PUZZLED

I have lots of scraps of patterned paper lying around that were left over from various projects. I am delighted when I discover a cute way to use up some of these scraps.

This card is one of the fun ways you can use up one of these pieces.

SUPPLIES:

Light turquoise cardstock

Black cardstock

White cardstock

Scrap of patterned paper

Desired sentiment stamp

Black ink

Big Shot

Tag dies

Light turquoise ribbon

DIRECTIONS:

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

To this, add a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of black cardstock.

Cut a piece of white cardstock to 3 1/2" x 4 5/8". This will be used as the base for your "puzzle".

Take a 3" x 4" piece of patterned paper with a prominent design. Cut this into 1" squares. Once the squares are cut, mix them up. Randomly pick a square and adhere it to the white base, starting in the lower left corner, leaving an even margin to the right and to the bottom. As well as you can, randomly pick a square and place it in a grid pattern, keeping spaces between as even as possible.

Adhere the finished "puzzle" to the black layer.

On a scrap of white cardstock, stamp a sentiment in black ink. Use a tag die to cut it out. Use a slightly larger tag die to cut a piece of black cardstock.  Adhere the two tags together. Knot a 4" length of light turquoise ribbon through the aligned holes in the tag, snipping the ends as needed.

Use Dimensionals to add the label to the far right edge and about 1/2" from the bottom of the puzzle.

Puzzled

Smiles.

LOVE HEART

Have you taken note of all the cool crafts you can make with a simple toilet paper roll or two or three? Having seen and been inspired by these ideas, for awhile, I saved every empty toilet paper roll. 

Never having done any of those cool crafts with all the saving I had done, I decided it was high time to put some of them to use. 

I have a handful of customers for whom I create four cards and make up kits for them to put together on their own time. With Valentine's Day approaching, I decided to design a heart-y card.

So I grabbed a toilet paper roll and I bent the roll into a heart shape. Who cares if it was a bit wonky?

I then proceeded to use the toilet paper roll heart as a stamp by dipping the heart into two Valentine-y inks and, in this manner, I created a fun heart background.

Keep reading for a tutorial on how to do this type of background. But, hurry! Tomorrow is Valentine's Day!

SUPPLIES:

White cardstock

Red cardstock

Pinkish cardstock

Red ink

Pinkish ink

An old Paper Pumpkin heart stamp

Big Shot

Love die

Layering circles dies

Empty toilet paper roll

Gem embellishments

INSTRUCTIONS:

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

Cut a piece of white cardstock to 4" x  5 1/4".

Take an empty toilet paper roll and fold one side of it all the way down, creasing this fold well. Opposite to where you made the long crease, bend the center of the roll in the middle to form the top of a heart. You can make this bend all the way down. You should end up with a long heart "stamp". You will use this to create your background on the white cardstock you just cut.

Use red and pink ink for your heart stamps. Use one end of your heart stamp and ink it up by tapping it into one of your ink colors. "Stamp" a heart on the white background. I started about in the center, but it doesn't really matter because they will be overlapping anyway. When you think you have enough hearts in the first color, switch to the second color. "Stamp" your heart off on scrap paper before moving to a new color, or use the other end of the roll. Continue in this manner, overlapping and extending beyond the edges of the cardstock until you are happy with your heart-y background. Isn't it cool?

On white cardstock, stamp the heart-filled heart. Fussy cut the heart, not needing to be too careful

From pink cardstock, die cut a circle with a diameter of 2 3/8". Then, with a scalloped circle die, cut one about 2 3/4" in diameter from red cardstock. Layer these circles with the fussy cut heart atop them. Use Dimensionals to add this sandwich to the card with even borders at the top and the sides.

From red cardstock, die cut the word "love". Adhere this to the blank space at the bottom of the card.

Finish by adding three iridescent gems.

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

Heart-y

Smiles.

THE DAILY BIRD AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2024

Oh my. I think my bird drawing muse was on vacation during August. My personal challenge, The Daily Bird, took a bit of a stumble that month. In order to get even a small handful of drawings to share with you in this post, I needed to extend my search into September.

So, I present to you 14 halfway decent birds that I drew during August and September, 2024.

As I always do, above each drawing, I will give the name of the bird in addition to where in the world these birds can be found in nature.

frill-necked monarch

australia

sora

north america

golden crowned kinglet

north america

venezuelan troupial

venezuela, colombia, aruba, curacao, bonaire, trinidad, puerto rico

black-throated bushtit

western north america

australian firehawk

australia

broad-tailed hummingbird

central and south america

silver pheasant

southeast asia and china

northern parula

north america

tickell's leaf warbler

asia

asian koel

indian subcontinent, china, southeast asia

red-knobbed hornbill

indonesia

yellow-wattled lapwing

indian subcontinent

royal tern

north america

Please do respect that this is my original artwork, albeit quick snapshots of the birds. If you would like a print of any of my birds, please let me know.

Thanks for continuing along with me on my birdie journey.

feathered

smiles.

LOVE OF SPRING

I truly love the classiness of white-on-white when it comes to cardmaking. Part of the coolness of this particular card is the flocked dimensional background I used.

As so often -- disappointingly -- happens, the photo of this card doesn't even come close to doing it justice. 

Since the sentiment of this card says "love", I thought it would work as a Valentine. Or even a wedding card. Or just sending a gentle reminder to someone for any reason. 

Read on for a tutorial.

SUPPLIES:

White cardstock

White flocked cardstock

Flower and label dies

Love die

Big Shot

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 white-on-white flocked paper to 4" x 5 1/4". Adhere this to the card base.

Die cut a small daffodil or any other flower, as well as a label that will fit your chosen flower. Also die cut the word "love". These are all die cut from white cardstock.

Adhere the flower to the label, and, using Dimensionals, add it to the card front, about an inch or so from the top of the flocked paper.

Using minute dots of glue, add the word to the lower portion of the card.

Simple, but elegant.

white-on-white

smiles.

CARING THOUGHTS TOO

Do you love the classic color combination of black, white and red? I do! These three colors combined always make for a striking creation.

If you're like me, you have lots and lots of small pieces of patterned paper lying around among your stash. Go through your papers that are just black and white for a stunner of a card, especially when paired with red. The patterns don't have to match. Just make sure they play nicely together.

Below you will find a tutorial on making this card. Have fun!

SUPPLIES:

Black and White patterned paper

White cardstock

Black cardstock

Red cardstock

Red ink

Quiet Meadow set for the sentiment

Big Shot

Deckled Circles dies

Black Matte Dots

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 red cardstock to 4" x 5 1/4". Use this as the base for the black and white pieces.

Select four black and white patterned papers. Cut one to 2" x 3 1/4", one to 1 5/8" x 2 1/2", another to 2" x 1 3/4", and the fourth to 1 5/8" x 2 3/8". 

Keeping the margins as even as possible at the edges and between, add the black and white pieces to the red cardstock, following my sample for placement.

Add this to the white card base.

Use the Deckled Circles dies to cut a circle from black cardstock that measures 2 1/2" in diameter. Cut another from white cardstock that measures 2 1/8" in diameter.

In red ink, stamp a sentiment that fits well inside the white circle.

Adhere these circles together.

With Dimensionals, add the circle over the black and white on red piece, raised a bit from the center point.

Add a sprinkling of Black Matte Dots around the sentiment.

Heartfelt

Smiles.

THE DAILY BIRD JULY 2024

Hello from birdland! I am still plugging away on my journey to draw side view portraits of birds of the world. These are a handful of my favorite drawings from July, 2024.

As I always do in my posts, I will note before each drawing the name of the bird, as well as where in the world the bird can be found. 

double-crested cormorant

north america

superb fruit dove

australia, papa new guinea, solomon islands, indonesia

hoatzin

south america

white-whiskered spinetail

colombia and venezuela

wood stork

north america

blue gray gnatcatcher

north america

swainson's hawk

great plains and the west of the u.s.

varied thrush

pacific northwest of u.s.

green jay

southern texas to honduras

sacred kingfisher

australia, new zealand, parts of the western pacific

gurney's pitta

malay peninsula

american widgeon

north america

chestnut-capped blackbird

argentina, bolivia, brazil, french guiana, paraguay, uruguay

And, there you have it. Stay tuned for the next installment in my The Daily Bird journey.

If you would be interested in a print of any of my birds, please let me know.

birdie

smiles.

 

BANNER BIRTHDAY TOO

Do you still have washi tape around but are not using it too much? This card features a bit where you can use up a few strips. Check it out!

SUPPLIES:

White cardstock

Yellow cardstock

Coordinating patterned paper

Assorted bright colors of washi tape

Big Shot

Birthday Wishes die

Banner die

Red ribbon

Red sequins

Mini Glue Dots

INSTRUCTIONS:

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

To this, add a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of yellow cardstock.

Cut a piece of white cardstock to 3 3/4" x 5". With a banner die, cut a string of flags across the top of the white cardstock. If you don't have such a die, use a punch to make a row of circles, squares, any shape you like,.

Cut a scrap of white cardstock to 1" x 3 3/4". To this strip add varying pieces of washi tape vertically, sticking the ends of the washi tape to the back of the cardstock. Adhere this strip behind the cut out shapes so the washi tape designs show through.

Cut a coordinating piece of patterned paper to 3" x 3 1/2". Add this to the bottom of  the white piece, with even margins at the bottom and sides.

Cut a 5" piece of red ribbon and add it to the space between the banners and the patterned paper, taping the ends to the back. To this ribbon, add a strip of the yellow cardstock that measures 1/8" x 3 3/4".

At this point, you can add this to the yellow layer.

From white cardstock, die cut the words "Birthday Wishes". Adhere them to the patterned portion.

Add five coordinating sequins.

You have a couple of choices to make at this time. As in my sample, I took a red marker and drew lines on the white words, as well as lines between the banner flags. This is optional.. The card looks just as fine without the marker additions.

Banner

Smiles.