Flying Bird Card Tutorial

It was my friend's birthday today, so I decided to make her a card last night. I thought you might like to see the process, so here it is in tutorial form.

To make this card, you will need the following supplies:

1. Double-sided cardstock
2. Double-sided tape
3. Normal tape
4. Ink pen for drawing details
5. Thin ribbon for decoration
6. Fancy edging scissors (scallop)
7. Regular scissors

First, cut your double-sided cardstock into an 8 inch by 5 inch piece.
Make a crease down the middle. I used the grids in my paper cutter and just slid my nail down a ridge. If you don't have something like this, just skip to the next step. The crease just helps make the fold cleaner.
Fold your paper in half.
Trim off about half a centimeter for the front edge. This is just to make scalloping the edges next a little easier.
Scallop the edge using the fancy edging scissors.
Cut out a bird shape in a contrasting colour to the front of your card. Cut out 2 beak shapes.
Tape the beak shapes into place on the back of the bird.
Use double-sided tape to paste the bird shape to the front of the card.
Use an ink pen to draw eyes and stitch lines around the border of the bird shape.
Cut 2 identical wing shapes.

Hint: fold paper over and cut 2 shapes at once.
Tape one wing to the bird using double-sided tape.
Fold the second wing in half.
Draw stitch lines around the border.
Use double-sided tape to attach the 2nd wing to the upper side of the 1st wing. This gives the wing a 3-dimensional look.
Use a small hole punch to punch holes along the side of the scalloped edge. I used a ruler to draw a straight line where I wanted the holes and punched one hole every 3 bumps on the scalloping.
Tie a thin ribbon around the center of your card with the bow on the outside.
Trim the ribbon ends to match the length of the loops of your bow. Cut on an angle.
The inside will have a thin ribbon running down the center.
Cut a wavy box shape. This is easy to do since you don't have to cut straight at all and it can be approximate. I chose a lined pattern because I will be writing my message in this box.
Use double-sided to tape to paste the box to your card. Tuck the box shape closer to the center so that you won't see it through the hole punches when you have your card closed.
Use an ink pen to roughly outline the box shape. Keep the line loose and outside of your box shape by a bit.
Draw a curly bow on top. Now the card is ready for your thoughtful message.

Hint: For an alternate design, you could put this curly box shape design onto the front of a birthday card!
Ta da! All done! Won't your friends be impressed with this marvelous creation!

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

Happy Crafting!

Vivid Dreams

Do you dream?

Do you dream vivid dreams that seem so real that you're still caught up in them when you wake up?

Last night I dreamed that we had a little flowerpot hanging on the outside of our balcony rail. Two baby birds were in it, and wait though I might, no mother bird appeared to take care of them. The two baby birds cried piteously for their mother and for food, but no one came. Finally, as one baby moved around looking for mum, he toppled out of the flower pot to his dismal end.

Worried that the remaining baby would find a similar fate, I took him inside the house. My mother fed him, he looked good and content, and I decided to do some tidying up in the container that I had put him in. As all dreams go, things don't necessarily make sense, but somehow in moving things around, I lost track of where he was and accidently squished him with a heavy binder. The remainder of the dream involved me weeping over my tragic mistake. Oh, and watching fantastic beasts (like Griffins!) fighting outside in my garden. I went to grab my camera to take some photos, but my brother had removed the batteries to power some other device of his. The fantastic beasts took their fight elsewhere, and I woke with a terrible sense of loss and regret.

Saving the world - one baby bird at a time

Unrelated to Mytutorlist.....

I found a baby bird on the way to work today. I was running along to try and catch the bus and saw a bump on the road. It looked like a large curled leaf. I paused, leaned down and yelled, "Hello! Hello!" It didn't move. I noticed a dark stain underneath its head. I decided to keep running.

As I stood at the bus stop, I began to wonder if the bird was alive and just unconscious. "It could get run over by a car!" I thought. So, telling myself that life was too short to worry more about getting to work early than saving a life, I ran back to the baby bird to see if I could save it.

Unfortunately, it was clear as I moved in closer to inspect it, that the baby bird was long dead. In fact, there was a large hole where its brain should have been. I scooped up two paper transfers and attempted to move the bird off the road. I figured it deserved better than to be run over and flattened on the road. It was relatively heavy for such a small thing, but the paper transfers held strong and supported the little body. The little bird having been successfully moved to a shady spot under a tree. I scrambled to get back to the bus stop again, hoping that I would still catch my bus

- Marie