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

Men's Cards Can be Pink and Have Lace Too!

Another book card today. This one features the "Victorian Gentleman's Cabinet of Curiosities"! And just to prove that it can be done, this man's card is made with lace and a pink colour scheme :-)

"Front cover"

The map is stamped onto a distress-inked background and covered in Perfect Pearls powders before overstamping in Crimson Archival Ink. The ticket is stamped again onto a separate piece of card, cut out and distressed and a glaze pen used to raise the lettering on "Admit One". The ticket and sentiment were both raised with foam pads for some added dimension, and tiny circular metallic peel-offs added to the image panel to look like rivets on a box. More "rivets" were used to decorate the side and back of the cover.

"Inside"

Both decorative panels inside are decorated with distress inks. The butterfly image on the left is printed from the Graphics Fairy's blog and the butterflies on the right are from a Tim Holtz stamp set. It's amazing how well they match. I'm sure the images on the stamps are taken from a similar source. The closure is provided by Baker's Twine stuck in between the image panels and cover, and all the fabulous lace is from my friend Kathy (thank you again!).

"3-D Butterflies"

The Tim Holtz butterflies are stamped onto the back panel in distress ink and again onto acetate with crimson archival ink. The acetate butterflies are cut out, the wings bent and the centres adhered on top of the background stamping with glossy accents. The "Butterflies and Moths" part of the stamp is printed again on a separate piece of card and adhered over the lace border.

"Graphics Fairy butterflies"

This panel was coloured with distress ink before printing the Graphics Fairy image with an inkjet printer. This saves the printer ink from smudging. The lace at the bottom is glued just around the bottom and side edges, so that it acts as a pocket for the decorative tags.

"Tags"

The tags are coloured with distress inks, the butterflies stamped in archival, and the sentiments stamped in archival and heat embossed in clear. Bits of lace are added to match the card.

Ingredients:

Distress inks: Tattered Rose, Victorian Velvet

Archival Inks: Crimson, Jet Black

Embossing Powder: Clear

Lace

Baker's Twine

image from the Graphics Fairy

Stampers Anonymous stamp set: Papillon

Stampers Anonymous stamp set: Air Travel

Tim Holtz stamp set: Nature's Elements

Tim Holtz stamp set: Curious Possibility

Papermania clear stamp set Hampstead

cardstock: brown 300gsm, white 160gsm

Entered for the following challenges:
Joanna Sheen - It's a Man Thing
Simon Says Stamp and Show - Tim Holtz Technique
Bunny Zoe's Crafts - Challenge 23 Ribbon or Twine
Make My Monday - Vintage
Sir Stampalot - Happy Birthday