Robins & Season of Friendship

Alright, my last bird card.  I have enjoyed using the Two Step Bird Punch to create different species of birds.  Today's bird is a Robin - a bird well recognized in this neck of the woods.  Robins usually migrate south for the winter, but some have actually stayed behind to winter in my back yard - crazy bird!!
I just looked out my window, and its snowing again---so I just had to make a spring card - with Robins in it of course.

Here it is.  Another card for challenge 106.
Stamps: Season of Friendship, You're a Gem
Inks: Soft Suede, Tangerine Tango, Early Espresso, Melon Mambo, Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Early Espresso marker
Papers: Soft Suede, Very Vanilla
Accessories:  Framed Tulips embossing folder, Crystal Effects, Stampin Dimensionals

Blue Jay meets Lovely as a Tree SFF

I made this Blue Jay using the Two Step Bird Punch with a few modifications.  I hope the bird looks like a saucy Jay - that was centainly my intent. A Jay is a beautiful bird, but the noise it makes does not match the colourful feathers. One of the species of the Jays sounds like a squeaky clothes line.
The design of the card was the sketch for Sketch Frenzy Friday.

Stamps: Lovely as a Tree, Sincere Salutations
Inks: Markers (Old Olive, Early Espresso) for the tree.Early Espresso for the sentiment
Jay: Pacific Blue, Basic Gray ink, black marker
Paper: Old Olive, Very Vanilla, Early Espresso
Accessories: Two Step Bird Punch, 1 3/8" circle punch, round scallop punch, 1/4" Early Espresso grosgrain ribbon, stampin dimensionals

Just for You - challenge 106

My passion has not shifted from making flowers, I've just discovered I like making different bird species using the Two Step Bird Punch.  The bird reflected in this card is a Vermillion Flycatcher - rarely seen in Canada except maybe along the Atlantic seaboard.  I just loved the colours of this bird and it reminded me of the Scarlet Tanager which is one of the birds I do see from time to time in my garden.
I used the sketch from Liz Goldhawk's blog http://lgoldhawk.blogspot.com/

Stamps: Nature Walk, Just Believe
Inks: Marina Mist, Basic Black - markers Old Olive, Marina Mist
For the birds - Real Red and Tangerine Tango mixed together to get this Vermillion colour.
Papers: Pear Pizzaz, Greenhouse Gala Designer Paper, Marina Mist, Early Espresso, Whisper White, Basic Black, So Saffron
Accessories: Two Step Bird Punch, 1 3/4" circle punch, Scallop circle Punch, Scallop border punch, Flower designer brad, Square lattice embossing folder, Daffodil delight Pompom trim, stampin dimensionals

Stylish Blog Award

I received this award on January 31, and I have finally made my selection of the 8 individuals to pass this award on to.  Check my blog posting for that date.  I have also listed them here.

   Lee Conroy   http://stampingleeyours.blogspot.com 

   Tiffany Bauer  http://mycraftyworld.blogspot.com 

   Glenda Mollet http://glendamollet.blogspot.com

   Vicki Burdick  http://itsastampthing-vicki.blogspot.com

   Sharon Field   http://createdbyu.blogspot.com

   Patrice Herrera http://mylittlepatchofdirt.blogspot.com

   Liz Goldhawk  http://lgoldhawk.blogspot.com

   Connie Babbert http://inkspiredtreasures.blogspot.com

Contact these individuals and congratulate them.

An Iris on a Picture Frame

Polarfest is this Saturday.  Yesterday I painted and covered another picture frame, and this time decided to decorate it with a flower made with the Build a Blossom Stamp Set and the  Blossom Petals  Punch.  The flower this time - an Iris - another spring flower.  Here's the frame:

I used Greenhouse Gala designer paper and a retired paper to cover the frame.
The Iris was punched with So Saffron card stock and each petal was sponged with Tangerine Tango.  The small petal is punched with Tangerine Tango.  The stem and leaves are made with Always Artichoke.
Don't you just love the little spring Robin.  He's make with the Two Step Bird Punch.
The flowers in the bottom right hand corner are made using the scallop circle punch, and one of the flowers from the Boho Flower punch.

Here's a close up of the flower and the robin.

I won Challenge 105 - where are you from

This card I made depicting Holland as my birth place won  Challenge 105.  I was pleasantly surprised, and honoured.  Here again is the card that won: It is depicted on the LNS home page here

Harbinger of Spring - Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge

For once the weather forecasters were correct in their predictions on a major snow storm.  When I woke up this morning there was 30cm of snow on the ground.  Thank goodness for a neighbour with a snow blower and another neighbour with a shovel.  Between the 3 of us the driveway and steps were cleared of snow in just over an hour.
I'm getting to think more and more about spring, so today's card reflects that.
Usually one of the first birds to return to this part of the world in the spring is the red winged black bird.  They like the ditches were the cat tails grow and they're a welcome spot of colour in an otherwise pretty brown landscape.
This is the card for the Mojo Monday Sketch Challenge, and also for Challenge 106 -
The basic Always Artichoke card is 5 X 10 scored at 5 to make a 5 X 5 card.
The image: On Whisper White Card stock  grass was stamped using Old Olive ink  and the stamp set "Inspired by Nature".  Using the small oval punch & Early Espresso card stock,I made 2 cat tails which were covered with flocking made by  scraping some card stock with scissors  .  The leaves were made by folding a strip of Always Artichoke in half and cutting a narrow leaf along the fold line. A small strip of Early Espresso became the stem.
Red Winged Black Birds: With the Two Step Bird Punch punching out two birds in Basic Black card stock . For the wings, I sponged some Daffodil Delight with Real Red above it on a piece of Whisper White card stock and then punched out the wings matching up the colours I desired for the wings. They were attached to the birds using stamping dimensionals.
The cloud in the sky was made using the scallop oval punch - the edges sponged with Baja Breeze.

The curve shape of the square lattice embossed Always Artichoke was drawn freehand.  The fowers were punched with So Saffron using the Boho Blossoms punch.  The edges were sponged with basic black ink and curved upward with a bone folder- the centre made with an Early Espresso marker.  They were applied along the curved line with glue dots.

 The sentiment is from "You're a Gem