SERENE SILHOUETTES

I know I reported in a recent post that I was going to let my blog, Paper Seedlings, go. I just can't do it though. I feel that I still have too much to offer as far as my original intent for my blog goes: Planting little paper seedlings, ideas that I hope can inspire you, that you will nourish with care, and allow to grow into full-fledged beautiful papercrafting projects.

Although I am no longer an active Stampin' Up! demonstrator, I still love making cards and sharing what I love with my blog readers. I will no longer be purchasing new product from Stampin' Up!. However, I will continue to use my products in my creations, although I will be using more and more retired products. I still have and use a few current items, so you will recognize some things as we go along.

As with any papercrafting projects, there are always lots and lots of ways you can be inspired by my creations and use other products to get a similar effect. 

Let's give this a renewed try together: Me posting creations to inspire you and you actually being inspired by my little paper seedlings.

I will probably only post one photo in each of my blog posts, unless there is something that I think needs additional focus. Then I might include two or more photos.

Beneath each photo, I will include a tutorial on how to create a similar card, only using products you already have on hand.

Ready?

SUPPLIES:

White cardsdtock

Real Red cardstock

Black cardstock

Designer Series Paper

Serene Silhouettes stamp set

Black ink

Dark Real Red Stampin' Blend

Big Shot

Word dies

Red/White Baker's Twine

Basic Pearls

Stampin' Dimensionals

INSTRUCTIONS:

Fold a 4 1/4" x 11" piece of white cardstock in half, creasing it well with a bone folder

To this card base, add a layer of colorful striped Designer Series Paper that measures 4" x 5 1/4".

Cut a piece of white cardstock to 2" x 4". On this strip, in black ink, stamp the silhouetted flowers.

Add the stamped strip to a 2 1/4" x 4" piece of Real Red cardstock. Set this aside for now.

Cut a 1" x 5 1/4" piece of white cardstock. Mount this to a 1 1/4" x 5 1/4" piece of Real Red cardstock.

Tie a length of red and white baker's twine into a bow at about the halfway point on this strip.

Add this to the layered piece about 3/8" from the bottom of the stripes.

Use Stampin' Dimensionals to adhere the stamped panel about 1/8" - 1/4" from the left edge of the stripes. Adjust the red and white bow so it is tight to the right of this panel.

In black cardstock, die cut the shadow portion of "thanks" and in Real Red cardstock, die cut the main portion of the word. Put the pieces together. Center this on the remaining white strip to the right of the baker's twine.

Add three small red pearls around the sihouette. I used Dark Real Red Stampin' Blends to color Basic Pearls.

I apologize for my header that states that I am an Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator, although this is no longer true. I had hired someone to do this part of my blog for me. She is no longer doing this, and I tried myself to correct it, but was unable to do it. So, until or IF I can figure out how to fix it on my own, please just ignore that line.

Striped

Smiles.

THE DAILY BIRD January 2024

I present to you a selection of my drawings from The Daily Bird of January 2024. I will label each drawing with the name of the bird, as well as where in the world the bird can be found.

crested barbet

angola, botswana, burudi, democratic republic of the congo, eswatini, malawi, mozambique, namibia, rwanda, south africa, tanzania, uganda, zambia and zimbabwe

plain prinia

southeast asia

red-breasted merganzer

throughout much of the northern hemisphere

purple gallinule

extreme southwestern united states

king bird-of-paradise

mainland new guinea

collared trogon

mexico, central america, northern south america

diamond firetail

eastern australia

red warbler

mexico

black-hooded oriole

tropical southern asia

black-bellied whistling duck

southern texas, louisiana, arizona, florida, mexico, central america, northern south america, 

the caribbean

masked cardinal

trinidad, far-eastern colombia, northern venezuela

crested penguin

new zealand, subantarctic

pileated woodpecker

canada, pacific northwest, eastern half of the united states

As always, please respect that this is my original art. If you would like a print of any of my bird drawings, please just let me know.

Birdie

Smiles.

THE DAILY BIRD December 2023

In September, I will have been writing in my blog, Paper Seedlings, for 12 years! This post is my 1,250th entry. 

Most of my blog posts have been about cardmaking or papercrafting of some other form. That was the original intent of Paper Seedlings: to plant little seedings of ideas that will be cherished and cared for in order for these little seedings to grow into full blown creations that are so satisfying and add something wonderful to your life. That is the intent I originally set out with, and have never faltered. 

Last May, 2023, I endured a scary medical incident, a TIA, during which I lost the sight in my right eye for some time. After lots and lots of testing, it was discovered that my right carotid artery was 99% blocked, which resulted in surgery to clear that out. I am doing as fine as can be expected since then. But that little incident seems to have stolen a little bit from me, making me feel somewhat fragile and vulnerable.

Starting about that time, my interest in Paper Seedlings -- and it seems the interest of my readers too -- began to wane some and to just not be as important to me or others. Thus when I look back to my last post, I am amazed and dismayed that it has been nearly TWO MONTHS since I have posted anything. And I don't think the readers care either, because views are waaaay down and comments are pretty much nonexistent.

Thus, when my blog domain comes up for renewal next month, I am not going to renew it. That will be the demise of Paper Seedlings. I am so sad because this precious blog has been such a huge part of my life for so long, and it will be difficult to lay it to rest.

I guess they say that all good things must come to an end. And I did consider Paper Seedlings to have been a good thing.

You will probably not see any more of my card creations, although I am still creating cards for a handful of wonderful ladies who order my Project Kits each month from me. I appreciate that and them for the excuse to be creative.

The one thing that hasn't waned at all, however, is my love of drawing birds each day. I am up around 800 birds that I have drawn over the past years.

With that said, I will try to post a couple more times before Paper Seedlings ceases to exist, a few more months' worth of bird drawings. Check out this particular post, and you will see that these bird drawings are from DECEMBER! And here we are in the end of July. A little behind.

I hope you enjoy this gathering of birdies. As I always have, I will list the bird's name, as well as the area in the world where it can be found.

painted bunting

southeast and south-central u.s.

northern pygmy owl

western north america from canada through the usa and into mexico

flame-throated bulbul

western ghats in southern india

raven

northern hemisphere

mexican eagle

central and south america

cape batis

southwestern cape region of south africa

painted spurfowl

india

red-footed booby

tropical seas around the world

northern flicker

lower 48 states into central america to northern nicaragua, also cuba

king eider

arctic tundra

saira preciosa

south america

red-winged blackbird

north america

great crested flycatcher

central and eastern north america and southern canada

And there you have it: a handful of my favorites from December 2023. Hopefully it won't be so long before I get to posting those from January 2024!

As always, if you would like a print of any of my bird drawings, please contact me. I would be honored to have you love one of my little birdies anough to want it to come and live in your house!

bird

smiles.

#365birds/THE DAILY BIRD November 2023

I am still drawing a bird each day. At this point, the count is well over 700 birds drawn by Yours Truly. During this month of November, a big change took place. You see, I completed my year's worth of bird drawings, #365birds, and then I transitioned to another bird drawing challenge, this one without a specific ending date. I call it The Daily Bird. This challenge has the same parameters and expectations.

I obviously wasn't just too pleased with my November 2023 drawings, as I only have 11 to share with you. As always, I will include the bird's name and any other pertinent information above each drawing.

Here we go! 

 Day 357 #365birds

Evening Grosbeak, Canada, U.S., Mexico

Day 361 #365birds

Mountain Bluebird, Western North America

Day 1 The Daily Bird

Peach-Faced Lovebird, Southwestern Africa

Day 2 The Daily Bird

Sedge Warbler, Europe and Western Asia

Day 4 The Daily Bird

Chestnut-Backed Chickadee, Southeastern Alaska to Central California

Day 10 The Daily Bird

Flame Robin, Southeastern Australia

Day 15 The Daily Bird

Red-Rumped Parrot, Australia

Day 16 The Daily Bird

Coquerel's Coua, Madagascar

Day 18 The Daily Bird

The bird with the silly haircut: Belgian Canary, Belgium, France, Netherlands

Day 19 The Daily Bird

Olive-Backed Sunbird, Philippines

Day 20 The Daily Bird

Chinese Goose, China

So, an ending and a new beginning. I just love birds. After finishing #365birds, I decided to just keep going with them. 

A few types of birds I definitely do not enjoy drawing though are penguins and hummingbirds. These are such extraordinary birds, but I feel my rendering of any of them just doesn't ever do them justice. So, when one of them is randomly picked for the day's bird drawing, I just gulp and go forth, hoping for the best. Usually disappointed though. That's one of the reasons you won't find too many of those types of birds within these posts. I just do not like my results.

If you would ever like to own a print of any of my birds, just let me know. Please don't print from these blog posts or my Instagram account. 

Speaking of Instagram, you can find me at @paperseedlings. That account is way more up-to-date than these blog posts are. I would be honored if you would become one of my cherished followers!

Thanks so much to all of you who are gracious enough to follow along with me on my bird adventure! I love the company!

Birdie

Smiles.

JOSEPH'S COAT

For those of you who have been doing cardmaking for any amount of time, you are probably familiar with the technique that is referred to as Joseph's Coat. A process that takes a few steps and can be messy and somewhat unpredictable, the end result always proves to be worth the effort and gives a stunning background for your next card creation.

To start your Joseph's Coat background, cut a piece of white cardstock to your desired size. For my card, I used 4" x 5 1/4".  Rub this piece of cardstock well with an Embossing Buddy. 

Choose a stamp that you think would make an attractive background. I used a botanical branch. In VersaMark ink, stamp all over the cardstock, not overlapping the images at all. You may want to do this in stages so the ink doesn't dry before you even get it embossed. 

Once you have several images stamped, at the heat station, cover the images with clear embossing powder and use your heat tool to set the embossing. 

Finish up this piece in the same way.

Once the entire piece is embossed, used blending brushes to add color here and there. Try not to over blend the colors to keep the colors clean and separate, but joined. 

The photo below shows my piece embossed and the color added, ready for the next step.

For the next step, choose a color of ink that is fairly dark. I used Pretty Peacock. Using a rubber brayer -- and lots of patience -- roll ink over the embossed/colored piece until it is evenly covered with the dark ink. Roll every which way, repeatedly. It will require lots of layers. You might want to be listening to Adele's Rolling in the Deep while you are doing this. Just kidding. Though I do love that song.

Once the brayering is finished and you are happy with the look, take a tissue and gently wipe any excess ink from the images.

There! Now you are ready to create your card.

An up close and personal view of my finished card:

Snce I see my labor intensive background as the star of my card, I was, of course, hesitant to cover up just too much of its wonder, so went simple with the rest of the card.

If you are interested, I used a stamp from the set Forever Fern for my background image. The colors of ink I used, besides the Pretty Peacock, include Pear Pizzazz, Wisteria Wonder, Pacific Point, Rich Razzleberry, and Bermuda Bay. I know most of these are retired colors, but if you're like me, you still have them all around.

Have you ever tried the Joseph's Coat technique? Is this the same process you use to get your results? If not, please share with us how you go about the technique.

Colorful 

Smiles.