Birdhouse Buddies

I recently got my first order of stamps from Purple Onion and I adore them!  Stacey Yacula draws the cutest little animals.  You can't help smiling when you look at them!  The single flying bird on this card is called Robin and the two sitting on the branch are Star and Sky!  Aren't they perfect with this little birdhouse from Marianne Designs?  This was such a fun card to make :)

I stamped the birdhouse on watercolor paper, colored it and then used the die to cut it out.  Then I stamped the branch onto white card stock and colored it.  

Did you ever have one of those serendipitous moments when you find a new technique by chance?  Well that happened to me with this card.  I have been looking at Pan Pastels and finally bought a few.  The Pthalo Blue Tint is wonderful for adding skies to stamped scenes so I rubbed some onto the background of this card.  I thought there was an awful lot of plain space and wanted to zip it up a bit so I got a stencil, some ink and a sponge and started rubbing the ink onto the background over the Pthalo Blue Tint pastel.  When I lifted the stencil the magic happened!!!  The light purple ink was there but rubbing the sponge over the stencil removed some of the blue pastel so there were subtle white spots there too!!!  I hadn't expected that and I got so excited that I kept moving the stencil and adding more...then I went and got a light blue ink and kept going.  It was so much fun, I know I'll be trying this for a background again!  It was really fun to lift the stencil and see what was underneath!  If you try it, I'd love to know how it works out for you and to see what kind of a look you get so please send me a link!

Next I sprayed the background with Krylon clear matte spray to prevent the pastels from rubbing off.  Then I hung the birdhouse from the branch using foam tape to 3-D it.  Next I stamped and colored Robin, Star and Sky using Copic markers and attached them with foam tape.  Look at Robin flying near the birdhouse...the sizes couldn't be more perfect together...right???!!!

Sorry the next picture is a little blurry. I thought it was better than this.  I already mailed the card so I can't take a clearer picture.  I still wanted to post a close up picture of Star and Sky...they are soooo cute!!

Here is the inside of my card.  I'm still hooked on using coordinating washi tape to decorate the inside of my cards.  Fast, simple and cute.  Gotta love that!

Thanks for stopping by.  Please post a comment and let me know what you think of my background technique.  I like hearing from you!

Janet 

Supplies Used
Cardstock: Canson Aquarelle watercolor paper, Cougar Opaque white, Stampin Up Almost Amethyst, Black Linen
Stamps:  Purple Onion Robin, Sky and Star and Perch and Marianne Designs birdhouse/die, Stampin' Up Wonderful Words
Copics:  C00, C01, C03, C05, C07, R29 I think E51 and E53 on the faces but put the markers away before listing them so I'm not 100% sure
Reinkers: (used to watercolor the birdhouse) Tsukineko Poppy Red, Peony & Chartreuse and Stampin Up Sahara Sand
Ink Pads:  Momento Tuxedo Black, Stampin' Up Almost Amethyst and Bliss Blue
Miscellaneous:  white twine, The Crafters Workshop stencil by Julie Balzer #361 Tiny Circles, Pan Pastels Pthalo Blue Tint, Krylon clear matte spray.