A set of birdie cards with decorative paper, embossed elements and a punched bird

I have been on a roll and made another set of cards!  This set features a little bird.  

I started with the ovals which are all blue so they would simulate sky for the birds.  They are very similar to this floral set which I made a few days ago.   I dug through my stash and found coordinating decorative paper and cardstock.  I punched the bird (SU) to coordinate and gave it a wing of a different colour.  I embossed the oval and the wing with the same embossing folder and then sponged the edges of the bird and the oval to just soften the edge and give them a bit of dimension.  Next, I assembled the bird.  I added a tiny black brad to create an eye and used a black marker to make a bead and then watercoloured it so the two would contrast.  I glued the embossed wing to the bird and it was complete.  I glued the decorative paper to the card front and then added the oval.  The branches were cut from brown cardstock scraps using the tree die by Tim Holtz.  I just trimmed the pieces until  I was happy with the look of my branch.  I used double sided tape to adhere the branch to my card front and added my little bird using 3D foam tape.  The bird can face either way so it just depending on which side I sponged and it was not a conscious decision.  These were fun to make and work really well for many occasions as they do not have greetings either. 

Therese

A cute punchie snowman with a tutorial

I wanted a snowman on a project I am working on and decided to see if I could build one using punchie shapes.  There are a lot of tutorials out there for making all sorts of punchie creations so after reviewing several I came up with this design.  I am really happy with how he turned out and he is pretty cute!!

Here is what I used:

1 - 1 3/4" circle punchie in white cardstock

1 - 1 1/4" circle punchie in white cardstock

1 - triangle of orange cardstock 1/8" x 5/8"

2 - brown cardstock snowflake pieces for arms

1 - 6" blue yarn for a scarf

You will also need scissors, a fine tip glue applicator and a black fine tipped Sharpie marker.

The first step is to cut a small sliver off the 1 1/4" circle (SU)  - the head - like in the photo above. 

Next, apply a slight bit of glue to the straight edge you just cut and overlap it over the 1 3/4" circle  (SU) - the body - with even angles on both sides.  If you wish to have a wonky snowman or have it looking in a certain direction you would adjust these angles.  

Next, you glue the nose in the middle of the head and draw in the mouth with the marker being careful not to go too low so it will not be covered by the scarf.  Your mouth can be a line or coould be rough circles if you are wanting to simulate lumps of coal.  

Next, add two circles for the eyes just above the nose.  If you are not sure about the placement of these features start by using a pencil which allows you to erase and redraw if necessary.  Once you are happy you can simply overwrite them with the black marker.  

Next, glue your arms on.  These were created by punching a large snowflake (SU) from brown cardstock and trimming all the arms apart.  You could just as easily trim arms from brown cardstock by hand or use a branch or tree die cut to get the shapes you need.  You could also consider not adding arms at all!!

Lastly, you just need to tie on your scarf.   I just wrapped the yarn around the neck of the snowman and tied it off with one knot then applied a tiny bit of glue under the chin to keep the scarf in place.  You certainly could use ribbon or cut a scarf out of cardstock if you wish.  

It was fun to get creative with punchies and thanks to everyone who has posted their punchie creations which have been very informative and inspirational for this project.  

Therese