Friday Five - For the Birds...

 

Love these three sweet and simple cards as they are such great examples of how you can create your own #SimpleStamping cards with just a few supplies and simple steps.

All three cards use just the one stamp set—the Garden Birdhouses Stamp Set—and yet each card uses a different technique to create a unique style.

Each card features only two ink pads and one or two colours of cardstock.  The Birthday Wishes card is the simplest with just one colour of cardstock and a couple of images, all stamped on a single layer.  The Hello card uses more images, layers, and the Everyday Label Punch. Spot that the punch shape is customised to fit the sentiment a little better—all it took was a couple of snips with our trusty Paper Snips.  And lastly, the third card has some additional colour added in, which is easy to do with a set of Watercolor Pencils.

Want to see more using this stamp set... which is one I absolutely adore!! Though I guess a lot of you knew that already.... as I have shared a thing or two on birdhouses over the years! Well here you go... so now there are 5 (in case you were wondering!)

Fancy Fold Friday Tutorial - Birdhouse Pop Up Front Step Panel Card

So this was the final Bird Ballad & Stitched Nested Labels Birdhouse card for my mother's birthday this year... just a change from Crumb Cake to Whisper White for the birdhouse... so as to make it a bit more dovecote-ish... and I am pleased to say that the card went down very well!

Click here for the original Crumb Cake version as shown below... with which I used different paper patterns too...

And the Tutorial for you... apologies for the delay... as a lot of you were asking for this one... Please note that the photos used in the Tutorial below are from a different card variant/colourway... but as they still help explain the words... I've left them in!

But I do suggest that you visit this standard Pop Up Centre Step Panel Card Tutorial first... and maybe make one of those to start off with... as the step by step photos correspond in that version... and these cards are very easy once you know what you are doing!!

Craft Spa Recipe 

Main Card - A4 Card Whisper White 10.5cm x 24cm  (US Letter 4 1/4" x 9 3/4")

Front Panel - A4 Card Whisper White/Crumb Cake 11 x 6cm (US Letter 4 3/8" x 2 3/8")
Roof - A4 Card Whisper White/Crumb Cake 7 x 3cm (US 2 3/4" x 1 1/4")

Card Back - Birds Paper 10 x 8.5cm  (US 4" x 3 1/4")

Card Base – Flowers Paper 10 x 5cm (then cut LANDSCAPE to Top 2.5cm & 2.5cm Front/Bottom)  (US 4" x 2" - cut 1" Top & 1" Bottom)

Front Panel –Pink Polka Dot Paper 5.8 x 8.5cm (US  2 1/4" x 3 3/8")

Craft Spa Tutorial

1.     Score largest Whisper White panel LANDSCAPE at 12,15,18 & 21cm (US Letter 4 3/4", 6", 7 1/4" & 8 1/2")

2.  Score smaller Crumb Cake/Whisper White panel LANDSCAPE at 1 & 4cm (US Letter 3/8" & 1 5/8")
TIP - easiest to score LANDSCAPE at 1cm (US 3/8") to right hand side (RHS) on Top Bar...

Then turn 180 degrees (ie so that the RHS becomes the LHS!) and score LANDSCAPE at 4cm (US 1 5/8")

3.     Mountain bone fold all score lines

NOW... I highly recommend that you do a dry run of the following steps 4-6 then 8-12 then 13-16... before applying glue... as it is (usually) obvious once you do it...

4    Fold up the base of the larger Whisper White card panel to create the front step (like a box section) 

5     Apply glue to last/end section (ie on the back!)

6     Fold up flat to stick  ie TIP - height of card should be smallest option so it will fit in a standard envelope! When this is flat... you should have 2 sections to the front and 2 to the back...

7.      Adhere papers as necessary
PLEASE NOTE THAT ON THIS VARIANT...  I STUCK THE FRONT PAPER ONTO THE BASE SECTION AFTER I HAD ASSEMBLED THE CARD WHEREAS THE CARD/PHOTOS in steps 8-16 SHOW THE PAPER ALREADY STUCK ON!

8.   Fold over the top 2 sections of the scored Crumb Cake/Whisper White panel so that they are to the back...

9.     Apply glue to last/thin "glue tab" section

10. Fold up card base/step so that height is smallest option!

Line up 2nd score line to top of back of main card (ie you have 2 sections folded to the back - not one as would [normally] be more logical!!)

And so that front panel is central to left and to right...

11. Stick

12. Apply pressure along the glue tab to adhere firmly...

13. Fold up card base/step so that height is smallest option!

14. Work out where you need your glue on the front panel at the bottom of the card!

15. Apply glue where needed (ie under the line of the bone folder!)

... or more importantly not where it it is not needed! (ie above the line of the bone folder!)

16. Fold front panel down flat to stick...

17. Now adhere that front Base Paper...

18. Decorate as necessary
The roof and polka dot papers are cut using the Nested Stitched Label dies... (c. 2 1/2" & 2" high respectively) and then the stitched straight line die placed across and re-run through the Big Shot. Note that this die does not cut... it just adds stitches... but you can then just trim with your Paper Snips scissors as required...

     The birds are cut from Bird Ballad papers...

Notes 
(1) Don't stick anything that will go underneath the bottom of the card... It needs to be flat to stand up...
(2) I recommend that you have an envelope to hand to make sure everything is stuck on so that the card fits in your envelope. Especially if you are using a US medium (A2) envelope as you have less height than we do with our C6 envelope... 

And yes it does fold flat to post!

Stampin Up! products used  

Stamp Sets - Free As A Bird, Itty Bitty Birthdays

Dies - Stitched Nested Labels, Stitched Be Mine

Punches - Classic Label

Papers - Bird Ballad

Amanda's Quick Links

Just click on the relevant pictures below for On Line Store, Catalogues and/or more information... 

If you are ordering today... please add the Host Code shown below to earn yourself a gift... For orders over £150 you should claim your own Stampin Host Rewards... you will still get a separate gift from me... 

Current Catalogues & Extra Products

3D Thursday.... Bird Ballad Birdhouse!

Oh I just had to! Bird Ballad made me do it!

And anyone that has been following this blog a while ... probably knows... that there are a few of these behind the scenes... 

Well between me and a penchant for anything architectural... and a mother with a thing about birdhouses and dovecotes... I have a few things like this around the house...

Talling of dovecotes... how many of you remember this masterpiece I made for my mother...

Now I wonder if she can find it when she gets out of hospital...  and I wonder if anyone would like a class to make one of their own!!?

If I can find the original directions that is.... Though actually I could design that all from scratch nowadays... Yup! Well I never...

But back to today's birdhouse... just something I picked up from a Poundland over the years (was it the time I took you Julie!!! LOL!)... so doubt they will still have them...

Roof decorated with some Bird Ballad paper ( slightly grunged using a Sahara Sand ink pad and a sponge)

Fussy cut birds and flowers from Bird Ballad papers...

Greeting stamped using Memento Black and Free As A Bird stamp set,....

And finished off with a beautiful Flower Faceted Gem... love these... though almost too nice to use!

Candy Cane Lane Christmas Birdhouse...

Quick share today... birdhouse from Candy Cane Lane papers... greeting from Tin of Tags... birds from Thoughtful Branches... bow from Holly Berry Happiness... and pot from Seasonal Bells... Come back tomorrow for more details as to how...

Love it so much I have just made another on the same theme today... will be back to share that one soon when I have had a chance to take some photos!

Remember 56 houses in a pack of papers... that is a lot of easy cards!