a little bird crafts

Beautiful Bees & Sunflowers

With Graphic 45 Paper

5×8″ Journal made with Elizabeth Craft Designs dies and Graphic 45 papers

Hello and welcome.

Have you seen the Graphic 45 Let it Bee Collection? It is so beautiful with its golden sunflowers and detailed bees that I knew it would make a gorgeous planner.

By limiting the papers that I pulled from my stash and only using a few dies for the card bases, the album/journal came together pretty quickly. A sturdy black card stock (I recommend 90 pound or heavier) was used with Elizabeth Craft Designs Planner Essential dies 1, 2, 3, and 41 for the page foundations.

The 8×8 Let it Bee paper pack was just large enough to cut two matts per sheet using the mat die from the Elizabeth Craft Designs (ECD) Planner Essentials #41.

Papers were added from my stash. The yellow and green papers were cut using ECD Florals 7 and shaped into dimensional sunflowers and leaves.

Journal pockets add interest and give good storage for memorabilia. Include tags for a versatile way to add extra photos or journaling.

The Seed Packet dies are fun to decorate in so many ways and give a secure way to keep memorabilia inside. I stamped, colored, and fussy cut bees to embellish the packets.

The Graphic 45 postcard journaling cards and stamped journaling cards really help with telling your story.

I hope this inspires you a bit. Please leave a comment and let me know if you made anything with this beautiful paper.

Thanks for stopping by!

Graphic 45 Let it Bee 8×8″ Paper
Graphic 45 Let it Bee Journaling Cards
Graphic 45 Let it Bee Ephemera
Elizabeth Craft Designs Planner Essentials 1, #1603
Elizabeth Craft Designs Planner Essentials 2, #1604
Elizabeth Craft Designs Planner Essentials 3, #1605
Elizabeth Craft Designs Planner Essentials 41, #1867 Rounded Corners Page
Elizabeth Craft Designs Planner Essentials 26, #1744 Tag & Topper
Elizabeth Craft Designs Sidekick Essentials 8, #1772
Elizabeth Craft Designs Sidekick Essentials 16, #1838 Seed Packet Set
Elizabeth Craft Designs Florals 7, #1843
Elizabeth Craft Designs #CS040 Bugs & Butterflies Stamp Set
Elizabeth Craft Designs #1347 Bugs & Butterflies Die Set
Tim Holtz red velvet ribbon

“A Quilt for Claire” for My Mother

Hi and welcome!

When I was growing up our mother valued the things that we, her children, made over any gift that we could have bought for her. So, when asked what she wanted for her birthday, Mother’s Day, etcetera, she always asked for something that we’d made ourselves. I don’t recall that any of us had a bit of talent, but for myself, her request instilled a great value for anything hand made.

Though I am not a seasoned quilter, I was sure Mom would be excited to have a quilt made specifically for her. The pattern A Quilt for Claire from The Quilting Land is interesting, but achievable for a novice like me. I collected coordinating pink and turquoise cotton fabrics along the “Road to Oklahoma Shop Hop” that takes place in quilt shops across Oklahoma each June through July.

One of the sewn blocks. This is a very quick quilt to make.

Here is the pieced top before quilting. Several of the fabrics have gold in the design which helped to coordinate the various patterns.

I chose pink and turquoise because they were Mom’s favorite colors when she was a child. The lap-size quilt was a combined birthday and Mother’s Day gift for her.

My original plan was to quilt with straight lines framing the fabric strips. For some reason that I can’t recall, I changed to a “pebble” pattern of free motion quilting. I’m happy with the result, but it certainly took a lot longer to complete the quilting!

Mom loves her quilt and displays it proudly on her couch for everyone to see!

Thanks for dropping by. It would make me day if you’d leave a comment.

The quilt pattern is from Quilting Land – http://www.thequiltingland.com/2017/09/a-quilt-for-claire.html

A Quick Quilt

Quilt Inspiration: Child’s Room and a Fabric Print

Hi. I’m Di. Thanks for visiting.

Recently my daughter, Aubrey, and her husband planned to start a family. She was working on the design for their nursery and asked me to make a quilt for it. There were the usual decisions: choosing a pattern, color scheme, and fabric. Would the child be a boy or girl? Would they be healthy? What color eyes would they have? The questions every parent has had since the beginning of time.

But there was more. How old would he or she be? Would this be a temporary or permanent home? My daughter and her husband had just finished the hours and hours of education, and home visits, and background checks to become foster parents. Their home was now “open” – meaning they might wait weeks or months for a child, then suddenly have a placement with just a few hours notice.

So there were more than the usual unknowns to prepare for. But Aubrey is an interior designer and I can only image how much she must have enjoyed planning for different scenarios: a nursery or a toddler’s room, a boy or a girl. Soon we were off to the quilt shop.

Inspiration fabric for the quilt. The rows repeat about every inch, so the colored rows at very small.

Aubrey found the patterned fabric above and that was our inspiration. We chose various solid fabrics and small-print fabrics with a plan to make irregular blocks in rows for a crib size quilt. It was our own design, but one that I could quickly complete since I am a novice quilter and they could get a child at any time.

A few of the fabrics that we chose. Others came from my stash.

While we were choosing fabrics, I asked a store employee for advice. It seemed prudent to explain why we didn’t know how old or what gender the child might be and that we didn’t have a “due date”. They might need the quilt at any time. After hearing my daughter’s story, the lady confided that she and her husband were not able to have children and she had regretted not having had the courage to foster or adopt. This person, who we just met, paid for the fabric. I’ve learned that people want to help.

Aubrey’s friends planned a “foster shower” for her intending the gifts to be for an unknown boy or girl, and baby or toddler. The invitations had already been sent, when my daughter and son-in-law were placed with a sweet, smiling, healthy, and very observant toddler! *

Making rows of fabric blocks irregular was harder than I expected and the result was straight, not wonky. Fortunately, the quilt was ready in time for me to give to them at the shower. Again, I’m a novice quilter, but I’m satisfied with the result.

I love thinking of this sweet child wrapped in love and warmth from the quilt that I made. They are such a sweet loving family. I really could not be prouder.

Thank you for reading our story,

* For the privacy of the child, I’ve deliberately kept details vague.

If you’d like to see some of Aubrey’s interior designs, please visit https://burnhamhousedesign.com

Done is Better Than Perfect

Or is it?

Hi! How are you? I’m posting from my friend’s beautiful Colorado home set at an altitude of 7,000 feet. The view out the front is of pine-tree covered mountains. Looking to the back are mountains with a high vertical wall of red stone set in a national forest. Right now, everything is blanketed in a layer of snow. It’s gorgeous!

Now, on to the card. I enjoy participating in card challenges and the prompts help to inspire me with new card ideas. And, who doesn’t want a chance to win a gift certificate to your favorite stamp company? So, in my haste to submit a card before the deadline and trying to get to bed at a reasonable time, I submitted this card.

The image is a darling sloth from Lawn Fawn filled in with colored pencils from Luminance by Caran D’Ache. But, in my rush to submit the card and go to bed, one heart is not colored and leaves are left oddly floating by the tree branch.

The next morning I caught the mistakes and made a few adjustments. I stamped, colored, and die cut a couple of leaves so the floating leaves are “connected” to the tree. The heart is now colored and a tiny amount of dimension was added to all the hearts with a liquid enamel and a few highlights were added with a white gel pen. Little changes, but the card looks complete.

Done may be better than perfect, but, a second look at a project can make a big difference.

Bye for now. I hope you’ll drop by again.

Supplies

Lawn Fawn I like Naps stamp set and dies
Luminance colored pencils by Caran D’ache
Neenah Dessert Storm 📝
Gina K Obsidian Amalgam Ink
White gel pen by Gelly Roll
Snarky Stickers from Tim Holtz

Monochromatic Winter Card

Hello! I hope you’re staying warm. It’s c-c-c-cold and windy here in Oklahoma today. No snow, but my card definitely reflects the feeling outside right now. This card is for the ECD Planners & Journaling January 2022 prompt, monochromatic.

I started with a white A2 card base and attached a blue watercolor background that I’d previously made using the dip and dry technique. Two hills were cut from white glitter paper using the Slimline Adventure Edges dies. I taped down the first hill and popped the second up with foam tape.

Snowflakes from the Elizabeth Craft Designs Mason Jar set, were used to cut white glitter paper and both size trees from the Mason Jar set were cut from corrugated white glitter paper. Both small trees were adhered to the back hill. Foam tape was placed behind the part of the larger tree that was above the popped-up hill so that it would lay flat and the trunk of the tree was attached with glue.

A bird from the ECD Sidekick Essentials 17 was cut from white #100 card stock and colored with Copic Marker B00. Glue was applied to the bird’s belly and sprinkled with ECD Warm Diamond Microfine Glitter. A line of glue and glitter were applied at the base of the large tree to help ground the tree. The snowflakes were randomly attached with glue and all done!

Thanks for dropping by!

Elizabeth Craft Designs Mason Jar die set
Elizabeth Craft Designs Slimline Adventure Edges dies
Elizabeth Craft Designs Sidekick Essentials 17, Window Folder Set
Glitter paper
Foam Tape
Elizabeth Craft Designs Warm Diamond Silk Microfine Glitter

Oriental Garden Journal

Hi and welcome! Di here. Stamperia’s Oriental Garden paper is so gorgeous that I “had” to have it. I don’t have a specific purpose for this journal, so I left space for photos or journaling, it could even become a planner. This may be gifted to someone – if I can part with it.

Starting with the 12×12 Oriental Garden paper pad and the coordinating package of die cuts, I selected matching solid papers from my stash. I chose a mint green, desert storm, and black. All are about 80 LB weight.

I love the size of the Planner Essentials (journal) dies by Elizabeth Craft Designs, so I used the Planner Essentials 41 Rounded Corner set to cut most of my pages. I cut some from the patterned Oriental Garden paper and some from the solids I’d collected.

Wanting to add a common texture and color through the journal, I used the Elizabeth Craft Designs Planner Essentials 38 Splatter Page to cut a stencil from 110 LB paper. The stencil was laid over the cut pages and I used an embossing pen to ink through the holes in the template. I moved the stencil away, added gold embossing powder to the wet ink, and heat embossed. While the gold doesn’t show up very much on some pages, it does add a unifying color and texture to the journal. Of course, gold accents are perfect for the Asian theme. I didn’t use antistatic powder since random gold powder on the page fits with the aged style of the paper.

Die cut, shaped, and gold embossed flowers

The Elizabeth Craft Designs Florals 2 set was used to cut flowers and leaves from white Soft Finish card stock. I added a touch of Spun Sugar Distress Oxide to the centers and shaped the flowers. The red flowers were die cut using the Florals 4 set from solid red paper and green leaves from the mint paper. These were also shaped and black prills were glued into the flower centers. The embossing marker was used randomly around the flower edges and embossed with gold powder.

I added pockets to several pages and created tags adding embellishments of shaped flowers, ribbon, and gold embossed accents. Besides adding interest, it seems like heat embossing would strengthen the edge of the pockets.

Other embellishments include die cut ginkgo leaves, bamboo, butterflies, and lanterns. I also added die cuts from the coordinating Stamperia pack of die cut chipboard. The quotes are from the Stamperia paper.

The double-wide page on the right was made by trimming black card stock to 8.25 inches (page height) by 8.75 inches and folding it over 4 inches. Create the ring binder holes using Planner Essentials 5 ring binder hole die or using a hole punch.

I created two peek-a-boo flaps using a die from the Rounded Corners set. Photos or journaling can be added under the hinged flaps.

Thank you so much for stopping by. I hope this has inspired you. Please leave a comment or a question.

Happy crafting! Di

Products used:
Elizabeth Craft Designs #1867 Planner Essentials 41, Rounded Corners Page
Elizabeth Craft Designs #1864 Planner Essentials 38, Splatter Page
Elizabeth Craft Designs #1607 Planner Essentials 5
Elizabeth Craft Designs #1608 Planner Pocket 1
Elizabeth Craft Designs #1609 Planner Pocket 2
Elizabeth Craft Designs #1776 Florals 4
Elizabeth Craft Designs #1779 Ginko
Elizabeth Craft Designs #1732 Cherry Blossom Branch
Elizabeth Craft Designs #1774 Florals 2
Elizabeth Craft Designs #1739 Planner Essentials 21 Note Pieces
Elizabeth Craft Designs #1782 Butterfly Pocket Insert
Elizabeth Craft Designs #1736 Reinforcement Variety Pack
Elizabeth Craft Designs #CS253 Note Pieces (stamps)
Spellbinders #S4-979 Lanterns
Spellbinders #IN-043 Dancing Lanters
Spellbinders IN-045 Scruffy Panda (used bamboo die)
Stamperia Oriental Garden paper pack 12×12″
Stamperia Oriental Garden paper pack 6×6″
Elizabeth Craft Designs Soft Finish 90 LB card stock
Stampin’ Up mint green paper
Neenah desert storm paper
Black paper
Elizabeth Craft Designs Clear Double Sided Adhesive 10mm #507

Love, Forever Cards

**Masking and watercolors were used to create these love inspired cards.**

Hello and welcome! I love playing with stamps and seeing what I can come up with by combining them. Both of these cards were made using single bird stamps and the masking* technique to unite them into a scene.

*Masking is using something, like paper, to cover and protect one image so that another image can be stamped over it. This makes the first image look as if it’s in the front.

Using the Elizabeth Craft Designs Forever stamp set (#1885), stamp the front bird image with Gina K Amalgam Ink onto watercolor paper.

Stamp the same bird image onto masking paper or a post it note and trim very closely to the outline.

Place your mask on the watercolor paper directly over the stamped image.

Stamp the second bird image over the masked bird (this isn’t shown). Stamp and cut a mask of this bird, too. Place the mask over the new bird as pictured.

I didn’t take a picture, but mask over stamped areas that you want to protect, then stamp in the foliage. You can even place small amounts of mask, like I did here on the tail, to protect little areas. With a pencil, faintly draw in branches for the birds feet to rest on or to connect to the foliage. Then go over the pencil with a very thin Copic liner or another water resistant marker.

I used watercolors from Elizabeth Craft Designs to paint my stamped images, leaves, and the branch that I drew. Leave some small unpainted areas for highlights. Remember to let an area dry before painting any area that touches it or the colors will run together.

Create a subtle frame by applying brown distress ink along the edges of the paper. Stamp on a sentiment and back with patterned paper from Reminiscence the book 2. Attach to your card base and be sure to share it with someone!

Here is the second card using the same masking technique, but with some gold paint spattered over it.

Do you enjoy masking? Let me know what you think.

Happy crafting!

Fun & Festive Gift Tags

Hi and Happy Holidays! These are just a sample of the many tags that I made for the holidays. It’s so fun to create whimsical glittery gnomes or colorful little animals for tags to make the gift wrap extra special.

Colorado Craft Company’s stamps by Anita Jeram made this tag super quick to make. The tag was cut from Waffle Flower Half Dot patterned paper, stamped, then colored with light Copic marker colors. Snow was added with a gel pen.

Lawn Fawn patterned paper, twine, and a few stamped images colored with Copic markers made this tag pop.

Elizabeth Craft Designs Planner Essential 26 Tags & Toppers Dies and Joset’s Gnome dies add whimsy and layers to these sparkly tags.