting skills and challenge yourself to perhaps reach outside your comfort zone.  

This is a wooden birdhouse by Darice.  It's a cute size - 5"x4"x3".

I opted to work within the natural color of the wood and not paint it.  I choose the easy way and less messy way of not painting.  I looked in my stash of papers and decided that Prima's Tales of You & Me collection by Frank Garcia, would work with the natural color of the wood nicely.  

Here's How I Made the Roofing:

Step 1.  My layered roof was made by simple punching out rows and rows of paper using my favorite punch - the Martha Stewart Doily Lace Edge Punch.  I started the roof at the bottom and working my layers as I moved to the top of the birdhouse.  

Step 2.  Glue a very thin strip of foam or cardboard to one end of the shingles making sure the scalloped edge is not covered.  This gives each row of the roofing a little lift and dimension and yet still lets you keep building up the roof without too much bulk. 

Tip:  I also built both sides of the roof at the same time - so for example I glued the bottom rows of the house on both sides then progressed to the next row.  This is how I was able to make the roof look symmetrical. 

 This is a better photo of the symmetry of the roofing.  

After everything was in place, I gussied the roof with Platinum Stickles.   You can also see each row has a little dimension and "lift".

The hole in the front of the house has a cut out stamp from the Tales of You & Me collection, then accented with the same Platinum Stickles.  

All the flowers are from the Prima Tales of You & Me collection as well.  

This piece is available in my ETSY shop right here.  Grab it before if flies away.  

If you missed the June kit, then you may want to consider the pre-order option available on the 20th of every month - with no obligations to purchase other months.  The kit does sell out quickly each month.  All the details are right here.  

Supplies Used: 

Flying Unicorns June Kit - Your Passion Your Art

Darice Wooden Birdhouse 9184-74

Prima- Frank Garcia- Tales of You & Me clear stamp - 990930

Prima - Frank Garcia - Tales of You & Me flowers -Je t'aime 586256

Prima - Frank Garcia - Tales of You & Me flowers -586294

Prima - Frank Garcia - Tales of You & Me 6x6 paper pad 584399

Ranger Platinum Stickles

Martha Stewart Punch - Doily Lace Edge Punch

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