Cardinals and Snowy Pine

Good Sunday morning.  I have another natured inspired Christmas card to share with you today.  I love creating nature projects that reflect my childhood Christmas memories in West Virginia when the ground was covered with fresh snow and I could look out our frosty windows and see the cardinals in the snowy branches.

I created a frame for my simple scene and mounted it on the card base with mounting tape. The MFT Stax sets are some of my favorite shapes to use for frames,  I cut one bare branch and several pine sprigs to assemble the branches. I sponged brown ink over the whole branch, heat dried it so the adhesive would stick well.  Hint:  when distress ink is still damp on your cardstock liquid glue and runner adhesive doesn’t stick as well. I distressed the pine sprigs and attached them to the branches in a sparse design to allow some of the bare branches to show for a natural appearance. I cut the cardinals and used a black marker to color in the face and lightly colored in some faint black lines to add detail on the body and tail. I applied liquid applique lightly to the branches and tapped all the spots with my finger to spread it around to avoid the dreaded blobs when heated.

I attached the cut end of the branch to the card base with glossy accents.  I rolled up a few glue dots and applied under a couple spots to hold the branch secure without sticking it flat to the base. I attached the cardinals to the branches and finished with a brightly colored multi loop bow.  Here’s a closer view of the tiny sweet birds.

Hint:  Usually when cutting a die the back side is rough from the worn plate of my big shot. I knew I wanted to turn one of the birds over so I could have one facing the other so I put a piece of scrap paper over the red cardstock so the roughness of the plate was applied to the scrap and not to the bird. I then use my large stylus to go around the edges to remove the cut line. The back side still isn’t as clean and fine as the front but it is good enough.

I want to let you know how much I appreciate all your wonderful comments on my posts.  Thank you very much.  I hope you have a wonderful Sunday.

Paper:  Tiny Tablet Christmas Cheer , White, Olive, Red,   Ink:  Distress Ink Vintage Photo  Accessories:  Impression Obsession Bare Branch, Woodland Meadow Set, Twig Wreath, My Favorite Things Designer Label Stax Set 2, Liquid Applique, Glossy Accents, Glue Dots, Mounting Tape, ATG, Big Shot, Stylus, Mat, Inkssentials Ink Blending Tool, Distress Markers, Heat Gun, Blender Pen (SU)