Free as a Bird meets Bird Ballad Laser-Cut Cards

Hello, Crafters.

What a WOW idea this is? I was inspired by a card made by Rachel Woollard, who did a presentation at the April OnStage Convention 2019 featuring the Bird Ballad Laser-cut Cards. I’m sorry I don’t know where Rachel is from. I decided to use the Free as a Bird Stamp Set to show off this fabulous way of using the Laser-cut Cards. Many thanks for the inspiration, Rachel.

I thought it would be  fairly easy to cut out the centre, and then use it as a doily on another card. Unfortunately, the doily won’t be as I thought it would be because I’m going to lose part, if not all of the circles on the outside rim of the doily. I probably could have cut the doily off and saved the circles, but in doing so, it would have meant losing the in-out curvy line on the bottom of the ovals which form the inner circle of the laser-cut part of the card!

I decided I wanted to keep the curvy line, and forsake part of the doily. Once I’d made that decision, I carefully cut off the doily making sure I’d left enough gap on the bottom of the ovals, so I could go back in and cut the curvy lines. It really is a very small detail, and as such unnoticeable to anyone who sees the card. But it’s very noticeable to me because I know its there!

Whichever birds you decide to use from the Bird Ballad suite – stamped or from the Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper (DSP) – they all need to be  fussy-cut! I chose to stamp the birds for the front of my card using Stampin’ Blends – the colours I used are Light and Dark Crumb Cake, Call Me Clover and Pool Party, Dark Daffodil Delight, and Light Soft Sea Foam.

I had stamped my image on Whisper White Cardstock using Black Memento Ink. When I fussy cut the image, I deliberately left a white edge all the way round. Unfortunately the white looked very stark against the Very Vanilla Laser-cut card base, and the Soft Sea Foam Cardstock I’d used as a liner for my card. To soften this, I painted over the white areas with the Light Soft Sea Foam Stampin’ Blend.

This idea worked really well and softened the edges brilliantly, although with hindsight I think it would have been better if I’d used Dark Soft Sea Foam. Once the light ink had dried it was rather pale, and because I had adhered the image to my card base by this time, I wasn’t prepared to go over the edges, and run the risk of ruining my card. It will go down as a lesson learned and a tip to share!

Whilst I’m really pleased with my card, there is one other thing I would change next time. That is, I’d dry emboss the cardstock that goes inside the front of the card, immediately behind the laser-cut design. I would use the Subtle 3D Embossing folder so it doesn’t distract from the layer behind the laser-cut design, and would be just emough to add something behind the birds!

I chose the sentiment from the Band Together Stamp Set, and stamped it using Black Memento Ink on Soft Sea Foam Cardstock. I die cut it using the label die from the Most Wonderful Time Stamp Set. This stamp set will be available in the new Christmas (Autumn/Winter) Catalogue which goes live on 4th September 2019. It’s part of the Most Wonderful Time Product Medley (150705) – see it on page 39.

To decorate each end of the sentiment, I did more fussy cutting from the DSP! Just like my stamped and painted image, I painted over the pink edging using my Light Soft Sea Foam Stampin’ Blend. I’m so pleased at how well this worked! There’s not a hint of any pink visible anywhere! I adhered my fussy-cutting with Tombow, and then trimmed off the ends.

I decorated the inside of my card with two fussy-cut birds from the DSP that were the same two colours as my painted birds! I softened the white areas using my Soft Sea Foam Stampin’ Blend as previously. To finish the front of my card, I tied a bow using our 3/8″ Scalloped Lace Trim. This is the fourth card this week using the Bird Ballad Laser-cut Cards. It’s as if I’ve challenged myself to do this without realising it! LOL!

That’s it from me today then, Crafters. I hope you have a fabulous Friday, and I look forward to being back with you tomorrow. In the meantime, happy crafting.

JanB. xx

Products used for this project: please click on any link to be taken to my 24/7 online Stampin’ Up! shop. Thank you. xx