A little birdie in a tree

I typically have a fairly clean and simple style, personally and in my card making. But just like it's fun to get dressed up every once in awhile, it's also fun to make a card that's a little more "fussy," like this playful birthday card:

Supplies (all Stampin' Up! unless otherwise noted):
Stamps: Hello Love, Cheep Talk, Endless Birthday Wishes
Paper: Baked Brown Sugar, Pool Party, Chocolate Chip, Gumball Green, textured Crushed Curry, Whisper White card stock
Ink: Chocolate Chip, Bermuda Bay, Gumball Green, Crushed Curry
Accessories: Woodgrain embossing folder, Cloudy Day embossing folder, Stitched Hillside Borders dies (Lawn Fawn), Petite Petals punch, owl button (Babyville Boutique), Jolee's by You flowers (EK Success), Word Bubbles Framelits dies, stylus, Dimensionals, Mono Multi liquid glue

I had a lot of fun choosing all the different textures and details for this card, but I think my favorite part is probably the tree. Originally I wanted to use the tree image from the Nuts About You set and just stamp it, but the proportion wasn't right for the owl button. So, using that image as a guide, I drew my own tree on Chocolate Chip card stock, cut it out and then embossed it with the Woodgrain embossing folder.

To make the leaves I punched several Petite Petals shapes out of Gumball Green card stock. Then I used a scissors to cut the petals apart, trimming them into leaf shapes. The leaves were a little too small to emboss, but I didn't want to leave them flat, either. Instead I decided to give them a little dimension. I placed the leaves on a piece of thick foam (a Stampin' Pierce Mat or an old mouse pad are good options) and rubbed a stylus on each one in a circular motion. As you put pressure on the card stock, the leaf will begin to curl up. (If you don't have a stylus on hand, you could use something else that has a rounded end, such as a paintbrush or possibly a ballpoint pen.) Once the leaves were all shaped, I used liquid glue to adhere them around the tree branches.

The inside of this card was actually more challenging for me than the front of the card. I wanted to continue the bird/tree theme, so I tried a few different images and layouts. But nothing seemed to coordinate with the front of the card; it looked like the inside was from a completely different card. I finally pulled out a long-retired set called Cheep Talk, and that one seemed to do the trick. The leaves on the branch image were a similar shape to the card stock leaves on the front of the card, and I thought that the style of this bird complemented the owl button. I used markers to apply ink directly to the stamps to create the multicolored images. To finish the sentiment of the card, I used Endless Birthday Wishes to stamp the greeting in a word bubble, which I adhered to the panel with Dimensionals.

I really enjoyed making this card, and I love the final product. Do you like to make involved, detailed cards, or do you prefer to stick to clean and crisp style?


Thanks for stopping by!