Bird Ballad card with minimal stamping

It has been interesting to see how businesses have (or haven’t) adapted to the current crisis. For face-to-face businesses, it has been extremely difficult and some have obviously had to close temporarily.

But crafting can carry on and is a vital escape for many of us, so I am now holding online classes via Zoom. Crucially, this means my regular ladies can still see and chat to each other as they craft.

This project was from last Friday's Crafty Friday event. We had the odd technical hitch but everyone seemed to enjoy the chance to craft together.

The linen thread is in two pieces. One is taped around the back of the card, while the other is tied in a bow around it. This makes it a LOT easier to get the desired effect!

 

Bird Ballad card with minimal stamping

It was so sad having to cancel all my classes, but creative people soon come up with creative solutions and it wasn't long before Stampin' Up!® demonstrators all over the world were sharing their ideas.

And so I am now running all my events via Zoom. I have had to change the nature of the projects because not everyone has a full room of supplies, but it can be done!

Today I am holding my first Virtual Crafty Friday, making two Bird Ballad projects. This will be the first. I’m afraid, due to very limited crafting time at the moment, you will have to wait to see the second!

When using bulky ribbon, use Stampin’ Dimensionals to pop up your layers so they don't sit unevenly. 
 

Simple Stamping with Nature’s Beauty

Simple stamping is perfect for new crafters and those in a hurry. I only have a one-hour session for my Cuppa & Cards and never know how many will turn up, so I keep the projects really simple with minimal preparation.

That doesn't mean the projects are dull; far from it. I love the look of these cute note cards using Nature’s Beauty.

Simply stamping the animal on a separate piece of Whisper White cardstock and popping it up on Dimensionals gives these projects a lift in more ways than one. It also saves you having to create a mask.

Repurposing the Bird Ballad tin for gift packaging

 
Reduce, reuse, recycle... it’s a challenge for us all but I’m doing my best and one of my targets this year is reusable gift packaging.

I bought a scarf for a friend and it just happened to be a similar colour to this tine, so I package it up inside. One of the first things she said was “can I keep the tin?” Yes, of course! That's exactly the plan.

The question for you though is: “Can you bear to give your tins away?” They are the Bird Ballad Laser-Cut Cards & Tin (149595) – £17 for 12 cards and this gorgeous tin.

 To turn your stamped flowers into these lovely cup shapes, place them in the palm of your hand and use the rounded end of a pencil (with rubber is best) to press into the centres. Don't be tempted to use anything sharp, but I'm sure nobody would be THAT daft, would they? (*whistles*)
  

Autumnal card with Snow Front

I do hope you like trees as much as I do because there are going to be many more woodland-themed projects coming from me! I think every stamp set I have ordered from the new Autumn/Winter catalogue has at least one tree image.

For this project, I used the new Snow Front stamp set to make a small card with autumn trees. The 'snow' stamp is perfect to make autumn leaves for these little trees and, thanks to my tree obsession, I had a choice of products to put with it, eventually settling on the Pinewood Planks embossing folder for my background.

Stamp your greeting before embossing the white cardstock for a really professional look. I love techniques like this, which may the recipient go "how...?"
 

Free as a Bird stamp set and a watercolour pencil tip

The last of the three designs made at last week’s Bird Ballad Night, this time using Pool Party cardstock as the base, with Coastal Cabana ink sponged on top.

As colour families go, you have several generations of the same shade here; young Pool Party, with Coastal Cabana as the parent, Bermuda Bay as the grandparent (not used) and now we have the great-grandparent in Pretty Peacock, which makes its entrance in the lovely ribbon. I hope you know what I mean and don’t think I’ve completely lost the plot!

Colouring with watercolour pencils requires a light touch, and some of my ladies tend to go a bit overboard, so I made this colouring guide for last Friday’s class. 

I used just a hint of colour around the edges with the watercolour pencils, then blended them to get the results you see in the main image above, and the previous two projects. 

Petal Pink Bird Ballad cards

It’s not often I’m in the pink, is it? But these cards just cry out for some gentle Petal Pink, sponged in Rococo Rose to add some depth. I love these Free As a Bird stamps... in fact the whole Bird Ballad Suite is absolutely gorgeous and I suggest you order it all immediately!

Get perfect fishtails by using the Tailored Tag punch; just poke in the end of a strip of cardstock, centre it by eye and punch. Voilà!

 

Bird Ballad Laser-Cut Cards with So Saffron

These laser-cut cards are so gorgeous that I just had to run a class using them. They come in a beautiful presentation tin which means you can make them up as a lovely gift for someone, or use the cards and keep the tin for something else! It’s £17 for the tin with 12 cards, and the item code is 149595.  

To get this lovely ombre effect behind the laser-cut detail, simply sponge your piece of cardstock using ink of the same colour (So Saffron in this sample). It doesn't matter how rough it looks; I promise you it will look fabulous behind these beautiful cards.

Free As a Bird Christmas swap

Too early for Christmas crafting? I couldn't avoid this as I had agreed to take part in a swap, which turned out to have a festive theme.

I decided to have a go at turning this little bird from Free As a Bird into a Christmas robin. The beak is not right but I hope I’ve coloured the feathers properly. I stood him on some pine sprigs and cones from Winter Woods and hoped for the best. I have to say I'm not really feeling the Christmas vibe just yet!

The task of die-cutting all those circles for my swaps was reduced by sneakily cutting the Cherry Cobbler circles in half and simply tucking them behind the Whisper White layer. You can save time and supplies by following this mantra: “If you can’t see it, it’s not there!”

 

Bird Ballad wine bottle tags

Packaging a bottle to give as a gift couldn't be easier with one of these tags. It's so simple I won't insult you with measurements - just wing it, as I did.

The bird is cut out from the Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper; only the leaves, floral background and greeting are stamped. 

I rattled out half a dozen of these for my husband's classroom helpers, to mark the end of term. Easy to make, easy to transport on a bike, and hopefully much appreciated.

To make a bottle tag, you don't need a tutorial, just a strip of cardstock with a hole punched in it (I used the Pretty Label Punch), and a couple of score lines to help it sit nicely around the neck. Then decorate as you wish. 
 

Free as a Bird thank you card in Petal Pink

This is my version of a beautiful card by New Zealand demonstrator Jan Clothier. I decided to use the new Scalloped Note Cards and envelopes, as they have been sitting unopened for a few weeks now. 

The Petal Pink notecard goes really well with this Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper to give you an overall serene and subtle card - yes you have come to the right place!

If you cut out the stamped leaves and then cut them up into groups of one, two or three leaves, you can get more variety for a more natural look. 

Free as a Bird become blue tits

The beauty of the Free As a Bird stamp set is that you can turn those little birdies into any type of bird you like. Well, within reason, I suppose; I don't think chicken, puffin or emu would work too brilliantly, for example.

However, I soon had to accept my colouring capabilities. I've just about managed a set of blue tits here but my chaffinches turned out not to be fit for public consumption so my plans for a row of long-tailed tits – which do actually huddle together like this – have been shelved for now. 

I should mention that I CASEd this project from the talented Brian King.

Stamping onto watercolour paper makes colouring a dream, whether you use blender pens, Aquapainter or paintbrush, as you won’t get the pilling that can happen when the surface of normal cardstock lifts. Here I’ve used Watercolour Pencils and blender pens. 

Bird Ballad Suite catalogue CASE

Long-timers will remember that the Stampin' Up!® Annual Catalogue used to be called the “Idea Book & Catalogue” and, despite the name change, it remains a valuable source of ideas.

If I'm stuck, I often turn to the catalogue for inspiration; most of the time my project turns out completely different, I just need something to start me off.

This time, however, I deliberately set out to CASE the catalogue. CASE means “Copy And Share Everything” and I fancied having a go at the card showcased on page 90. I think my card is a different size - and I know I used a different bird, cut out from the Bird Ballad DSP. Why did I use a different bird? For those who know me, that will be obvious; the one used in the catalogue is from right in the middle of the sheet! There was no way I was cutting right into the middle of a sheet of brand new DSP. Would you?

If you don't have exactly the same products as used in a catalogue project, simply adapt to your own supplies. I didn't have the All Wired Up background stamp used on the catalogue card, so embossed my cardstock using the Subtle 3D embossing folder instead. 

Free As A Bird Delightful Tag pouches

Today is the very last day you can order from the 2018-2019 Annual Catalogue, so please don't leave it right up to the deadline (10.50pm in the UK).

To be honest, I'm all about looking forward now, not back... so have another new stamp set to show you. It's just a glimpse, mind as the lovely birds from this Free As A Bird stamp set just didn't want to stay put on this project. No matter where I put them, they didn't look right, so I stuck with just the flowers.

I've also used the Delightful Tag Topper punch and the frame die from the new Smooth Sailing Dies set.

The new Delightful Tag Topper punch can be used to make all the same cool 3D items as the Scalloped Tag Topper Punch, giving you loads of possibilities.