SPRINGTIME GREETINGS

The calendar tells us that spring has arrived, although the weather here in central Wisconsin says otherwise.

The cute bunny on this gatefold card sends you his greetings.

SUPPLIES:

White cardstock

Pale pink cardstock

Yellow cardstock

Bunny stamp 

Daffodil stamp

Sentiment stamp

Black ink

Yellow ink

Pink Stampin' Blend

Big Shot

Oval dies

Basket Weave embossing folder

Pink/White baker's twine

Dimensionals

Small glue dots

Pink pearls

INSTRUCTIONS:

Cut a piece of white cardstock measuring 5 1/2" x 8 1/2". With a scoring tool, score the paper at 2 1/8". Flip it completely around and score again at 2 1/8".You should have a perfect gatefold card.

Use a basket weave embossing folder to emboss two pieces of yellow cardstock that measure 1 7/8" x 5 1/4". Add these two embossed pieces to each of the gatefolds.

On white cardstock, stamp the bunny. Use an oval die to cut the bunny out. All around the stamped bunny, in yellow ink, stamp the daffodil tops, extending beyond the edges of the oval.

From light pink carstock, cut an embossed oval. Cut another oval that is about equal in size to the pink oval you just cut from white cardstock. Adhere this to the back of the pink oval. The reason I have you do this is that when you open the gatefold, the back of the oval that shows will look neat. It is not a perfect match, but do the best you can.

With Dimensionals, add the bunny oval to the center of the pink oval.

With a small piece of pink and white baker's twine, tie a small bow. Adhere it to the bunny's neck with a small glue dot.

Adding adhesive to only the left side of the bunny piece, attach it to the left side gatefold.

On white cardstock, stamp the greeting you have chosen. Die cut it with a label die.

Add pale pink pearls to the sentiment piece.

Adding adhesive only to the right side of the label, attach it to the right gatefold.

Spring-y

Smiles.

SENDING HUGS TOO

I dearly love a card that opens in another way than the traditional. This one, while opening sort of the original way, but not really, is a fun variation.

Read on for a tutorial so you can find out what's a little different in this catchy card.

SUPPLIES:

Burgundy cardstock

Creamy cardstock

Coordinating patterned paper

Burgundy ink

Sentiment of choice

Big Shot

Hexagon die

Decorative piece die

Gems

DIRECTIONS:

Fold a 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" piece of burgundy cardstock in half, creasing it well with a bone folder. Score the front half at  1 1/2" and fold that back against the rest of that flap. Glue it down to become part of the front of the card.

Cut two 1" x 5 1/4" strips of coordinating patterned paper.. Glue one of the strips to the inside flap of the card so the borders are the same at the right side, the top and the bottom. Glue the second strip to the flap that you just glued down, keeping the same margins.

You're almost there already!

Stamp in in a coordinating ink a sentiment. Die cut this with an appropriately sized die. I used cream cardstock because it coordinated with my patterned paper. 

Die cut a frilly decorative piece that fits well behind the sentiment label. Glue this to the back of the sentiment piece.

Add bling above and below the sentiment.

Use Dimensionals to add this to the left flap about an inch from the bottom of the card.

Fun

Smiles.

THE DAILY BIRD NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2024

Since I posted bird drawings I had done in October most recently, I figured it was time to share some of my favorites from November this time. Well, I think my bird muse must have taken an early holiday vacation, because she certainly wasn't around for me. I needed to dip into my December drawings in order to get at least a handful to share with you, and even then, I'm not happy with the selection.

Oh, well. Here I present to you some of my bird drawings, The Daily Bird, from November and December, 2024.

As always, above each drawing, I will give you the name of the bird, as well as where in the world this bird can be found.

 horned lark

north america

white-headed island-thrush

a few islands of vanuatu and lifou off caledonia

clark's nutcracker

u.s. mountains of the west

european goldfinch

europe, north africa, western and central asia

brahminy kite

indian subcontinent, southeast asia, australia

australian pratincole

australia

black-chinned sparrow

southeast u.s.

azure kingfisher

australia, tasmania

rhea

south america

chipping sparrow

north america

hainan blue flycatcher

cambodia, china, hong kong, laos, myanmar, thailand, vietnam

ayam cemani

java

eurasian widgeon

palearctic

wood stork

southern swamps of north america

And there you have it: a questionable bunch of bird drawings from November and December, 2024.

Thanks so much once again for continuing to accompany me on my The Daily Bird drawing challenge!

birdie

smiles.

MAY ALL YOUR WISHES

If you're at all like me, you have lots of dribs and drabs of patterned paper in your stash left over from past projects. Toss the scraps in the garbage? No way! 

This card is an idea for using up some of those scraps. Simple and lovely.

SUPPLIES:

Black cardstock

Light-colored cardstock

Patterned paper

Pearlescent vellum

Black ink

Line work flower stamp

Sentiment stamp

Dimensionals

Gems

Paper Snips

INSTRUCTIONS:

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

To this card base, add a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of light-colored cardstock. You could also use white cardstock for this layer.

On a scrap piece of leftover patterned paper, stamp in black ink your line-work flower. Fussy cut the flower.

Add the cut flower to a 2 1/2" square of pearlescent vellum.

Add adhesive to the back of the vellum only in the center where the flower is placed. Adhere the vellum layer to a 2 3/4" square piece of black cardstock.

Since the corners of the vellum are not glued down, once it's adhered to the black cardstock, gently use your fingers to curve each of the corners backwards.

Use Dimensionals to add the flower panel to the card front, with even margins at the top and sides.

Using black ink, add a sentiment to the bottom of the card. I love the sentiments that stretch across thee cardstock.

Add a gen to the center of the flower to finish it off.

Fussy

Smiles.

LAVENDER HUGS

As they often say in the art world, less is more. This card is the embodiment of that saying.

Simple, but effective.

SUPPLIES:

White cardstock

Serene Patterned Paper

Foliage stamp

Coordinating ink

Big Shot

Hugs Die

Stitched Shapes Dies

Leafy Embossing Folder

Dimensionals

Mini Glue Dots

White Baker's Twine

INSTRUCTIONS:

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

Cut a 4" x 5 1/4" piece of white cardstock. Emboss this with a leafy embossing folder. Add this to the white card base,

Cut a piece of your chosen patterned paper to 2 3/4" x 4 1/4". Adhere it centered to the embossed piece.

On a scrap of white cardstock, stamp the frond in coordinating ink. Use a suitably sized stitched oval die to cut it out.

From white baker's twine, tie a small bow. Use a mini glue dot to add it to the lower portion of the stamped image.

Using Dimensionals, add the completed oval towards the top of the patterned piece, leaving approximate equal margins at the top and sides.

From white cardstock, die cut the word "hugs". Using glue sparingly, add the word beneath the oval.

Less

Smiles.

THE DAILY BIRD October 2024

Here I present to you my favorite birdies I drew as part of my personal challenge, The Daily Bird. These drawings are all from October, 2024.

I hope you are enjoying the journey I am taking you on, my own challenge of drawing a bird each day. At this point I am not sure, but I think I have drawn in excess of 900 birds. Not necessarily 900 different  birds, as some of them are repeats over the years. I try to draw birds I've never drawn before, but sometimes there are repeats.

As always, above each of the drawings, I will note the name of the bird, as well as where in the world this bird can be found.

blue jay

north america

eastern bluebird

north america

belted kingfisher

all of canada and most of the u.s.

northern cardinal

north america

great blue heron

north america

house finch

north america

carolina wren

north america

american crow

north america

white-winged dove

southwestern u.s., through mexico, central america and the caribbean

great-tailed grackle

north and south america

house sparrow

worldwide

brown pelican

east and west coasts of u.s.

greater roadrunner

desert southwest u.s.

green jay

southern texas

american goldfinch

north america

red-tailed hawk

north america

pigeon

worldwide

What!?! I had no idea until I was putting this post together that so many of the birds are native to North America! Outstanding!

Well, that closes another month of The Daily Bird. Thanks so much for accompanying me on this little birdie drawing challenge.

birdie

smiles.

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.