Birds on the brain

We've had birds on the brain a lot at our house lately. There are house finches making a nest outside the air conditioner in my sister's bedroom, and on the other side of the house, a robin has been industriously making a nest on the downspout just outside our dining room window. (It's probably about a foot away from the window, and I've been taking a daily photo to document the progress. Very cool.) It seemed only fitting, then, to share a couple of bird-themed cards today.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!^®):
Stamps: For the Birds, Petite Pairs
Cardstock: Whisper White, Soft Sky, Pear Pizzazz, Real Red
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Real Red, Basic Gray, Smoky Slate, Coastal Cabana, Soft Sky, Daffodil Delight, Crushed Curry, Wisteria Wonder, Elegant Eggplant, Pear Pizzazz
Accessories: Ovals Collection Framelits dies, Itty Bitty Shapes punch pack, Scallop Edge Border punch, Occasions Paper-Piercing pack, paper piercer, rhinestones, Mono Multi liquid glue, Dimensionals

I love this image from the For the Birds stamp set, but for this card I didn't want to use the sentiment included at the bottom of the image. So when I inked the stamp I simply didn't put any ink on the sentiment. I wanted to keep a clean and simple layout for this card, so I just used a few punched flowers with rhinestone centers for embellishment.

Supplies (all Stampin' Up!):
Stamps: For the Birds
Cardstock: Whisper White, Baked Brown Sugar, Marina Mist
Ink: Jet Black StazOn, Marina Mist, Crushed Curry, Cherry Cobbler, Baked Brown Sugar, Soft Suede, Chocolate Chip
Accessories: Alphabet Press embossing folder, Cherry Cobbler baker's twine, Candy Dots - Subtles, Dimensionals

The combination of this embossing folder and image is probably not the most obvious pairing, but I hadn't used this new embossing folder yet, and I wanted to try it out. I actually like the combo; what do you think?

When I was coloring the bird's nest, I wanted to add a little depth, so I first traced some of the lines with a Baked Brown Sugar marker. Then I did the same with Soft Suede and finally Chocolate Chip. I added baker's twine around the bottom of the focal panel and a Candy Dot in the upper right corner and used Dimensionals to attach the panel to the piece of Marina Mist cardstock.

Thanks for stopping by!