{capture the moment}: Introducing Bird Watching & Additions

Melissa Bickford has been building quite a following since her very first stamp set released with us, Women of Life. Both of her new sets this month will be sure to add even more "groupies" to her expanding fan base! Bird Watching and Bird Watching Additions play homage to the oh-so-trendy birds that pop up on paper crating projects left and right these days. Melissa will by highlighting her use of the sets all week on her blog, so be sure to visit her often! I created a few things when I was playing with them myself and have put together a fun group of projects to share with you today!

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First up is this adorable house-warming gift set. Both Bird Watching & Bird Watching Additions contain these fun patterned birds in a variety of shapes and sizes along with mix & match leg lengths! I just LOVE the way Melissa's designs allow you so much customization! I was able to create a fun background for the sentiment block by stamping a bird *line-up* with aqua mist ink. The sentiment that is overlaid on top of them is from Boards & Beams.

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The card is quite simple in design. I used the leaf & vine image from Beyond Basic Borders (heat embossed with White Filigree Powder) for the custom patterned paper on the left.

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The other side features not one but TWO exciting new products! One is an all-new background set called Background Basics: Text Style! (A little bit more about that later in this post!) The other is a brand new way to antique edges and achieve a vintage tea dye look with just one easy step!

It's called the Vintage Touch: Tea Dye Duo Ink System. This revolutionary antiquing ink system is a special product developed and manufactured exclusively for Papertrey Ink! In the past, whenever I want to add a vintage look to my cardstock, I would use a sponge to apply ink to the cardstock to achieve a softer look rather than harsh look that is achieved by brushing the ink pad to the paper. Until now that is!

Save yourself a step by using these specially formulated ink cubes that contain a tea dye ink perfect for antiquing almost anything! The unique sponge material that the ink pad's surface is made from allows you to achieve that soft sponged look directly to the paper with the ink pad! You can use both colors together for an even more realistic aged look. Just start with the lighter color first and follow up with a smaller layer of the darker hue. This two-toned layering provides realistic results that only take seconds to achieve!

This ink comes in a set of two 1x1 cubes and will be retailing for $5. This specific duo is designed to work cohesively with our vintage cream and classic kraft cardstocks. We will be coming out with additional shades in the future!!! I love this stuff!!!

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Now back to the project! The second aspect of my ensemble is this adorable little "Bird Box" that I designed. I thought that the bird seed it contains, paired with a nice bird feeder, would be a great gift for a friend or neighbor who has recently moved into a new home. I know I would love to receive something like that! I was inspired by the shape of one of the very birdhouses that Melissa drew for this set when developing this template! I put together a printable version of the box so that you make your own with ease!

Click on the link below to download your own free copy!
Download Bird Box Template

This Bird Box is super easy to put together, as it is just two pieces! You can either cut your own straight-edged roof or use the largest Long Rectangle Nestabilties Die (from the Large set) to create a scalloped roof. There are so many possibilities, I am sure you will have lots of fun with it!

I thought it would be a nice detail to feature some clapboard siding on the front of this birdhouse, so I printed the template a second time on white typing paper. I cut several 1/2-inch strips of aqua mist cardstock and sponged the bottom edges with fresh snow ink.

I adhered the strips to the typing paper template, starting at the bottom and working my way up overlapping them slightly, just like they do with real clapboards. After I was done, I was able to flip the entire piece over, front side down, and use the edges of the typing paper template as a cutting guide for trimming.

I was then able to adhere the altered front directly to the assembled template, and it fit perfectly! I filled a bag with birdseed and tied it off with ribbon. Once the bag is placed in the house, you can see how nicely the contents show through the *window*. Two holes were made in the center of the roof to allow the ribbon to be threaded through.

I stamped a tag that coordinated with the card and tied it in place on top of the roof. Notice the pattern on the roof? It is created with the scalloped image found in Background Basics: Retro!

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Now for another fun project that has a totally different look and feel from the first I shared with you. This one is very simple & clean, but embraces the *rustic* nature that this set can take on, depending on how you use it.

The detail in this focal panel is what makes the project. This birdhouse trio image was stamped in Palette Noir ink onto classic kraft cardstock. I used the Pure Poppy Copic Trio, along with the Dark Chocolate Trio, to color in the houses. A slight outline with C1 helped to make the image pop from the background a bit. I stamped a different text stamp (another from the new Background Basics: Text Style) directly over the colored image using Versamark ink.

I am just totally infatuated with the Text backgrounds right now! This new set contains three different font styles of text that is formatted in long 1 x 4.75-inch strips. They are so incredibly easy to repeat and fill any size area that you need!

Last, but certainly not least is one more project that was inspired by the color of my beloved peonies that bloomed this week. *ahhhhh* They are truly one of my favorite flowers...

For this project, I did something a bit different with the birds. They were carefully trimmed out, run through a Xyron Sticker Maker upside down and dipped in our super sparkly glitter.

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Summer sunrise twill & hibiscus burst stitched ribbon were used to create the textural borders that finish off this project. I think anyone would love to receive something with a little shimmer & shine like this, especially on their birthday! And don't you just love Melissa's font choices for this sentiment?!?!?

I would love to hear your feedback about today's projects. Your encouragement and opinions are so appreciated! Especially today! We had severe weather here in Tennessee, yesterday & last night, with severe winds and what looks to be some tornado activity. We lost our power and experienced some pretty extensive flooding for a while because of all the rain. It was a blessing that everyone was safe and sound. But needless to say, I was worried all day about finishing the preparations for today's post and was so relieved when the power came back on at 5pm! Just in the nick of time!

So, just for sharing your feedback with me today, I have a few little goodies for you to have a chance at winning!

Bird Watching
Bird Watching Additions
Background Basics: Text Style
Vintage Touch: Tea Dye Duo, Chamomile & Chai blend

That's nearly a $60 value! You have until 8am EST to share your thoughts here. One comment will be randomly chosen to win this fun prize package. The winner will be announced HERE on our May Prize Page, after noon EST, Monday, May 11th. Please play nice, only one comment per person.

Thanks for stopping by today and I look forward to seeing you around the rest of this week! I thought I would leave you with a few additional peony shots that I took before the storms hit here!