For the birds

I love listening to the birds sing when the weather warms up, especially while I'm walking to work in the morning. And I've been hearing quite a few birds during this little mid-March heat wave we're having. So today I made three cards that all include an image of a bird.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^®):
Stamps: Serene Spring, Easter Blossoms
Card stock: Almost Amethyst, Naturals Ivory, Vintage Violet, Really Rust
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Almost Amethyst, Vintage Violet, Really Rust, Old Olive, More Mustard, Crushed Curry, Ballet Blue
Accessories: Blender Pen, corner rounder, Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, basic pearls, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

I had a lot of fun "watercoloring" this image with a Blender Pen dipped in the ink in the lids of the ink pads -- and I'm very pleased with how it turned out. To add a little texture to the background, I embossed a strip of Vintage Violet card stock with the Vintage Wallpaper embossing folder. For the flower embellishments, I punched and layered two flowers; the flower on the bottom is flat, and the flower on the top is curled up a bit and has a pearl in the middle. I also added small pearls to three of the flowers in the stamped image.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Up in the Air, Easter Blossoms
Card stock: Certainly Celery, Soft Suede, Very Vanilla
Ink: Soft Suede, Certainly Celery marker
Accessories: Classic Scalloped Ovals Small and Large Nestabilities dies (Spellbinders), Soft Suede taffeta ribbon, large oval punch, Lots of Tags Sizzlits dies, Perfect Polka Dots embossing folder, basic pearls, Dimensionals

The image I used on this card is technically meant for a baby card (it originally included the sentiment "congratulations," which I trimmed off to use as a separate stamp), but I thought it would work well as a spring-themed card instead. One of my favorite details on this card is the sentiment. The Certainly Celery layer was cut with one of the dies from the Lots of Tags Sizzlits set. I haven't used those dies very much yet, but I've discovered that a few of the tags layer very nicely with punched shapes.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: Language of Friendship
Card stock: Naturals Ivory, Early Espresso, Wild Wasabi, Marina Mist, So Saffron
Ink: Early Espresso, So Saffron
Accessories: So Saffron taffeta ribbon, Boho Blossoms punch, Bird Builder punch, Designer Frames embossing folders, basic pearls, sponge, Glue Dots, Dimensionals

To create the frame on this card, I embossed the rectangular frame on a piece of Early Espresso card stock. Then I cut around the outside and inside of the frame by hand. (Here's a tip for cutting out the inside of something: If it's possible, first use a circle or square punch to remove some of the card stock -- I used the 1" square punch here. That gives you a place to start cutting without having to poke your scissors through the card stock. Even a 1/4" hole can be helpful.) The rest of the card is layered punches (with pearls in the flower centers), sponged edges and a simple ribbon knot.

With these three cards, I've now used forty-one of my stamp sets since February. (Technically I've used more sets than that, but I'm only counting one stamp set for each card.) I've still got a ways to go in my self-imposed stamping challenge, but I've made a good start. (If you want to see cards I've made as part of this challenge, click on the "stamping challenge" label on the right side-bar. I have most, if not all, of them posted here.) Thanks for stopping by!