H2H Challenge: Animals

This week's Heart 2 Heart challenge is to use animals (or birds) on your project. As one of this month's prize sponsors, I was invited (in advance) to play along.

I love, love, love the January stamp of the month, Find Your Style, and its pretty bird. I really have a thing for birds, and will probably one day be the crazy old lady in the park feeding the pigeons.

To make this circle card, I began with a piece of Lagoon cardstock from the Magnifique paper pack that I cut into a 4.5" circle card. Next, I cut a piece of the damask pattern with my large scalloped circle punch (approx. 3.5"). The center circle is another Magnifique pattern that I first & second generation stamped with Lagoon and Pacifica.

To create the bird, I first inked it up with Lagoon and then rolled the edges in Pacifica. After stamping on a scrap of Colonial White cardstock, I cut it out close to the edge, attached it to the top left of the card, and added a Mocha pearl for the eye. (I only glued the center/body of the bird so that the wings and tail curl up a bit.)

The flower was fun (and easy!) to make. Using vintage book pages is really popular right now. Since I'm an elementary school teacher, I have access to lots of paperbacks, and I've been saving the ones that can no longer be repaired to use in my crafting projects. You can also find books at yard sales and thrift stores. The great thing about using children's books is that you're probably not going to have anything inappropriate written on your flower!

To make the flower, I punched out six scalloped circle with my new CTMH 2" scalloped circle punch (available 2/1!). Next, I inked the edges in Pacifica ink to give them some dimension and to look more like an actual flower. I stacked yp the six flowers, one on top of the other, and then pierced a hole in the center for a Shimmer Designer brad. Go ahead and fasten the brad (splaying the little "legs" flat). Then, starting with the top layer, crumple up the flowers, one layer at a time, until you like how it looks. You may have to crumple and fluff more than once. Finally, use a glue dot or two to attach the flower to your project. A scrap of Chocolate designer ribbon finished it off.

If you have any questions, ask away. When I asked my husband what he thought of this card, he said, "You can't even mail that!" True, but not really the point. Oh well! Thanks for flying by! Give this week's H2H challenge a try.

Supplies from Close To My Heart: Find Your Style stamp set (available though 1/31/11); Magnifique paper pack; Lagoon, Pacifica, and Chocolate inks; Shimmer Designer Brads; Chocolate Designer Ribbon Rounds (retired); Mocha Opaques Pearls; 2" scallop circle punch

Other supplies: Marvy circle punch; vintage children's book