Tuesday, 22 November 2011

Robin Redbreast and Tim Holtz' birdcage die

Yesterday we had swallows; today features a bird more traditionally associated with Christmas cards, the robin. My good friend Lee sent me these Tim Holtz' caged bird die cuts (thank you!). This die will definitely be going on my Christmas list this year!

"Robin"

The background paper was matted onto red card before sticking to an A5 card blank.

"Bird cage"

The bird cage has been heat embossed with verdigris embossing powder (basically a mixture of copper and green). The cage was then gently bent into shape and decorated with lace & roses before adhering to the card with Pinflair. The lace was carefully chosen to look like vines, and I thought the red roses could be mistaken for tiny poinsettias on a Christmas card, at least they match with the backing paper quite well.

"Robin die cut"

Mr Robin is coloured with various brown promarkers. The red breast is covered with red glitter using a Sakura Quickie glue pen and ultrafine glitter, and the rest of the bird is covered with a thin layer of holographic glitter glue using a finger to spread it all over. After careful shaping, the wing is attached using Pinflair dimensional glue.

"Robin cameo"

This is my favourite part of the card - the robin cameo. I printed a Graphics Fairy image of two robins very small, then cut out an oval and adhered it to the cameo with Glossy Accents. The recess was then filled with Glossy Accents. The overall effect once stuck to the card is supposed to be of a picture frame on the wall featuring the robin and his wife.

"Alternative Robin card"

I thought you might like to see this alternative version of the card with decoupaged robins and a pretty sentiment. This birdcage was heat embossed with a couple of layers of Antique gold to achieve a gritty, gilded effect.

Entered for the following challenges:
Creative Craft Challenge - Free for all
Everybody Art Challenge - Christmas card
The Crafty Pad - Festive Cheer, Let's see some traditional Christmas colours: red & green & gold or silver

13 comments:

  1. Two beautiful cards, love robins and the cameo is gorgeous! x x

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  2. Both of the cards are marvellous but the first one really stands out and the cameo idea was teriffic.

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  3. These are beautiful Maddy. I love the embossing on the cages and the fact you turned the wee bird into a Robin Redbreast. I think thats the first time Ive seen it done. I havent seen it anywhere anyway. Gorgeous cards, really beautiful. Lee x

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  4. Wonderful cards, love the verdigris on the birdcage!

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  5. What a beauty!

    Thank you for joining The Crafty Pad in our Festive Cheer, Lets see some traditional colours:
    Red & Green & Gold or Silver challenge.

    Maggie
    x

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  6. These are just gorgeous. I love the bird cage and that gorgeous charm.

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  7. Lovely, wonderful paper piecing and birdcage. The charm is stunning. Thank you so much for sharing it with us at The Crafty Pad this week. Good luck.
    Victoria Lavender

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  8. oh this is one gorgeous card just love the image and the beautiful colors,bless you for playing at creative craft challenge this week hugs cherylxxxxxx

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  9. Stunning...oh I love Tim....lol
    Hugs Sharon xx

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  10. Great cards. I love the images and the colours are gorgeous. Thanks for joining us at Creative Craft Challenge.
    Bev x

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  11. If you have the resources, go to a bird breeder and ask them what they think is the Cheap Bird Cage Veil. They have been raising birds for many years so they must have come across to many cages and they can tell you from experience. One side effect is that they may have only dealt with breeder cages that may not be much a help.

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  13. bird cage shelf
    needs two bird bowls, one for food and one for water. Buy bird bowls that are made especially for birds. Other kinds of bowls may be coated with material that can be harmful to your bird.

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Thanks for leaving a comment, it's nice to know I'm not just talking to myself :)