Little Singing Bird Cards Are Back!

The scrap fabric versions of the Little Singing Bird Cards are back! Hurry over to pick your favourite.
If you want to make some of your own at home, I have a tutorial here: http://mytutorlist.blogspot.com/2009/09/little-singing-bird-tags-tutorial.html

Have a happy day!

Winter Bird Cheer On Frosty Lines

I didn't get around to taking pictures of the rest of the new ACEOs except for this little gem. It's called "Winter Bird Cheer On Frosty Lines", and it was created with a lot of love and whimsy when I was in a particularly festive mood recently :)

These cheerful little blue birds are celebrating the holiday season in candy cane striped hats and stockings hung from their icicle strewn telephone lines. Very cute, n'est pas?

It is available in my shop.

Paper Bird Ornament - Taped, No-Sew Version

This is a tutorial for an adorable paper bird ornament that does not require sewing. The sewing version can be found here.

You will need the following supplies:

1. Colourful cardstock, double-sided
2. Tape
3. Double-sided tape
4. Thin ribbon for hanging
5. Ink pen for drawing eyes and stitching design

First, draw out the shape of your bird on the double-sided cardstock.
Cut out two bird shapes per bird.

Hint: It will be best if you just fold the paper in half so that you cut out two shapes at once.
Cut out two triangles for the beak. Make sure that the shape is longer than the beak length that you want.
Tape the beak shapes into place on the WRONG side (inside). You want the taped parts on the inside of the bird where it can't be seen.
This is how it will look from the outside when you're done. See? No tape showing.
Tape a loop of ribbon into place on the inside of the bird. This will be used to hang your ornament later.

Note: the diagrams from this image onwards were taken using a second set of cut outs. The pink colour is on the outside and the striped design is on the inside.
Cover the surface of the inside of the bird with double-sided tape. Take care not to have tape hanging off of the sides.
Put the other bird shape on top and press the sides together. Now all the taped bits are on the inside of the bird where you can't see them.
Use an ink pen to draw the eyes and some stitching lines around the inner edges of the bird shape.
Cut out 4 identical bird wing shapes.

Hint: Fold or overlap paper 4 times over and cut all 4 wings together.
Tape a wing shape into place on the bird. Fold a second wing in half and tape it on top of the first wing. This gives the wings some dimension so that the ornament is not boring and flat.

Repeat this on the other side.
Ta da! Now you have a delightful paper bird ornament, and it didn't require any sewing! I think this would be a fun craft to do with your kids. A set of these ornaments would also make a nice gift at Christmas time.

Don't forget to post photos of your finished work on the Flickr page here.

Happy Crafting!

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Paper Bird Ornament Tutorial - Sewn Version

I was in the mood to do a little crafting today, and decided to make some paper bird ornaments. Care to join me?

If you don't like sewing, there is a no-sewing, taped version here.

You will need the following supplies:

1. Colourful cardstock, double-sided
2. Tape
3. Thin ribbon for hanging
4. Needle
5. Embroidery Floss
6. Stuffing (polyfil or yarn or paper bits)
7. Ink pen for drawing eyes

First, draw out the shape of your bird on the double-sided cardstock.
Cut out two bird shapes per bird.

Hint: It will be best if you just fold the paper in half so that you cut out two shapes at once.
Cut out two triangles for the beak. Make sure that the shape is longer than the beak length that you want.
Tape the beak shapes into place on the WRONG side (inside). You want the taped parts on the inside of the bird where it can't be seen.
This is how it will look from the outside when you're done. See? No tape showing.
Tape a loop of ribbon into place on the inside of the bird. This will be used to hang your ornament later.
Thread your needle with your embroidery floss (I used 2 strands) and tie a knot at the end. Place the other side of the bird in place and begin to sew the bird sides together (hiding the taped parts inside). You can use a bit of tape to hold the sides in place while you sew.

Hint: Avoid denting the paper when you push the needle through by putting the bird on top of styrofoam or something similar when you poke the needle into the paper.
Use a running stitch evenly spread out so that it looks good on both sides. When you get close to the end, add the stuffing. Don't add too much or the bird won't look good (and you can't sew it together). Continue to sew the bird sides shut until you reach the end.
Use an ink pen to add some eyes to both sides and, ta da! All done. Look how cute it looks!

Don't forget to post photos of your finished work on the Flickr page here.

Happy crafting!

Introducing Birthday Bird Tags

I had so much fun making the Little Singing Bird Tags from yesterday's tutorial that I made a few more. These ones are birthday themed!I've put them into the shop in sets of 3. I hope you like them!

Little Singing Bird Tags Tutorial

Yes! It's that time again! Time to make something useful and fun out of your collected scraps! Introducing, the Little Singing Bird Tag tutorial! These are little mini cards that you can use on your gifts, give to your friends as a present, or put in your shop to sell.
First, you will need to cut some white cardstock into 2 inch by 2 inch folded cards. If you have cardstock scraps sitting around, use them up!

1. Cut 4 inch by 2 inch strips of cardstock.
2. Fold in half.
3. Punch small hole in the top middle through both sides.
4. Optional: Use fancy edging scissors to trim the bottom of one side of the card.

Next, raid your stash of fabric scraps. I've been saving these to stuff something with one day, but I always end up using proper polyester filling instead. I figure I might as well finally put this stash to some use!
Here are some scraps that I collected. Felt is good, fabric is good, and ribbon is good too. The only catch with ribbon is that it's thinner and the edges may fray while you're cutting it, but it's pretty!
Then cut out little bird shapes like the ones shown above. Size doesn't matter, and neither does perfection. A little variety is actually kind of cute.
Next, put a little dot of glue on the cut out shapes and stick them to the mini cards.
Trace the bird shapes with a thin black ink pen. Add a little beak in the front.
Then add some dot eyes, stick feet, and some music notes. Aren't they adorable?
Tie on a thin ribbon (I used gold). To do this,

1. Fold a long strip of ribbon in half.
2. Stick the folded end through the hole (back of card to front direction) so you have a loop.
3. Stick the loose ribbon ends through the open loop.
4. Pull it through the loop, and it will hold the ribbon to the card without tying a knot anywhere.

Ta da! Now you are all done! To make this ready for gift giving or selling in your shop, just pop them into an ACEO cellophane sleeve, and fold a piece of coordinating cardstock over the top. If it's for your shop, add a title and your store address. If it's a gift, tell them it's handmade by you!
Mine are off to my shop! Good bye little singing birdies! Now wasn't that fun?

Don't forget to post photos of your finished work on the Flickr page here.

If you need supplies, just email me! You can buy the pre-cut paper versions of the birds here.

Chubby Fat Squirrels and Crazy Crows

There was an odd crow this morning that insisted on cawing after every action.

Dig beak into dirt, caw-caw! Throw a leaf aside, caw-caw! Get beak stuck in the dirt, caw-caw! Wriggle beak back out, caw-caw!

A chubby, fat squirrel noticed the commotion and snuck up on the crow to investigate. After a stealthy creep and stop to behind the crow, he realized that the crow was simply a nut-case, so he turned sideways and pretended to be simply passing by. The crow turned to look at him, caw-caw! And then he turned back to his digging.

He wasn't very successful in finding any hidden worms. I guess he's just too noisy of a fisherman.

I hope all of you have had a good week. Mine was a whirlwind of work and crazy deadlines. However, I did have some good news in a bookmark sale that came with a sweet note. Apparently the customer was so pleased with the quality and packaging of the first bookmark that she purchased from me that she instantly bought another one! She said that the bookmark was better in person than in the picture. Hehehe... I guess that means I need to take better pictures!

I also came across some wonderful Etsy shops! Here are some felt towers from Intres, nesting owls from Savage Artworks, a rabbit among ferns ACEO from Carmen Keys Art, and some beautiful fabrics from Cicada Studio.

Lovely birds, gardens, and ants

With the lovely warm weather lately, my garden has been growing. I see the beginning of strawberries, and my snow pea plants have been peeping out of the soil.

We've also had some visitors to the garden. A lovely bird that kindly took care of the ant problem.






... and the neighbor's cat.




I tended to my section of the mostly overgrown communal garden. And enjoyed sorting marigold seeds.







I found the rusted look of one of my garden ornaments to be quite pleasing to the eye.





And I was delighted to see my carrot (remember the carrot from my room?) growing very well indeed!





I wouldn't say my avocado plant, which I grew from an avocado seed last year is an eye-sore, but it might be time to save another avocado seed...





I hope you had a great weekend!