Warm Wishes with a Bird, Its House, and Seasonal Greenery by Anne Thompson

I love looking for ways I can combine dies to create multi-layer images for my holiday cards this year.  For the two cards I made for this post, I started with the HOUSE FRAME BACKGROUND 94606 to create a birdhouse, added some seasonal greenery cut with the GENTLE PINE NEEDLE SPRIG 94597 and the HOLLY BUNDLE 94610, and popped on a bird from the SERENE BIRD AND BRANCH 94620.  And of course I used Memory Box cardstocks and more lovely plaids from the WOODSY PLAID 6X6 paper pad PP1018.

Card One, Blues

• Starting with a white notecard, I covered the front with a light blue cardstock from the STORMY BLUE COLLECTION SP1006.
• I cut the House Frame Background three times, twice from dark blue cardstock also from the Stormy Blue pack and once from a dark blue plaid.  I used the circle die in that set to cut the birdhouse opening on the plaid house and cut another from a brown paper scrap for the inset ring.  I put the layers together and added it to the card front.
• I cut the Gentle Pine Needle Sprig three times from plaid scraps and secured them to the peak of the birdhouse roof.
• I cut the Holly Bundle from another blue plaid and used pop dots to add them on top of the pine branches.  I then added two of the blue CHRISTMAS FAIRY CRYSTALS CRY102 on the leaves.
• I cut the bird body from a scrap of blue cardstock from the OCEAN BLUE COLLECTION SP1005 and glued on the bird wing cut from another blue plaid scrap.  I used foam tape to add the bird to the card.
• The sentiment is from the clear stamp set FESTIVE CHRISTMAS GREETINGS CL5273.  I used the largest banner from the BANNER SENTIMENT TRIO94580, stamped the sentiment with VersaMark ink, added Detail Gold embossing powder and heat set it.

Card Two, Browns and Greens

• I followed the same steps as above to make this card and I used brown cardstocks from the EARTH NEUTRAL COLLECTION SP1009.
• I used a red "berry" from the Christmas Fairy Crystals and a black "eye" from the AUTUMN FAIRY JEWELS JWL004.

Materials Used

Though I had Christmas in mind as I made these cards, I think they could be sent anytime and not just for the holidays.  Think about what papers you might choose and the kind of greenery as well as the color story and create cards using this basic design for any season.

Happy Crafting!

Comments

[Johanna Rundell]

What a clever use of both dies and pp. I love the combo of plaid on a plain bodied bird. Great holiday cards.

[Connie Griffin]

Love the patterns used here