As I was using up some designer paper scraps the other day, this Bird Ballad Floral Thank You Card is one that I came up with. This floral pattern is so pretty I think and punching out one of the printed birds on another sheet of the designer paper as a focal point makes for a nice card.
I wasn’t crazy about all the sheets in the Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper, but I thought most of the patterns were really pretty. This paper, on the card front, with just colored flowers, I thought was especially pretty and easy to use on many cards. You can purchase this Bird Ballad DSP on the Last-Chance List at a discount until June 2.
The card base is Petal Pink, one of the coordinating colors of the paper. Then I added a layer of Pool Party underneath the floral designer paper. I punched out the bird from another sheet of the DSP. Then the bird is layered on a Stitched Shapes Die and popped up on Stampin’ Dimensionals®.
Before adhering the designer paper to the Pool Party layer, I adhered a short piece of Whisper White 1/4″ Crinkled Seam Binding Ribbon from the top of the bird image around to the back of the floral paper almost as if the bird image is an ornament. Then I took two strands of the same ribbon together and tied a bow which makes a fluffier bow, especially with this thin ribbon, and adhered it to the top of the die-cut with a Mini Glue Dot or two.
As I was looking through all my designer paper to see which one spoke to me to make a card, perhaps with scraps, it was the Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper that won out, but as I looked through my scraps, what was not a scrap was the pattern with various bird cages printed on the Calypso Coral background. I had a full sheet of this particular paper and decided to use it some way to make a card! It wasn’t a favorite of mine!
Once I cut out a piece to be a layer on a Calypso Coral card base I started liking the design better, especially after I put a thin margin of Whisper White Cardstock underneath. I even used that piece of Whisper White to cut out the Whisper White oval I used on the front of the card. Just don’t tell anyone! I don’t often do it, but it is a little trick you can use if you really want to save paper and if you are positive it will not be apparent to the look of the card.
Because of the sizes of the ovals and needing a large oval on which to layer the bird, I chose a scalloped oval from the Layering Ovals Dies and die cut that out of Whisper White and die cut a plain oval out of Calypso Coral.
Next, I chose a bird that I liked on the scraps I had of the Bird Ballad Designer Paper. I simply cut out the bird, branch, and flowers myself with my Paper Snips while watching TV! You do not have to get into every nook and cranny when you cut something out yourself and I do not find it difficult at all. One tip Stampin’ Up! gave us years ago was to cut just a tiny bit off the actual image instead of on the actual line of the image because that is a little more forgiving in your cutting if it is not exactly perfect. Just do whatever is the easiest for you.
After I cut out the bird, I really like the way it layered on the ovals and how the colors all went together well with the background of the bird cage paper.
I decided to use the “Hello” greeting in the Free As a Bird Stamp Set that coordinates with the designer paper. I was afraid to just stamp it directly in the empty space on the Whisper White lest I make some kind of mess! Maybe if I had planned ahead because you should usually do your stamping first and then other steps. But I opted to stamp and die cut with the little wavy banner in the Ornate Frames Dies. I have loved these dies since they came out in the past Holiday Catalog with a Halloween stamp set, but they are great to use in lots of other ways!
Putting a little “Hello” on a card makes it perfect for almost any reason to send a card, especially just a note to catch up with a friend or family member. On the inside of the card, I adhered a Whisper White layer either with a couple flowers stamped with Calypso Coral Ink or a strip of matching designer paper along the bottom edge of that Whisper White layer.
Here’s another card I made with a different pattern of the Bird Ballad paper. I didn’t care for every sheet in this package of designer paper but several I thought were just beautiful. So if you like this paper, be sure to get some on the Last-Chance List before it is gone. The last date to order retiring products is June 2, 2020.
Remember to do some fussy cutting with good scissors for that like the Paper Snips if you don’t want to stamp or if you like an image on the designer paper. In some cases, you might be able to punch or die-cut a circle or oval from the paper, but I find fussy cutting is a good stress reliever! And remember that sometimes a piece of designer paper that you didn’t think you cared for can really turn into a pretty card like this Bird Ballad Bird Cage Paper Card.
Mother’s Day is coming on Sunday so if you need to make a card, you might take some inspiration from this Bird Ballad Laser-Cut Mother’s Day Card. Part of the beauty of this card is the fancy laser-cut design but all you have to do is open the pretty tin that the cards and envelopes come in! Then decorate a little bit without taking away from the beauty of the laser-cut design.
The Bird Ballad Laser-Cut Cards and Tin are on the retiring list and you will find it in the Last-Chance category of the Stampin’ Up! Online Store. It is even discounted so a great deal! Not only will you have the pretty cards ready to use plus the envelopes with a fancy flap, but you will have the tin to save for yourself or give as a gift, maybe with some laser-cut cards inside!
If you want to add color to the laser design, you can do it one of two ways. On this card, I adhered the Petal Pink cardstock to the inside of the card front. This piece is cut just a bit smaller than the card front so that I could use the Multipurpose Liquid Glue to adhere inside the narrow outer frame of the laser-cut front and a few tiny dots in the center of the card. The other easier way is to adhere the Petal Pink cardstock to the inside of the card and let the laser-cut front be completely open.
To decorate the card, I wanted to use the pretty Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper before it retires. I think this paper is so pretty, sometimes both sides of it! I used the 2 1/4″ Circle Punch to punch the little bird and branch. Then I went to my Big Shot and used the Stitched Shapes Dies to die-cut a Petal Pink layer. I think I should have just used a regular circle die-cut because the punched image didn’t fit perfectly in between the stitching, as it turned out. But that’s okay! No one will notice except you and me! For the Mint Macaron layer, I used a scalloped Layering Circles Die. I think it is just enough without covering too much of the laser-cut design.
Then choose a greeting. If you are making a Mother’s Day card, you will find this greeting in the Dressed To Impress Stamp Set. You can make this same card for a birthday, congratulations, sympathy, or thinking of you. Just change the greeting or even leave off a greeting if you just want to write a personal note inside. Not every single card has to have a greeting or sentiment on the front!
Here is an example of another card I made last summer using the laser-cut cards.
The Bird Ballad Designer Paper is on the Last-Chance List and is discounted, so get some while you can or restock your stash! While supplies last, of course! I used to hear of people who would keep three packages of the same favorite designer paper on hand…..one package to use now, one to use later, and one to hang on to so they would always have some! The more supplies I accumulate, the more I think it is better to use up what you have because there will always be MORE new things! And we always want the new things! However, I do really think this Bird Ballad Paper is very pretty, one of my favorites!
A bonus is that not only do you get the tin to save and use, but you get pretty envelopes for your laser-cut cards. One thing you can do to make an envelope even prettier is to cover the flap with designer paper! I just took a scrap that would cover the whole flap, spread the Multipurpose Liquid Glue on the outside of the flap and placed the paper on the flap, lined up with the top edge. Then I just cut off the excess from the underside of the flap.
Mother’s Day is coming up in just a week, on Sunday, May 10th, so it’s time to make any Mother’s Day cards that you need, like this Happy Mother’s Day Bird Ballad Floral Card. Whether you are still lucky enough to have your mother to send a card or a mother-in-law, grandmother, daughter, aunt, whomever, it’s time to make some cards!
This is a pretty simple card design so you won’t have any trouble making a card like this one. I already decided I wanted to use the Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper, which is retiring and is discounted as I write this! It’s beautiful paper, I hate to see it go, so get yours (or get more!) while you can! It will only be available until June 2, while supplies last.
The card base is Calypso Coral Cardstock and there is a layer of Old Olive underneath the Bird Ballad DSP. I thought the Old Olive helped set off the designer paper. I chose the lovely floral pattern of paper. I have always really liked this pattern! There just are lots of good papers in the Bird Ballad DSP!
The Old Olive ribbon is from the Ornate Garden Suite. It comes in a combo pack with a Terracotta Tile color. I tied the bow separately and adhered it with Mini Glue Dots.
The greeting is from the Dressed To Impress Stamp Set. This same card, colors, and paper could be used for lots of other occasions, you can just change the greeting.
I used the Stitched So Sweetly Dies to die cut the greeting and also the layer underneath the greeting. The Calypso Coral layer actually has most of it hidden, with only the top and bottom curved parts showing!
With Mother’s Day next Sunday, it’s time to make a card or more than one card, especially if you need to mail them. If the card gets there early, the recipient will just have more time to enjoy it!
Yesterday I was making a few cards much like this one for various occasions and I realized I had not photographed any of them, but I DID mail them! So I just made one more, this Bird Ballad Just A Note Card slightly different from the others and took a photo for my blog post!
You just can’t get away from the beauty of this Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper! I think it’s the watercolored look of the paper that catches my eye. In fact, it was designed with watercoloring so that we could use our Stampin’ Blends alcohol markers to duplicate the look with our stamping with the Free As A Bird Stamp Set. I think several of these designs are the prettiest we have ever had.
This card is so easy to make, even for beginners. The card base is Pool Party Cardstock with a layer of Petal Pink Cardstock. Then the designer paper is layered on as the top layer but first, the Silver 3/8″ Metallic-Edge Ribbon was adhered on the back of the designer paper. Then I just tied a knot onto the ribbon, but you could tie a bow and adhere it with some Mini Glue Dots.
The greeting is stamped with Pool Party Ink on Whisper White Cardstock, then die cut with the Stitched Nested Label Dies. You can purchase these fun label dies along with the Free As a Bird Stamp Set in the Free As a Bird Bundle and save 10%. The greeting is from the Flourishing Phrases Stamp Set (one of my favorites!).
This pretty Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper is one of the select papers on the Buy 3, Get 1 Free Designer Paper Sale by Stampin’ Up! There are only 10 days left to take advantage of the sale! When you order, put in the 3 designer papers that you want, and when you add the 4th paper, you will see that it is FREE! This offer ends September 30.
This Easy Bird Ballad Thank You Card is just that – easy! I didn’t even know what I was going to make until I pulled out the Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper. This beautiful pattern appealed to me. It is gorgeous. Such a soft background with a watercolor look and flowers and birds that look like they were colored with Stampin’ Blends markers…..which they were in the creation of this paper by the concept artist at Stampin’ Up! so that WE stampers could then color in stamped images and they would match the paper!
To make this card, I just chose colors listed on the back of the designer paper package. I always write the color names with a marker on the back large enough so I can read them without squinting. Stampin’ Up! must have tiny printing machines!! The card base is Pool Party and a layer of Petal Pink.
The die-cut piece was already in my bag of cardstock so I used it! It is from the Stitched Labels Dies. I also had that Petal Pink circle as a scrap so I die cut a Whisper White circle with the Stitched Shapes Dies. The greeting is from the Free As a Bird Stamp Set. Then I added two Artisan Pearls (retired).
This is an easy card to make with cardstock and designer paper plus a greeting. You could use this card for many occasions. If you don’t already own this Bird Ballad paper, whether you are a fan of birds or not, be sure to put it on your next order!
Here’s my first card with new catalog product, the Free As A Bird Friendship Card. There are a lot of pretty designer papers coming in the new Stampin’ Up! Annual Catalog, but I think this Bird Ballad Designer Series Paper is one of the nicest. This new catalog has larger photos of the designer paper this year, but I still think you won’t know how beautiful the papers are until you see them in person!
I decided to use this card design with just half the card front being covered with designer paper so when I looked at the designer paper, I saw this grouping of yellow birds right near the bottom of the sheet so it was perfect! I chose Daffodil Delight Cardstock for the card base. First I planned to use one of the gray coordinating colors for a layer, but the birds seemed to have more brown in them so I switched to Crumb Cake Cardstock for a layer.
On a layer of Whisper White, I adhered the piece of Free As A Bird DSP with the yellow birds. I used a piece of the new Linen Ribbon with white edges along with the Mossy Meadow Linen Thread, both included in the Magnolia Lane Ribbon Combo Pack. I think the green linen thread is a nice accent on top of the linen ribbon. I doubled a separate piece of the green linen thread so I had two strands and made a bow with that, adhered with a Mini Glue Dot.
The greeting is included in the Free As A Bird Stamp Set, as are some other very nice, usable greetings. I stamped it in Crumb Cake Ink. I could have also used Black. The flowers from the stamp set are stamped in Memento Ink and colored with Stampin’ Blends, the Calypso Coral Light and Dark colors. I cut out the flowers with Paper Snips and adhered them to the card, one popped up with Stampin’ Dimensionals. I stamped one stem of leaves, colored with Old Olive Stampin’ Blends, and cut it apart to add to the flowers.
Again, the illustrations on the paper are just gorgeous! This piece I used looks like someone painted it or colored it by hand.
When June 4th rolls around, you might really want to add some of the products in this Bird Ballad Suite to your new catalog order! Especially the paper!
A stamp set on the Last-Chance List with a cute bird and flowers is called Petal Palette, so if you like birds you might want to check out this stamp set before it retires! Here is a card I made with the flowers in this stamp set.
