Altered Tin

This little altered Altoid Tin was created to hold my cardstock sampler panels. I prefer this over a keychain for my own use, and it also keeps the samples dust-free.... if you live in the dry, dusty desert - you may appreciate that!

My hostess club members made a similar one last year as one of their projects, and my sample for that class was given away... it felt great to finally sit down and make one just for me! I used a strip of the dotted paper from the beautiful Love Letter Designer Paper line for the bottom tin area... the very top panel was stamped using the clock from Sense of Time, and floral swirl from Vintage Vogue. This was distressed, stamped with the splatter stamp from the retired Itty Bitty Backgrounds collection, then dotted with a black pen. I added the seam binding and popped up a few small flowers from Vintage Vogue with dimensional popdots. Pearls add the final touch on the flowers.


Here's an open view of my altered tin. Thank you for visiting today... as always, comments are very welcomed and appreciated - please come back soon!

Stamps: Sense of Time, Vintage Vogue, Itty Bitty Backgrounds (splatter stamp - retired)
Paper: Basic Black, Vanilla, Love Letter DSP
Ink: Basic Gray, Old Olive, Riding Hood Red, Crumb Cake, black marker
Accessories: Crumb Cake seam binding, pearls, dimensional popdots, sponge dauber, cutter kit, sanding block, sticky strip, altoid tin

Punchy Uncle Sam

Hi there! Today's post is another super cute swap project that I received this week. I had arrived a couple minutes late to the meeting when my upline was handing these out to the group, and found out today that it was my out-of-state sister demo, Betty S, who created this adorable punch art giftbag... isn't this Uncle Sam the cutest?! Another wonderful idea Betty has here is using a patriotic paper napkin for the tissue in the bag - gotta remember that one! I always see cute decorative napkins for so many different occasions... the perfect inspiration for a little giftbag. The Fancy Favor diecut giftbag is hidden in this picture by the Uncle Sam front panel, but it was cut out of Real Red cardstock. This is such a cute July 4th project!

Thanks again to all my demo sisters! My upline, KM, gave us some great tips on using the Bigshot and accessories to make applique quilt blocks so much easier to put together. I need to take some pictures and get that post together to share with you... you'll be amazed - I was! Thanks KM!

Happy Saturday.... see you next time!

Birthday Cake and Card

It's hard to believe it's June already - this year has really flown by... My customers on my distribution list should have received my newsletter at the beginning of June that basically highlighted Stampin' Up's retirement product listings. The retiring stamp sets will be available throughout June, however the other items like accessories, decor elements, etc are first-come, first-serve.... grab them while you can! You can order through my business website 24-7.

OK, today's project shown above is one of the items we made during our last hostess club. I used a battery operated tealight candle and decorated it with Tea Party DSP. Instructions can be found on SplitCoast under the resources section. I added some non-SU string of pearls and pink silk roses that are glued down to embellish this very cute cake. The little 3x3 notecard and envelope were stamped using a flower selection from Priceless stamp set in So Saffron, Pretty in Pink and Certainly Celery. The sentiment comes from Sincere Salutations that is stamped in black ink. Of course, Whisper White Organza ribbon finish off this notecard.

Have a great day and thank you for visiting!

Desk Calendar

Hello again! I thought I'd post a past project that my hostess club members got to make during one of our meetings this year. I used two 4x4 inch chipboard coasters that were covered with designer paper, and lightly sanded the edges. The coasters are joined with two Round Tab punch-outs. The calendar is printed from Cat's 2010 template that she so graciously shared on Splitcoast and was trimmed down to size. What a timesaver - thank you so much Cat! The calendar pages are held together with a little library clip, so that the months can be changed out easily. The back page has repositionable tape for easy removal, so that you could print out a whole new year and reuse this little creation. The flowers were stamped and cut out, and held together with a little flower brad. It is adhered with dimensional popdots. I hope you enjoy your Friday, and that you can come back again soon.

Stamps: Vintage Vogue stamp set
Paper: Sweet Pea DSP, cardstock: So Saffron, Pretty in Pink
Ink: Creamy Caramel, Pretty in Pink
Accessories: Bigshot/Butterfly embosslit, Sweet Pea paper, scallop edge punch, mini library clip, Round Tab punch, dimensional popdots, Sending Love epoxy brads in chocolate chip, repositionable double-sided tape, sanding block

Bookmark Card and Bag

A recent challenge on Splitcoaststampers, TLC268, was to incorporate a bookmark into a card. I had some small items to give to a sweet friend, so I thought this would be a nice way to add something more to her gifts.



This little color combination started with this paper rose that I originally had made for a different project. The rose turned out to be larger than I needed, so I set it aside till I found another use for it - today's project! The paper rose was created by using different sized heart punches. I sponged ink on the edges and curled the heart's curvy edges under before gluing the pointy tips together (a brad can help to secure all the pointy tips before shaping as well).

The designer paper came from my never-ending scraps pile, so I don't know the maker, but I loved the summery feel to the colors and it matched the flower well enough for my needs. This was matted together using Tempting Turquoise cardstock. The paper gift bag is Stampin' Up's Fancy Favor Sizzix die cut out of YoYo Yellow. I threaded a strip of Whisper White Organza ribbon on top to make a bag strap. The flower is attached to the designer paper with dimensional popdots.



The front of the card seen at the top of this post is using stamps from Great Friend and Pocket Silhouettes stamp sets in YoYo Yellow, Tempting Turquoise and Green Galore inks with the same in cardstock colors. The inside of the tri-fold card contains the bookmark held in place with repositionable tape. Here's the bookmark removed from the card below-



The butterflies were diecut using the Beautiful Wings embosslit die found on page 24 of the Occasions Mini. I love how it has 4 different butterflies on it - I've used it a ton already! The bookmark is a perfect size and comes from the Two Tags die, and I have an inside mat of Tempting Turquoise cardstock punched from the Scallop Circle punch. The 1 3/8 circle punch was used for the pattern paper circle background.

I hope this gives you some ideas to use when presenting gifts to someone special. I hope you have a fabulous Monday, and may your week be a good one! Till next time....

Autumn Splendor Candle

Even though it's trying to cool down in Phoenix, we are still looking at highs in the 90's this coming week. The mornings have been simply beautiful though, and you can finally feel the temps start to drop when the sun goes down.... so according to Phoenix standards, we are heading into our season of Autumn!

This candle was one of the projects we did in our last Technique's Class. We learned how to "stamp" on candles, and in this case, we heat embossed the leaves from Autumn Splendor in gold embossing powder. Some of us sponged autumn colors on the tissue paper before adhering it to the candle - others left it alone after embossing the images, and still another stamped in Versamark, then an autumn-colored ink and embossed - it was equally beautiful any way it was done. We also played with shrink plastic to make the ribbon tags. I love how small the images became - they are too cute!

I hope that you are having a wonderful weekend - take care!

Pretty Punch Ornament

Hello again - I know it's been a while since I posted. It seemed like posting on my blog always fell further down on my daily "to-do" list - and time management has never been one of my strong points. I figured that having the kids back in school would free up some time for me, but it only allowed the other things that I've neglected to finally get some proper attention, KWIM?

Anyhow, the Holiday Mini Catalog has been released, and this little project uses three items that are now available, the Delightful Decorations ornament stamp set, Ornament punch and silver elastic cord. This little ornament was so easy to make... I inked up the stamp in Versamark, then Real Red ink, and stamped it on Whisper White cardstock. This was heat-embossed in Iridescent Ice embossing powder, then the whole process was repeated so that I had 8 stamped pieces. (Don't forget to clean your stamp each time, or you'll end up with Real Red Versamark!) Each image was punched out with the Ornament punch, and folded in half. I used Mono Multi glue to adhere each 1/2 section to another 1/2 section. Before gluing the last two sections together, I cut a 5 inch length of the Silver elastic cord and tacky taped the ends inside to create the loop for hanging. Boy, does this little ornament sparkle when it moves!

Stamps - Delightful Decorations (item # 116517)
Paper - Whisper White
Ink - Versamark, Real Red
Accessories - heat gun, Iridescent Ice embossing powder, Ornament punch (item #116794), silver elastic cord (item # 109866)

A Bug's Life

Because my dad was in the Air Force, we had an opportunity to live in the Phillipines for almost 3 years when I was a little girl. It was an amazing place, and I think about my experiences there quite often. I learned to ride horses, braved through typhoons (once, a typhoon's eye went right over Clark AB - we played outside for a short while it was passing overhead), and survived a terrible infection from a knee injury. I learned the truth about Santa Claus here, and found that my favorite toys in the whole world were Legos. Being a tropical chain of islands, the Phillipines gave me a real introduction to BUGS, and I mean, bugs of all kinds!!! My favorites to play with and keep as "pets" were praying mantis, and to this day, I still have a fondness for them.

My youngest daughter isn't too squeamish about most bugs, either, and I'll find her playing with them from time to time. When I saw this unfinished box at Michaels for less than a buck, I thought it would be a great "bug" box! It measures about 2 x 3.5 x 2 inches all around, and has a screened & hinged lid on top.

To start, I removed the front hardware/clasp and used acrylic paint for the very top of the box. Even though it's dark in the photo, in real life, the paint is a pretty close match to Rich Razzleberry. The angle of the photo throws the color off a bit. I trimmed Tall Tales Designer Series Paper to size on all four sides (including the lid pieces), and stamped the butterfly & word trail from the Flight of the Butterfly stamp set in Rich Razzleberry ink. The butterfly dots were colored in with a white gel pen. When it was dry, I used ModgePodge to glue the papers on, then rubbed the sanding block on all edges. Little flowers were stamped on both sides using the same acrylic paint (you can see a truer version of the paint color better there), and applied a final coat of ModgePodge. I finished up by gently hammering the hardware back into position...

I hope I didn't make you queasy talking about bugs today, but don't ya think this would make a cute little gift for any budding entomologist?! My little girl thinks it's "the bee's knees"! OK, I couldn't resist - have a great day! :)

Tick Tock... Altered Clock

Hello again!!! Today's project features an altered clock that I worked on yesterday at a monthly crop that I coordinate for a bunch of die-hard crafters. It started out as a plain white plastic clock that I picked up at Target for less than $5 dollars... the face is about 8 inches in diameter and fills a need that I had for my craft room. I have a little desk clock in there, but it always get buried beneath whatever project I happen to be working on at the time. Besides, I wanted to showcase a couple of new In-Colors, and a lovely patterned paper design from the new and upcoming "Razzleberry Lemonade" paper collection that will be available for purchase from the new catalog starting July 1st. I really adore this paper collection!!! Be prepared because I will be using lots, and lots, and lots of it!!! :)

It wasn't difficult to remove the front clear plastic cover that protected the clock hands, so if you would like to try this and purchase this same clock at Target, just go slow and press in the two little tabs on the back of the clock for removal. After the cover was removed, I gently pulled off the clock hands and carefully peeled off the paper with the clock's numbers. I used this paper as a template for the patterned paper and just used small scissors to cut around it. I did lightly sponge the patterned paper circle around the outer edge and hole for the clock's spindle with Crushed Curry ink.

The outside plastic was painted with acrylic paint and distressed with a sponge and brown ink. I chose a purple that very closely matched Rich Razzleberry and golden yellow that resembled Crushed Curry. Once distressed with the brown ink, the colors turned out looking aged and "antiquey" (is that a word? LOL!!). Once the paint job was the way that I wanted it, I put a coat of ModgePodge over the whole thing. NOTE - If and when I do this again (as it would make a GREAT gift!), I am going to use masking-tape to protect the clock spindle and spray paint a primer coat all over the plastic before painting. The acrylic paint can be easily scratched off otherwise.... that's why I ended up using ModgePodge to (hopefully) protect the paint job. However, since it's a clock and will only be handled when I change the battery, I think this will be OK and last a long time.

The numbers on the clock were made with corduroy buttons (non-SU) and altered/sanded chipboard diamonds from the Blossoms & Basics chipboard collection (retired). I used the BigShot and Little Leaves Sizzlet die to make an arrangement of leaves on the clock face. The butterflies were stamped with Rich Razzleberry ink using the butterfly stamp from the Great Friend stamp set, then cut out and glued onto the clock face with the wing tips slightly curled upward (HINT - make sure nothing is too tall to impede the movement of the clock's hands!). I assembled my clock back together, inserted a battery, and Voila... it's finished and ready for display!!

I hope you enjoyed taking a look at my altered clock... and I hope it inspired you to try this project out for yourself! It wasn't hard to do at all, but it did take me all day to do it (of course, I spent ALOT of time talking, listening, laughing, going out for a dinner run, then talking, laughing... HEY, you get the gist.... a roomful of crafters are too much fun! Tee hee! Have a great week ahead, and come back soon! Till next time... :)

Stamps: Great Friend
Paper: Old Olive, Whisper White, Razzleberry Lemonade designer series paper collection
Ink: Rich Razzleberry, Crushed Curry, brown staz-on, acrylic paints
Accessories: small paintbrushes, sponges, BigShot, Little Leaves sizzlet, mono-multi glue, corduroy buttons, chipboard, sanding block, ModgePodge, clock!

In Place of a Bow

Hello everyone... just a quick post for today. This wrapped package contains a gift for my SIL, and I wanted the bow to be alittle different, so I stamped it! I used Playful Petals and stamped the large flower image 3 times on white cardstock. It is colored with a few new In-Color markers - yep, you saw that right! Stampin' Up has heard our wishes and is providing markers for all of the new In-Colors with the release of the new catalog on July 1st. I used Rich Razzleberry (a pretty purple), Melon Mambo (pinkish red), Crushed Curry (golden yellow), and Mellow Moss for the green (not sure that I like this color choice, but what's done is done...). The flowers were cut out and mounted in layers with dimensional popdots. The colored leaves were added last under the flower bow. The "happy birthday" greeting comes from the set "Teeny Tiny Wishes" and was hand cut and molded to look like a banner. The ribbon is Old Olive.

Here's a close up of my "bow". Sorry about my post being so short today - I have a "to-do" list a mile long and am feeling motivated to get some things accomplished - so I better hop to it! Have a great day and come back soon!

Vacation Album pgs 17-19

Page 17 - Inspirational
A simple layout with some encouraging words.



Page 18 - Sunset
I'm sure they enjoyed beautiful and breathtaking sunsets on the beach!


Page 19 - Vacation Memories
This is the last page made for my sweet SIL's vacation album. I made this so that they could fill in some specific details about their vacation. The blocks start off with the following topics -

We went on vacation between...
The weather was...

We went on vacation with...
More thoughts about our vacation...

And finally, each person in their family had a block to write down their favorite memories.

Thanks for letting me revisit this album with you! I thought it would be fun to share, especially since it's National Scrapbooking Month. My SIL really appreciated this ready-to-use album, which made it all worthwhile, KWIM? I really loved making it for her!!!

Tomorrow, I'm going to share some awards with some blog-mates that are so deserving and inspirational for me.... see ya later! :)

Vacation Album pgs 13-16

Page 13 - Beach Treasures
This two page spread is my favorite one - I love the colors and the ripped squares of different cardstock along the bottom. The starfish was hand-cut and sponged, and I used a stylus to make raised dots along each arm... can you see them? The title tag has SU's cheesecloth background stamp on it.

Page 14 - Beach Treasures
I really never understood the purpose of those posts in the sand that we sometimes see at a beach, but I thought it would be cute to add on this page. The "rope" is black embroidery floss.

Page 15 - Sandcastles
I didn't have any sandcastle stamps at the time and had to borrow these from a friend. I sanded the edges of the block to distress them a bit.

Page 16 - Relax
Whenever I go on vacation with my family of 6, it seems like I don't get enough "relaxation" time since we're usually so busy hoppin' from one place to the next! How about you? But I'm sure that with an entire week at the beach, they were able to catch a moment or two just to simply relax!

Tomorrow's post is the last few pages of the vacation album... I hope you are able to swing by!

Vacation Album pgs 9-12

Page 9 - Family Memories
The page titles and flowers were cut with the wishblade, and I used the "negative" instead of the cut out letters for the title. Lots of sponging going on here! This picture block was for a 5x7 inch photo.

Page 10 - Family Memories
This picture block was designed for (4) photos. Sorry about the page protector color distortions!

Page 11 - Sunkissed
The wave border was cut free-hand and sponged on both pages. The circle medallions are now-retired SU stamps that I can't remember the name of....

Page 12 - Sunkissed

Tomorrow's post of pages 13-16 contains my favorite spread of the whole album... come back and take a peek, ok? :)

Vacation Album pgs 5-8

Page 5 - Floral colors
Simple layout on these two pages for all the "extra" photos we seem to capture during vacation but don't know what to do with... I didn't put any page titles on these two pages in case she had something in mind...

Page 6 - Floral colors

Page 7 - Ocean Fishing

Page 8 - Ocean Fishing
The fish and pole were cut free-hand and shadows added to the fish for depth. The fishing line was drawn in with a black marker.

Come back tomorrow for pages 9-12! :)

Vacation Album pgs 1-4

Hi there! These are pages 1-4 of the Vacation Album. When I sent the album to my SIL, I included post-it notes for areas that I suggested for pictures and those for journaling blocks. I also included a couple see-through templates that she could easily use for trimming pictures down into squares, if she wanted, to fit in some of the blocks throughout the album. Otherwise, the blocks fit the standard 4x6 inch photos.

Page 1 - The Beach House
The page protectors are giving some of the blocks some shadows, but I didn't think about that at the time I took the pictures... oh well... :(

Page 2 - The Beach House
The little circles were adhered only in the center so that she could slide the corners of her square pictures underneath.

Page 3 - Beach Bums

Page 4 - Beach Bums

Thanks for visiting through my parade of pages... see you tomorrow for pages 5-8! :)

Album Front Cover and Title Page

As mentioned in yesterday's post, this is a vacation album that I created for my sister-in-law and her family. She had been visiting with us in the spring of 2007, and had so much excitement for a vacation planned with her family during that upcoming summer. She described the location, activities that they planned to do, and beachhouse in Oregon well enough for me to put this album together for her. Since it was made in 2007, before I became a demonstrator for Stampin Up, most of the products used here were not Stampin Up. I am posting these pages for design inspiration with the layouts, and I hope you enjoy my posts over the course of 5 days. Please note that I took the photos of the pages while they were in the sleeves, so you may see a bit of glare or color distortion from time to time on the occasional page. Since this gift was given long ago, I can't retake the pics for you, but I think they turned out well enough for viewing on the blog. So... here we go...... :) .......

Front Cover

Close up of the stamped area on the front cover. The album title was printed via computer, then over-stamped using a SU floral background stamp (retired) with Creamy Caramel ink. I love SU background stamps!

I stamped this sentiment (non-SU) on the inside of the front cover. Kind of sets the stage for the pages ahead, don't you think?


This is the title page just inside the front cover. Pictures of the Heathergate beachhouse were found on the internet, and it had a beautiful arched gate complete with a white picket fence out front. It was so picturesque, and I thought it would be a great way to begin their vacation memories. The letters were cut out using my wishblade (an electronic cutter hooked up to my computer). There are white square brads inserted on the title block. Well, I hope this wets your appetite for more - I hope you come back tomorrow for a look at the next 4 pages of her vacation album! Ta ta for now...

WICKED 3D Butterfly Box

Here's my last submission for the WICKED challenges posted for Stampin Up demos over on Split Coast Stampers - a HUGE thank you goes to Brenda (aka QBee's Quest) for providing such an awesome template/project idea! You rock! :)

After cutting out and assembling the butterfly box template using a sheet from the Raspberry Tart designer paper collection, I used the Big Shot and Beautiful Butterflies die to create my smaller die-cut butterfly on the front. I used a small piece of Pink Pirouette cardstock as a base layer for the butterfly, and lightly sponged the edges in Riding Hood Red ink. The top butterfly layer was shaped for dimension, as you can see. The sentiment was stamped and punched out with the small oval punch. This was lightly sponged too. The ribbon is 1/4 inch Pretty in Pink and I used a small cut-out rectangle of Sticky Strip to hold each ribbon tail in place while I punched a 1/16 inch hole to insert my brads. Lastly, I stripped the paper from a twist-tie and formed the thin wire around the butterfly body and curled the ends for antennae. You may need to click the picture to see a bigger version of the card to view that detail. The butterfly and sentiment oval are popped up with dimensionals.

Have an awesome weekend, everyone! Come back soon!!!

Stamps - Great Friend (sentiment)

Paper - Pink Pirouette, Raspberry Tart DSP

Ink - Riding Hood Red

Accessories - Big Shot, Beautiful Butterflies BIGZ die, brads, ribbon, small oval punch, sponge, twist tie wire, 1/16 inch hole punch, Sticky Strip, dimensional popdots, candy

Altered Candy Jar

Happy Friday to you! I had a great evening this week with my Technique class, and I wanted to share the doorprize I made for it. My friend, Sheri, won the prize... Yay Sheri! :)

Isn't it cute? I was pleased with how it turned out, and it was very easy to assemble! I recycled an empty Folgers instant coffee container to make an altered candy jar. I'm sure we all have an 'almost empty' plastic container sitting in the fridge or in the pantry - so instead of tossing the container, I suggest altering it for a new use! What a great way to give someone a special gift, or keep it for yourself... it could store lots of crafty items too - ribbons, flowers, reinkers, die-cuts, you name it!

The papers are held on with Sticky Strip, and I also inserted brads on both sides for added insurance - it's not coming off! (To insert brads, after adhering your paper to the plastic, carefully use a paper piercer and gently work it through the layers of paper and plastic - it's not hard to do... just go slow so you don't have an accident... yikes!). The 'candy' label is die cut letters from the GoGo Boots sizzlet alphabets. I added some Riding Hood Red ribbon, and topped the lid with a Pretties flower. The patterned paper is from the Washington Apple DSP series.

Just before class started, I filled it with a package of coffee-flavored candy. YUM! Thanks for checking in with me - have a great day!

Sachet Pillowbox

Hello again! Today's post is about a very quick project that would make sweet little Mother's Day gifts for family and friends. It's a sachet made from the Pillowbox Die and Big Shot. After die-cutting the pillowbox, I stamped in Pink Pirouette ink around the edges with a floral selection from the Pocket Silhouettes stamp set. The butterfly came from Great Friend, a wonderful little stamp set found in the new Occasions Mini catalog, and is stamped on both sides of my pillowbox in Riding Hood Red ink. I used my Mat Pack and paper piercer to punch little holes around the butterfly and pillowbox, and closed one end securely with Sticky Strip tape. Then I crushed very fragrant potpourri into smaller pieces (about 1/8 to 1/4 inch in size), and filled my sachet pillowbox. I secured the other end with Sticky Strip tape and added a ribbon around one side, adding a few spots of snail on the ribbon to keep it from sliding off the pillowbox. The small holes allow the fragrance to breathe - it smells so nice and it's not too strong - to me anyway! I think I know a few ladies who would love a few of these to put with their linens or clothing drawers at home... maybe you do, too! Have a great day, and thanks for checking in with me today.

Stamps: Great Friend, Pocket Silhouettes

Paper: Pink Pirouette

Ink: Pink Pirouette, Riding Hood Red

Accessories: Big Shot, Pillowbox Die, ribbon, mat pack, paper piercer, Sticky Strip, Snail adhesive, potpourri

Birdhouse 24-7

Well, I don't know about your area, but the birds are very busy building nests around Phoenix right now.... it won't be long before we hear the little peeps from the babies! When I was watching them this morning, hustling around, eating and grabbing the stray bit of grass or twig, it inspired me to decorate a birdhouse today. I purchased an unfinished one at Walmart over a month ago for a few dollars. There were many different types available, and they were found in the crafting area. Here's a close up of the nesting bird...

I snapped photos at various stages of construction, and thought I'd share how I put this together this morning. First I started with my supplies - the paper comes from the Raspberry Tart collection (LOVE it!), and the stamps are from Friends 24-7 (LOVE this even more!). I picked out a few different colors of acrylic paint to give a distressed look to my birdhouse.

As you can see below, I put a basecoat on the roof, bottom and post.

Then I added the other colors to give the birdhouse a distressed look -

To make an easy template for cutting your patterned paper, use a sheet of printer copy paper and trim it so it's slightly larger than the face of your birdhouse.

Line up one edge of the paper along an edge and bottom of the birdhouse, then simply use your finger to press a crease in the paper as shown below - you may need to trim off the bulky, excess areas so that you can make a good crease. After you've creased your edges, just trim off the extra paper with scissors to make your template.

Put your template back on the birdhouse and use your finger again to lightly crease an outline for the holes in the center. Cut out the holes with scissors.

Use your template and cut out 2 pieces from your DSP for the front and back. Remember to cut holes for the front DSP piece only! :)

I measured and cut two rectangles from the DSP to fit the sides of the birdhouse. Going in sections, I applied a coat of ModgePodge to the birdhouse using a 1 inch sponge paintbrush, then laid the appropriate piece of DSP on it - press around the DSP to make good contact with the glue. When this was done to all 4 sides and dry, I used a sanding block to distress the paper. Then I applied a top coat of ModgePodge over the entire birdhouse.

While the birdhouse was drying, I stamped the bird and flowers on Whisper White using Staz-On brown, then immediately heat-embossed with clear EP. These were watercolored with markers and aquapainter, then cut out. I created a nest using a very thin strip of raffia and stuck/glued spanish moss around. The flowers, bird and nest were adhered with dimensional popdots and mini gluedots.

Here's an overall picture again - straight on....

There you have it! I hope this inspires you, just like I was inspired this morning by simply watching the birds. Have a great day, and come back soon!