Bird Cage Collage Cards

A few weeks ago I worked on some cards using the Abigail Rose papers and some card layouts and ideas from Gail Ellis, another demonstrator on Pinterest.  I kept the colors scheme very simple and love the look that these cards have.  

There's a cute new set of stamps in the catalog with parakeets and a bird cage cut out.  However, I already have a lot of bird stamps and bird cages, too.  So I used some of my old stamps and cut outs to redesign Gail's cards.  

I used Abigail Rose designer papers for the cards, some vintage lace and several older bird stamps and cages including Free as a Bird stamp set.  

Seriously, I love how they came out!  I had an old Tim Holtz bird cage die cut, one of the Bigz dies that I had never used before.  I also used the new Designer Tags cut outs for the tags on the cards.  The flower die is from the Pretty Pillowbox.  

I love the muted colors and the fun "collage" style.  I call the set of cards a Mix & Match.  Once you stamp and emboss and cut everything out, you can mix and match the items on any of the cards.  

For the last card, I kept things simple.  It's mostly a sheet of the designer paper that makes this card so wonderful.  Then I added some tags, flower and saying.  The Designer Tag dies really makes the cards.  For the color scheme, I used Petal Pink for the accent color.  I think the card would look pretty if you colored in some of the flowers on the designer papers, too.  Maybe next time I will try it!

Forever Ferns for Fall

 For this week's Fall stamp class, we used the Forever Ferns stamp set mixed with the Guilded Autumn designer papers.  I love how the Ferns can move from season to season.  I think it's the most versatile set in the whole catalog.  :)

For this first card, I used the Greenery embossing folder for the background.  For all of my cards today, I used Vanilla cardstock.  For the focal piece, I stamped some green leaves onto the background and added some speckles using in Crumb Cake ink.  Then I added a leaf stamp in Terra-Cotta Tile. The gold leaves and ribbon add a nice touch.  I also added some twine ribbon that I pulled apart for embellishment.  I got the idea for this card from Yvonne Neefjes.  

For this next card, I made a fancy fold card that folds over to one side.  I used one of the gold hoops that corrdinates with the Forever Ferns.  I love what it adds to the card.  This card also has some "wheat" shafts made from pulled apart ribbon, some gold accent leaves and some of the fern images stamped in Mint Macaron and Terra-Cotta.  I finished it off with a pretty gold-trimmed bow.  This idea is also from Yvonne Neefjes.  Thank you for these beautiful card ideas, Yvonne.

This next card is very sweet.  It uses the Free as a Bird stamp set, which is one of my favorites.  The little birdhouses are die cuts from the Coming Home Bundle in the mini catalog.  Don't they make adorable birdhouses?  I stamped some wheat from the Gather Together stamp set onto the background and then added some leaf die cuts.  The birds are colored in with Crumb Cake and Mint Macaron.  They are a bit washed out in this photo and look better in person. I got this idea from Jana Muller.  Cute, right?  

Last up is a simple fall card using cut out leaves from the Seasonal Layers die cuts.  I wanted to make a Thank You card and this is what I came up with.  

I had a great time making these cards.  The Guilded Autumn papers are so beautiful to work with and the Forever Fern set is amazing.  I can't wait to make more with these.

I love everything about fall.  I just wish that it lasted longer.  :)

More Birds

I had so much fun making cards using the Free as a Bird set that I could make them all day, every day!  I just love anything that had little birds in it.  They are so trending right now.

It's hard to pick a favorite card, but I just love this one.  I cased it from the Stampin Up catalog and I just love the colors in it!  The new Pretty Peacock and Terracotta Tile are featured in it.  I colored in the birds using the stamping blends.  And I love the saying, too.

 This card uses the Stitched Nested Labels in both the positive and the negative space.  I added a dimensional to the saying to make it pop in the space.  Isn't the paper with the birdhouses on it so adorable?  I saw the idea on Facebook but can't find the name of the designer.  Let me know if it's you or someone that you know.

Last up is a gray card that uses a branch cut out from last year's Petals and More framelit set.  It looks so great on this card!

I cut out the bird duo from the designer paper and framed them in a scalloped circle.  The larger flowers are stamped and colored in using the blends.  I used the Stitched Nested Label dies for the saying.  The gray birds match the gray cardstock perfectly.  I love the look of this card. 

Which is your favorite bird card? 

I'm Free as a Bird!

When the new Stampin Up catalog came out in June, the first set that I saw that I loved was the "Free as a Bird" stamp set.  It has really cute bird images in it and the designer paper that matches it is so cute, too! 

I saw this card idea on Pinterest.  I couldn't find the name of the designer but I copied it because I thought it was just the sweetest card ever.  (If you know who designed this card, let me know so that I give credit.)

I used the new set of framelits called Stitched Nested Label dies for the trendy shape on the card.  Don't you think they are, oh so sweet?