THOUGHTFUL HUMMINGBIRD

If you ever get your hands on patterned paper that utilizes shapes outlined in a metallic ink on white, you can make that paper your very own! 

Select a color combination that you enjoy. The focal point of my card is an outlined hummingbird. When choosing my colors, I chose colors that would work well on a hummingbird. In my case, that is blue, green and a goldy-yellow.

Now, go ahead and color in only a handful of the shapes on the patterned paper. 

Read on for a tutorial on how I created the rest of my card.

SUPPLIES:

White cardstock

Metallic foiled paper to coordinate with the patterned paper

Patterned paper with metallic outlined designs

VersaMark Ink

A stamp of a colorable image

Markers of your choice. I used alcohol-based markers

Big Shot

Embossing Buddy

Metallic Embossing Powder to match

Heat Tool

Deckled Circles dies

Metallic Ribbon

Rhinestones

Dimensionals

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fold a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of white cardstock in half, creasing it well with a bone folder.

Cut a piece of patterned paper with metallic outlined designs to 4" x 5 1/4". Using markers of your choice, color in a selection of the designs. You don't need to color in the center designs as they will be covered with your focal image.

Add this piece to the card base.

Rub a 3 1/2" square of white cardstock well with the Embossing Buddy. In VersaMark Ink, stamp your image. Cover the stamped image with your metallic embossing powder. Use the Heat Tool to melt the embossing powder until it is uniformly shiny.

Use the same colors of markers you used on the background paper to color in your focal image.

Using Deckled Circles dies, die cut the colored image. From coordinating metallic cardstock, cut another deckled circle a bit larger than the image one.

Cut a 4" length of metallic ribbon. Fold it in half, and adhere it to the lower portion of the back of the image piece so the ends extend from the bottom. Trim the ribbon to your liking.

Adhere the circles together, sandwiching the ribbon between them. 

Use Dimensionals to add the circle to the card, leaving approximately even margins at the sides and the top. 

For a final touch, add a few rhinestones around your image.

Select

Smiles.

THE DAILY BIRD March 2025

Hey all! I am pleased to bring to you a selection of the birds I drew during March, 2025. Life was still ordinary for me for most of March. But, then, on March 23, my life changed quite a lot, and things stayed in upheaval until into June. Upon the arrival of the mess on March 23, I debated whether I should change the name of my personal challenge, The Daily Bird, to the more appropriate The Occasional Bird.

That said, the quantity of birds that I have drawn since that date is more occasional than daily. So, please bear with me as I work to get my bird challenge back to a daily endeavor. Still not quite there yet -- June 20, the first day of summer.

Anyway, following are some selections from March 2025, when life as still sort of "good". 

As always, above each bird, I will include the name of the bird as well as where in the world that particular bird can be found.

palm nut vulture

sub-saharan africa

wood duck

north america

painted firetail

australia

great blue turaco

africa

great argus

southeast asia

white-cheeked turaco

eritrea, ethiopia, south sudan

chilean flamingo

south america

scaly-breasted munia

tropical asia

rufous-collared sparrow

temperate south america

crimson sunbird

southern asia

blue rock thrush

rocky outcrops from europe to asia

koklass pheasant

indian subcontinent

painted stork

tropical asia

superb fruit-dove

australasia

blue-faced honeyeater

australia, new guinea

northern white-faced owl

africa

That's a wrap. My favorites from March.

If you would like to be bored by finding out what happened starting March 23, just ask me in a comment. As I inferred, I am still not drawing a bird on a daily basis yet.

I have prints of several of my birds, and can always get more made up. If you would like a print of any of my birds, please let me know. I would be so honored.

Occasional

Smiles.

DOILY BUTTERFLY

 How about a black and white card with just a couple touches of turquoise? Here you go!

SUPPLIES:

White cardstock

Black cardstock

Black and white patterned paper with butterflies

Turquoise doily

Big Shot

Deckled Circles dies

Butterfly die

Turquoise gem

DIRECTIONS:

Fold a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of white cardstock in half, creasing it well with a bone folder.

To this white card base, add a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of black and white patterned paper with butterflies on it.

About 1/4" from the top of the black and white paper, add a turquoise doily, raised a bit from center. The one I used on my card is about 4" in diameter.

From white cardstock, die cut a deckled circle that measures 2 3/4" across. From black cardstock, die cut another deckled circle that measures 2 3/8" across. Adhere these circles together.

From white cardstock, die cut a butterfly.

Adding adhesive onlyy to the body portion of the butterfly, add it to the black circle.

Add a turquoise gem to the butterfly's body.

If desired, gently tilt the wings iinto a flying position,

Adhere the completed circle to the center of the doily.

Winged

Smiles.

BIRDIE THANKS

A fun thing to do with patterned papers is to divide them up into tile-like sections. Doing this gives the viewer's eye a little something extra to work on. On this card, the cheery spring-like design was divided into three vertical strips. It makes the card a little more interesting to look at.

SUPPLIES:

Light Blue Cardstock

White Cardstock

Patterned Paper

Vellum

Big Shot

Tags dies

Thanks dies

Blue Baker's Twine

Mini Dimensionals

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fold a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of light blue cardstock (or any color to match your patterned paper) in half, creasing it well with a bone folder.

Cut three strips of the patterned paper that measure 1 5/8" x 4".

Starting with the strip on the left, add it to the card base, leaving an even border at the top, bottom and left side. Repeat with the strip on the right. The center strip should fit nicely in the remaining space.

Use an appropriately sized tag die to cut a tag from vellum.

Using a two-part thanks die, cut the larger portion of the word from the light blue cardstock, and from white cardstock, cut the smaller portion of it.

Carefully adhere these two pieces together.

Add the completed word to the vellum tag.

Use a dark blue baker's twine (or one that coordinates with your card) to tie a bow through the hole in the tag.

Use Mini Dimensionals behind the letters to adhere the tag to the card.

Add a coordinating flower in the upper right corner of the card.

Birdie

Smiles.

THE DAILY BIRD January/February 2025

I have been trying for the past several weeks to recover from an injury to my right hand. I'd always said, "Take away my right hand or my eyes, and I'm finished." Well, my right hand hasn't been taken away completely; it is reovering. So, I guess I'm not finished yet. 

Because of this injury, I have only drawn a few birds. Only a few because, when I do draw one, I pay with a great deal of pain the next day. 

But, for now, I have a handful of bird drawings I did as part of my personal challenge, The Daily Bird, from January and February. 

Now, as I always do, above each bird drawing, I will note the name of the bird, as well as where in the world this bird can be found in the wild.

Here goes:

khalij pheasant

himalayan foothills, nepal, pakistan, western thailand

black-rumped flameback

indian subcontinent and sri lanka

graylag goose

europe

junglefowl

bangladesh, bhutan, cambodia, china, india, indonesia, lao people's democratic republic, malaysia, myanmar, nepal, pakistan, philippines, singapore, thailand, timor-jeste, vietnam

drongos

africa, south asia, australasia

barbary falcon

canary islands, parts of north africa, to the middle east

indian golden oriole

indian subcontinent and central asia

black kite

australasia, eurasia, africa

himalayan griffon

north and northeastern india, tibetan plateau

rufous treepie

indian subcontinent, southeast asia

white-naped crane

northeastern mongolia, northeastrn china, russia

wattled jacana

south america

tufted penguin

coast from central california to alaska

cape griffon

south africa

greater yellow-headed vulture

amazon basin of tropical south america

black-collared starling

southern china and most of mainland southeast asia

visayan hornbill

philippines

red knot

far north of canada, europe and russia

If you would like prints of any of my birds, please just let me know. Several of those in this post have already been made into prints, so I may already have one or more available. The prints are made from the actual drawings themselves. Those that  you see here are just quick photographs of the drawings.

Thanks for accompanying me on my birding journey.

Birdie

Smiles.