Birdcage book card

Finally I can reveal my secret today. Those lovely people at Penny Black and More have chosen me to be one of their two featured artists this month!! This post is to say thank you so much to the design team for choosing me - it's been a real boost. Another piece of good news this week was that I found out I won the Sarah Hurley Challenge as well, so more thank yous are in order to you too!
So, on to today's card. I've been trying to get a bit ahead on my birthday cards and this one is for my mil. She's promised not to peep beyond the first picture :-).

"Birdcage book card"

The background panels for this card are all made using distress inks and a wonderful birdy stamp set from Crafty Individuals.

"Front panel"

A second Crafty Individuals stamp set with lots of trees was used to provide a backing with lots of Perfect Pearls in gold, and this was overstamped in Crimson Archival Ink using the bird stamps. A diecut birdcage and bird add some dimension, but I love the way the stamped birdcage bars show through the gaps in the birdcage die, like an old-fashioned double-layer cage.

"Front panel - non shiny photo!"

This second photograph shows the stamping without the glimmer. You can see how I've stamped the tree panels in three rows, varying the order in each row to give some extra interest. The foreground stamping uses parts of the bird & branch stamps in different directions to give the effect of looking through all the layers of a woodland.

"Inside with tags"

Moving on to the inside of the card, the same C I birdy stamps were used on the background panels, this time with lots of gold Perfect Pearls for plenty of glamour. Various free Graphics Fairy images were used for the birds on the right and the birdcage on the left (just printed, cut out, shaped with fingers and stuck with Pinflair for some dimension).

"Right-hand side faux book panel"

Yay, I finally got hold of a Tim Holtz birdcage die! It was used here to diecut some gold, hammered card. Some lace was wound up the bars of the cage (the ends of the lace are secured out of sight with glossy accents). Jump rings are added to the top of the cage and glued into the folds of the book with glossy accents to allow the birdcage to hang freely in the book aperture. Lace is secured around the edge to make a decorative frame.

"Beads"

Small beads were attached to the bottom of the birdcage with pins and jump rings.

"Left hand panel"

The left hand panel features one of my favourite Graphics Fairy images - this old Victorian birdcage. Extra lace is added to the bottom of this panel to make a pocket for the tags (well, you need somewhere to write your message!).

"Tags"

The backgrounds are inked and stamped with C I stamps before dusting with Perfect Pearls and overstamping with a couple of Kaisercraft sentiments in archival. Matching lace is threaded through the tag holes.

"Back and sides"

Just to finish off the back and sides of the card, here's a good use for those peel-offs lying around forgotten in your stash.

Ingredients:

cardstock: white 300gsm, white 160gsm, hammered gold 200gsm

lace & bakers twine

Crafty Individuals stamp sets: CI-234, CI-287

Sizzix & Hero Arts stamp & die-cut set 657774

Kaisercraft stamp set: Life Sentiments

Sizzix Bigz dies: Tiny Tabs & Tags, Caged Bird

Spellbinders dies: Birdcage

Distress Inks

Archival Ink: Crimson

Perfect Pearls: gold heirloom

adhesives: Glossy Accents, Pinflair, PVA

peel-offs in geometric patterns for book cover

printoffs from the Graphics Fairy

beads, pins, jump-rings

Entered for the following challenges:
Crafty Individuals - Time for Summer
Craft Room Challenge - Ink It
Die-Cutting Divas - In The Garden
Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Ribbon or Twine
Craft Your Passion - Die Cuts and Punches
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Anything Goes