Birdies

Two little birdies sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! 

I got this lovely Craftin' Desert Divas digi last February, but the birdies kissing in the tree say Spring to me because, as the rhyme goes on, that's when the birdies are in the trees doing the baby thing.

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Putting It Together

If you've seen many of my other posts, you'll know that it's rare I do what I think of as 'frothy'. But the doily frothy dies call to me and look so pretty and I have succumbed to getting a few and.. Well, occasionally a bit of froth ends up in a card. 

I had printed the digi several weeks ago, probably in February, trimmed it from the sheet where it had been printed with other digis, and set it aside to work with later. Well, the later came last night. The birdies were, in my mind, perfect for Spring colours on a Spring card. The image was printed on to lightweight cardstock and then, because the ink from that printer is most definitely not waterproof, I sprayed it with hairspray to 'fix' the ink on the paper to help prevent it running when colouring it with water medium.

I coloured the digi using Distress Ink and waterbrushes with a white gel pen for the belly dots and a bit of Stickles on the heart for sparkle.

Dry fitting everything together. I die cut a pink spotted paper with a stitched rectangle as the overall background. Then, I die cut a lacy medallion using a Spellbinders die and a translucent gold vellum-y paper. This die, in combination with that paper, is an absolute torture to get the paper to release from the die, but it is so pretty that the time need to get the paper off is worth it. But, getting the paper out of the die did eat up a lot of meager time. I have a small stash of feathers from jewelry making so thought it might be fun to add some guinea fowl feathers. I first grabbed the bag with natural feathers but, before I opened it, the bag with dyed feathers beckoned. 

Knowing my card front was going to be very dimensional, I first finished the inside. I used Clarity brushes and a stencil and a circle mask from cardstock to add a heart filled circle to the inside of the card. I had done this on a different card before and loved the look so thought it would be nice here, too. I used Worn Lipstick and Festive Berries with two different brushes for a soft look. I stamped the sentiment, from a Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps set, with Watermelon. I chose a sentiment which could be used at any time.

Adhering all this to the card base was a bit tricky, and I now wish I had taken photos in the process. But, it was nearing midnight (and I try to go to bed at 11, honest I do)... so I didn't. 

I first simply adhered the dotted paper to the card base with simple adhesive runner. That was the easy layer. 

To adhere the feathers where I wanted, I cut a small square of foam mounting tape. I criss-crossed the feathers on it hoping that I could just stick it down and they would all magically stay put long enough to add other adhesive elements on top of them to put them permanently in place. I forgot how.. umm.. uncooperative feathers can be. I ended up adding two glue dots on top of the feathers as I had them semi-adhered to the mounting foam square. I put this, foam side up, in the centre of the card. 

I added foam mounting tape to the centre perimeter area of the medallion so it would surround foam square in the centre. I wanted the rest of the medallion to be free under the image. I added foam mounting tape to the outside edge of the image panel that had been trimmed and the corners rounded (I had thought of using a die to cut the panel, but the previously trimmed area was too small for any of the dies I wanted to use). I placed the medallion over the feathers and the image panel over the medallion. the foam mounting tape on each 'nests' like a Russian doll with the adhesive of the medallion and the image panel helping to hold down the rest.

Whew!

Challenges

Craftin' Desert Divas: April Mood Board (pink, birdies, spotted feathers, nest, pink with white dots)

Simon Says Stamp Work-It-Wednesday: Spring

Crafty Cardmakers: Things with Wings

Creative Moments: Spring Has Sprung

Crafter's Cafe: Spring

Crafty Gals Corner: Embellish It

Crafty Friends: Animals or Birds

Fab 'n' Funky: In the Garden

Crafting From the Heart: Anything Goes

Kraftin' Kimmie Stamps: Anything Goes

Craftin' Desert Diva's mood board: