A little bird......

Another week another great collection from Brenda Walton. 

This week we are looking at a Thinlits set called Birdcage which comprises the eponymous cage and a couple of gorgeous bird dies.

I come from an Illustration/cartoon background and my real strength is in my draughtsmanship. I spent the first 18 years of my life sat cross-legged on the floor with a pencil and a pile of paper, I can still sit like this for hours but nowadays it takes me a while to get back up after!

As the result of my background, great draughtsmanship really stands out for me and Brenda's dies never disappoint on this score. They are always sleek, elegant and well balanced which makes me very happy.

I have die-cut half of the cage from light grey card and the birds from white card (aren't they great?)

Next, I rolled out some white chalky finish paint with a brayer and applied to the die-cut cage, I deliberately left it patchy so not too much paint! Once it was dry I used some text stamps to add a little detail.

I applied some aqua coloured acrylic to both birds with my brayer followed by a little grey. Next, I applied a little green paint using a foam applicator before adding stamped detail using grey ink.

I chose a phrase which I typed into my PC before printing out. I then trimmed the phrase into three separate lines before applying a little Distress Ink. Next, I stamped the large body of text onto my white base card using the grey ink again.

 Here is the finished card all assembled and that should be that..... but I got a little carried away!

I had to make another quick card so I cut a stencil using the splatter die from the Thinlits Scribbles & Splat Set by Tim Holtz. I placed the stencil onto a white base card and used Mustard Seed and Wild Honey Distress Ink applied with a foam applicator. While the stencil was still in place I flicked some water onto the image before dabbing with a clean tissue.

 I applied the 'Thank you' stamp (Darkroom Door) with black ink and added some extra stamped detail before die cutting the bird from black card.

 It's simple but I like it and that wraps up this week...... Oh! shall we do one more?

I cut a rectangle of wood effect patterned card and used a craft knife to give the appearance of miss-matched planks before applying dark Distress Ink to the edges.

I die-cut the bird from grey patterned card and die-cut a circle aperture into the card using one of my beloved circle Framelits. I then cut a rectangle of the grey patterned card and rounded off the corner with a punch before applying Distress Ink around the edges and stamping the legend 'Home Sweet Home' using dark grey ink.

Bit of Distress Ink around the edges of the bird to add a little contrast and layer it all up using adhesive foam pads.... Simple! 

Love this set in case you hadn't guessed!