Birds of a Feather

Hi Everyone.

Happy Friday night.  I hope you all had a great week.

I wanted to share a card with you using one of the new sets from the catalog.  It's one of those sets that made me smile when I saw it.  It's called Aviary.  I decided to add a little vintage touch through the colors and the background stamp.  There was something about the shape of the bird cage that made it feel a little Edwardian.

Ever have one of those days when you agonize over something, you put it all together and you know there is something really, really, wrong with it?    Well, my original idea really didn't work.  The layout was OK… but the colors were way off. Really off. I realized it was because I had used Whisper White for the focal layer….so… I walked away from it and left it for a while.  Once I came back to it, I realized it needed a richer color scheme and decided upon Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip and Real Red.  The finished result reminded me of strawberries with chocolate and vanilla ice cream 🙂

Card recipe:

• Card stock:  Very Vanilla, Chocolate Chip, Real Red
• Stamp sets:  Hodgepodge Happiness (sentiment), Aviary, Bella Toile (background)
• Accessories:  Chocolate Chip Satin Ribbon, half pearl
• Tools: Punches

Card instructions:

• cut Chocolate Chip to A2 – fold on the top
• Ink up Bella Toile with Chocolate Chip and stamp onto Chocolate Chip card base
• Cut Real Red to 2 3/4 x 4 3/4
• Cut Very Vanilla to 2 1/2 x 4 1/2
• Ink up Bella Toile with Versamark and stamp onto Very Vanilla layer.  Ink up bird cage components with Chocolate Chip and stamp over Bella Toile.
• Ink up both bird images with Real Red (I used Chocolate Chip for the legs on both birds) and position on cage using your stamp-a-ma-jig
• Adhere all layers together
• Ink up sentiment in Real Red and punch out using circular punch.  Punch out a matching Real Red layer and adhere using snail.
• Tie Chocolate Chip ribbon around the card and adhere sentiment underneath the knot using dimensionals

So… here was the card that I originally did…..

This original card didn't work on so many levels… the white card stock was glaring.  Like an Englishman's legs on the first day of a holiday in the beach in Spain….. (My English readers will understand that analogy :-)..)  Also…. the background completely receded…. What I had intended was that the bird cage would feel as though it was against Edwardian wallpaper.  Mmmm…. completely white, no pattern wallpaper?   Don't think so!

I think you will agree that the finished second card is considerably better than the first attempt!

I wanted to create the feeling of two birds – but free – free from the shackles that would keep them in a cage – either physical or virtual :-) 

In the end, I was pleased with my whimsical little card.

On a personal note:

Lou is back tomorrow for a couple of days before he leaves again.  I'm hoping that the weather is cool enough that we can sit outside and have dinner – oh yeah.. and that the mosquitoes have gone south for summer.  mmm… probably not likely 🙂

I did get to spend a little time in my stamping space this evening.  Luckily I had more than a couple of hours to spare – because I needed it.  My card for the Paper Players challenge took not 1, not 2, not 3- but 4 attempts.  There's obviously something going on in my brain this week that my Mojo has gone… must have gone south with the mosquitoes:-)  I had an image in mind of what I wanted and it didn't work…. the problem… I had set my mind on a stamp set and was trying to force fit the set into a sketch – and it wasn't working.  Anyway, you will see that tomorrow 🙂

Prayers for Trish, T, Pri and Rach tonight.  Brenda, good to hear that Arthur will be going in for his procedure.  Please let us know how it goes.  Germaine, good to see that you are still feeling better. Rach, we will be thinking about you this weekend. 

I hope you all have a fabulous Saturday and that you get to spend time doing the things you love – with those you love the most.

As always, thank you so much for spending time in my little area of the stamping blogosphere.  Your vists, your support and your comments are always much appreciated.

Don't forget – smile at a stranger – it may change their life.

Hugs

Jaydee