Summer Lantern Birdcage

     The new Summer Lantern from John Next Door is great for small gifts and party decorations. The inserts from the Pop Box die sets also fit this new die giving you even more ways to decorate.

    

     The bird inside the cage was die cut in Shrink Plastic, but like a nitwit I was so keen to shrink it I forgot to colour it first, thank goodness for alcohol markers.

     The wings were stuck on with some very strong glue, then I threaded some nylon twine through the wings ready to be hung in the cage.

     A cage full of flowers would be rather nice too and maybe a little more trimming to make a opening door.

     The cage was cut in silver mirri card, I used the fancy floral die from the new lantern in the roof but used the square grid window from the Christmas Pop Box on the sides. With a rule and a sharp knife I cut some of the bars out of each window to make it look more like a cage.

     Once assembled I cut a square of Kraft card to go on the floor of the cage so it looked a little more like the paper my Mum used to put in the Finches cage many years ago.

     The roof was pulled together with some silver ribbon tied off in a bow, then I added some silver cord so it can be hung up.

     It looked a little bare on top so I added some leaves and a flower with a hint of blue to match the bird.

     There are so many things you can do with this little lantern and being able to use some of the dies you may already have makes it a die set worth having.

I would like to enter this project in the following challenges:

Through The Craft Room Door - 12th April Anything Goes

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - #180 Anything Goes

Creative Knockouts - #449 Wings and Things/Furry Friends

Creative Fingers - #229 Anything Goes

Pammie's Inky Pinkies - #2216 Anything Goes

Ares Quilted Leaves

 

     This was made with two new die sets from John Next Door, Vintage Leaves and Ares background die. Die's can be used for embossing as well as cutting as long as you use a silicone mat and the right sandwich of plates for your machine.

     I cut a rectangle of off white card to the required size, then using various Autumn colours I cut the leaves. The leaves were stuck down on the card with a good strong PVA glue and left to dry.

     Once dry I put the background die on top of the card and ran it through the embossing machine. My machine is a little worn so the rollers are slack, for my own machine (Bigshot)I used the following sandwich, from top to bottom.....Cutting plate, die, card, silicone mat, cutting plate, one cereal packet card, base plate (no tab sheets). You will need to try this on scrap to find the ideal sandwich for your machine before you try it on your project.

     Once you have mastered your own machine you can use many different dies to 'quilt' with. This can be very effective if used under the same die cut background as the raised areas fill the gaps and give a perfect 'quilted' look.

     To mat and layer this I used some of the same card used for the leaves, not wanting to use too much of this precious card I gutted the layers, cutting out the middle part that will never be seen and isn't required for support.

     A layer of double sided foam tape around the top card before going onto the bottom layer gave it a little height.

     For the greeting I wanted something raised but this one was too thin for foam tape. The answer was to cut it once in the gold and three more times in white card, then stick them all together with the gold on top, making the greeting stand tall and solid.

     This makes a nice card for a man, still colourful but no flowers, it could be made in shades of blue or green and still be effective.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

Gem Of A Challenge - #8 Anything Goes

Happy Little Stampers - April Anything Goes with Dies

Craft Rocket - #91 For The Boys/Men

The Male Room - #161 Dry Embossing

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends - #179 Anything Goes

Allsorts - #671/2 Masculine

Crafty Catz - #590 Anything Goes

Mum's Dragon

 

     This months optional theme at The Paper Funday is April Showers, there's no rain on this one but the flower would make a perfect umbrella. The image is by Lee Holland, it is available as a digi stamp, although this one is an acrylic stamp.

     I stamped with Versafine black ink on smooth white card a couple of times, my colouring is not great so I thought I should have a spare just in case.

     My Mum is Welsh so the dragon had to be red rather than green. I used watercolour pencils and a water brush to colour him in.

     The image panel and mat layer are cut with a notched square die set and mounted on to a dark green card. I kept it all flat as it had to be posted and I didn't want any hiccups to delay it's arrival.

     The Paper Funday is an Anything Goes challenge with an optional twist, so whatever you have made with card or paper is fine with us.

I would like to enter this card in the following challenges:

613 Avenue Create - #202204 Anything Goes/option April Showers

Send A Smile 4 Kids - Cards for Mum's/Special Ladies

The Fairy and The Unicorn - Anything Fantasy Goes

Crafting Happiness - #122 Anything Goes