August 29, 2025

RIBBON BUTTERFLY

To anyone who will listen, I always comment that my house is extra full because I see nearly everything as a potential art supply.

I save things that "normal" people would throw away without a thought. Not me. To my husband's and daughters' chagrin. But I love it because I have so many art supplies at hand. Case in point: this lovely wire-edged ribbon that came on a plant my husband gave to me. Who could possibly throw this away? Certainly not yours truly.

Follow along to discover what you can do on a card with ribbon that is just too beautiful to throw away.


SUPPLIES:
White cardstock
Pink cardstock

Thinking of You stamp

Pink ink

Big Shot
Embossing folder
Dies for labels and butterfly
Green rhinestone
Wired floral ribbon
Dimensionals

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

Add to this white card base another piece of white cardstock, this one measuring 4" x 5 1/4".

Cut a piece of bright pink cardstock (or a color that coordinates with the ribbon you have chosen) to 2" x 5 1/4". Adhere the strip of ribbon, cut to 5 1/4",  to this. The ribbon I used was 1 1/2" wide.

Add the ribbon strip to the card front, centered.

Use white cardstock to cut the label shape and emboss the label with a suitable embossing folder.

From the same pink cardstock, die cut the butterfly.

Put adhesive on the outer edges of the butterfly and add it to the embossed label. Use Dimensionals to adhere it to the flowered strip so it is a bit more than 1" from the top of the card.

On white cardstock, stamp your sentiment in a coordinating ink.

Die cut the sentiment with a label die that fits the sentiment.

With Dimensionals, add the sentiment to the center strip, about 1/2" down from the bottom of the embossed label.

Add a green gemstone to the center of the butterfly body.

Ribbon
Smiles.


August 18, 2025

THE DAILY BIRD APRIL/MAY 2025

Hey all. Time to share a handful of bird drawings I've done lately. Since medical problems reared their ugly heads in March, I feel I should change the name of my challenge from The Daily Bird to The Occasional Bird. I just don't feel moved to draw a bird each and every day. Here it is, August already, and I still haven't gone back to drawing a bird every day. Maybe some time in the not too distant future, I hope.

Since pickins' were scarce, I am sharing drawings I've completed during April and May, 2025. As I've always done with these posts, I will include above each bird its name and also where in the whole wide world these particular birds can be found.

tibetan snowcock
western himalayas, tibetan plateau

golden bowerbird
queensland, australia

bearded vulture
iran, southern europe, east africa, indian subcontinent, tibet, the caucasus

amazonian motmot
amazon lowlands, low andean foothills from eastern venezuela to eastern brazil 
and northeastern argentina

awebo (willow ptarmigan)
europe, tundra of scandinavia, siberia, alaska, canada

yellow-crowned night heron
the americas

madagascar pochard
madagascar

blue-winged mountain tanager
bolivia, colombia, ecuador, peru, venezuela

white-bellied kingfisher
equatorial west africa

white-browed robin-chat
africa

northern ground-hornbill
africa

asian koel
indian subcontinent, china, southeast asia

african jacana
sub-saharan africa

There! That wraps up another edition of bird sharing.

I share almost all of my bird drawings on Instagram. I would love it if you followed me there: instagram.paperseedlings.com.

Let me know if you'd ever like a print of any of my bird drawings!

Also, if you ever have a suggestion or special request of a bird for me to draw, send it to me!

Thanks for following me along on this bird-y journey!

Feathered 
Smiles.