MICHIGAN CHRISTMAS ROBIN

Since the Robin is the State Bird of Michigan, I couldn't resist turning the cute, little bird from Perched in a Tree into Robbie the Robin.

His chubby little belly may be a bit redder than a true Robin, but it's OK because he is a Christmas Robin and his belly needed to match the Poinsettias!

Now, in reality, we don't see many Robins around Christmas Time because they are smart little birds, and they go someplace warmer for the frosty winter months.  But Robbie wanted to be here to wish you a Merry Christmas, so I said he could perch on my tree branch.

I found his Poinsettia Bouquet on the Boughs of Holly DSP and snipped them out to decorate his tree branch.  He was happy that they matched!

The white background behind him was cut with the largest die from Deckled Rectangles Dies and then embossed with the Timber 3D embossing folder.

Robbie chose the sentiment LET HEAVEN AND NATURE Sing because he said he loves to sing!  I know every spring we always look for the first Robin to return so we can listen to their songs.

The sentiment was stamped with Black Memento.  I then needed to search my stash for a die that was just the right size.  I found it in the Beautiful Shapes Dies.  I love the organic shape and debossed rings that encircle it.  Can you see them?  They may show best on the first photo.

To provide a bit of bling, I added Evening Evergreen Opal rounds to the center of each Poinsettia and Red Rhinestones to the sentiment.

To decorate the inside of the card (no naked insides allowed!), I stamped another sentiment from the Perched in a Tree stamp and added a narrow strip of the same designer series paper from which the Poinsettias were cut.   I thought this sentiment worked well as a Christmas greeting.  Afterall, Jesus, the gift of Christmas, is the reason we can enjoy abundant joy & peace. 

What do you think of today's card?  I'm happy with it, but I particularly feel really good that I have one more Christmas Card done!

If you would like a tutorial for today's card, please use this link to download a FREE copy.

A list of products used is shown below.

Product List

Perched In A Tree Bundle (English) [159799]	Deckled Rectangles Dies [159173]	Beautiful Shapes Dies [158046]	Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [159229]	Real Red 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [102482]
Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159276]	Boughs Of Holly 12" X 12" (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Designer Series Paper [159600]	Fluid 100 Watercolor Paper [149612]	Jet Black Stāzon Ink Pad [101406]	Real Red Classic Stampin' Pad [147084]
Basic Gray Classic Stampin' Pad [149165]	Soft Suede Classic Stampin' Pad [147115]	Tuxedo Black Memento Ink Pad [132708]	Regals Stampin' Write Markers [147155]	Water Painters [151298]
2021 2023 In Color Opal Rounds [159185]	Red Rhinestone Basic Jewels [146924]	Timber 3 D Embossing Folder [156406]	Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653]

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AUTUMN LEAVES FROM PERCHED ON A TREE

Before I started making my Perched in a Tree cards this week, I decided that I needed to have at least one card that did not use the adorable little bird.  It was hard to do.  I love that cute little guy, but I wanted to show some versatility of design so assigned myself the challenge of making at least one card without him.

This Perched in a Tree bundle includes two leaf dies, but they do not have a coordinating stamp, so that made an even larger challenge for me on how to make the leaves "look pretty".  To just simply die cut them from a solid color seemed a little "boring", so I wanted to add some color variation.

I started with Basic White cardstock and used my Blending Brushes to add Mint Macaron and Calypso Coral ink.  Then I also stamped some speckles with those same colors as well as Crumb Cake ink to add depth and texture.  Next, I die cut the leaves which also debosses the veins.  I then used a Fine-Tip Glue Pen to add fine lines of glue to the veins and the edges so that I could apply Gilded Leafing to the leaves.  That added some beautiful shimmer and shine on the leaves.  Here is a close-up.

I also added Gilded Leafing across the top off the lower Crumb Cake section on the bottom of the card.  I used Tear & Tape to adhere the Gilding Leaving on that upper edge.

The background behind the trees was made with Blending Brushes and various ink colors blended on Shimmery White.  The Shimmery White cardstock adds a beautiful subtle shimmer behind the trees.  It looks as if the sun is shining.  Please refer to the detailed tutorial available for download to see all the ink colors used for the background.

A double bow of gold cording from Simply Elegant Trim completed the card front.

For the inside of the card, I stamped a sentiment from the Perched in a Tree stamp set with Soft Suede Ink.  Using Tear & Tape to adhere it, a stripe of Gilded Leafing was added on the left side of the Basic White cardstock.  I have found using Tear & Tape to be the easiest way to apply the Gilding Leafing to any project, but obviously it only works if you want to use it in a straight strip.

For a complete list of all products used, please refer to the list below.  To see details on any of the products, simply click on the product image.

Product List

Perched In A Tree Bundle (English) [159799]	Crumb Cake 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [120953]	Shimmery White 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [101910]	Basic White 8 1/2" X 11" Cardstock [159276]	Mint Macaron 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [138337]
Calypso Coral 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [122925]	Mint Macaron Classic Stampin' Pad [147106]	Pool Party Classic Stampin' Pad [147107]	Blushing Bride Classic Stampin' Pad [147100]	Calypso Coral Classic Stampin' Pad [147101]
Highland Heather Classic Stampin' Pad [147103]	Crumb Cake Classic Stampin' Pad [147116]	Timber 3 D Embossing Folder [156406]	Gilded Leafing Embellishment [154560]	Tear & Tape Adhesive [138995]
Fine-Tip Glue Pen [138309]	Simply Elegant Trim [155766]	Blending Brushes [153611]	Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653]

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CUTE LITTLE GOLDFINCH PERCHED IN A TREE

It's Monday, so it's time for a new featured bundle of the week.  This week I will be using the Perched in a Tree Bundle.  This bundle does not have a huge number of different stamps and dies, but it is very versatile.  I'll be honest, when I fell in love with this set, it was the oval tree die and the cute little chubby bird that won my heart.  As I started working with the bundle this week, I was pleasantly surprised to finally notice the beautiful and versatile sentiments.

For today's card, I wanted to put something behind the beautiful tree oval die cut that would show off the trees.  Since it had been quite a while since I played with the Stampin' Blends and Alcohol on Vellum technique, I decided to try that and see if I could create a colorful abstract design behind the trees.  My goal was to use colors that would represent the sky and the colorful foliage of an autumn forest.  I'm very happy with how my second attempt turned out.  I'd forgotten that darker, more intense Stampin' Blends colors work better with this technique than the lighter pastel shades which I used on my first attempt.  Frankly, the first one was pretty blah!

I used my Blending Brushes to add a little Sahara Sand ink to the tree trunks on the oval die cut to give them some shading and add some dimension.  For all of the die cuts I used Thick Very Vanilla to give them more rigidity for popping up with dimensionals.

I colored my little chubby Goldfinch with Black, Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Blends and used the Color Lifter to provide some additional shading.  Google is a wonderful place to find plenty of examples for color inspiration!

For the die cut leaves on the branch I used the "splotch" and "speckles" stamps to cover a large enough area on Very Vanilla cardstock to be able to die cut the leaves with the die from Aspen Dies.  These were then adhered directly to the end of the stamped and die cut branch.

The sentiment from Perched in a Tree was stamped on Very Vanilla and die cut with a Tailor Made Tags die.  A couple of strands of Linen Thread were used for the double bow.

For the inside of the card, I embossed the left edge using the same embossing folder that was used on the front, Timeworn Type.  The edge where the embossed area meets the non-embossed cardstock was covered with a section of trees made using the large oval Aspen Trees die.

I covered the top of the trees with two die cuts made with the leaves die.  Before die-cutting the leaves, the Very Vanilla cardstock was stamped using the same process as for the leaves on the card front.

If you would like a detailed tutorial with step-by-step directions, please use this link to download a FREE copy.

A list of all products used is shown below.  For more details on any of the products, just click on the photo.

Product List

Perched In A Tree Bundle (English) [159799]	Tailor Made Tags Dies [155563]	Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Thick Cardstock [144237]	Very Vanilla 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [101650]	Vellum 8-1/2" X 11" Cardstock [101856]
Sahara Sand Classic Stampin' Pad [126976]	Mango Melody Classic Stampin' Pad [147093]	Daffodil Delight Classic Stampin' Pad [147094]	Night Of Navy Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154891]	Rich Razzleberry Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154898]
Mango Melody Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154888]	Evening Evergreen Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [155517]	Soft Succulent Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [155521]	Cajun Craze Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154879]	Basic Black Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154843]
Pumpkin Pie Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154897]	Daffodil Delight Stampin' Blends Combo Pack [154883]	Stampin' Blends Color Lifter [144608]	Blending Brushes [153611]	Timeworn Type 3 D Embossing Folder [156505]
Clear Wink Of Stella Glitter Brush [141897]	Water Painters [151298]	Linen Thread [104199]	Stampin' Cut & Emboss Machine [149653]

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