Sneak Peek: Build-A-Birdhouse, Rainy Days and Ribbon & Lace Borders

Hello and welcome to day 3 of our Spring Peek Week!  All this week I am sharing cards showcasing our newest collection which will be available for purchase this Friday! Today I am sharing ideas with three new standalone die sets.

Card No. 1: Up first is a card showcasing our new Build-A-Birdhouse Dies. This die set comes with two birdhouse base images, three roof options, three different openings, other small accessories to customize your birdhouses and all the pieces you need to create two small birds.

For my first card I used our Out On A Limb Dies, cutting the tree branch portions from a woodgrain print from our Amazing Argyle Paper pack. For the leaves, they come with an embossed vein print which I emphasized by tracing them with my Copic Marker. I did the same by shading the embossing slats on my birdhouses to make them standout a bit more. For my background, I used a cloud print paper from our new Spring Fever Paper pack. A similar print can also be found in our Spring Fling Paper pack--It was one of my favorites so I knew I needed to make sure to have it live on in the new set as well. Lastly, I heat embossed a birthday greeting from our A Bird's Life Stamps onto a pendant strip from our Stitched Rectangle Dies.

Card No. 2: For my next Build-A-Birdhouse card, rather than having my birdhouses hanging, I added them to posts which I created by cutting small strips of woodgrain embossed cardstock by Ranger (although Lawn Fawn and Simon Says Stamps both offer something similar as well). For my birdhouses I cut them from lavender, pink and yellow polka-dot tone-on-tone prints from our new Spring Fever Paper pack. I feel everything is cuter in polka-dots and I wish I had these birdhouses in real life! To keep things interested I mixed and matched the different styles to make them each unique.

I created my background by first inking up a white cardstock panel with Twisted Citron Distress ink and then cut grassy borders from masking material using our Slimline Nature Border Dies. I then used the mask with Mowed Lawn Distress Ink to add several grassy slopes to give the appearance my birdhouses are at the bottom of a small hill, cutting one grassy hill from actual cardstock to tuck my birdhouse posts behind. I then layered a white Picket Fence over the top, added a couple of blue jay birds from the die set and a "miss you" sentiment stamped in pink ink from our new Big Bold Greetings Stamps. I finished off my card by heat embossing the words "my friend" from our Super Duper Stamps onto a piece of dark grey cardstock to coordinate with the openings for my birdhouses. 

Card No. 3: For this Build-a-Birdhouse card I once again pulled out the tree branch from our Out On A Limb Dies, but this time rather than using my Copic markers to accentuate the veining detail in the leaves, I used a small finger sized foam dauber to accentuate one side of my leaf with Rustic Wilderness Distress Ink. For my landscape oriented card, I started by inking my white cardstock panel lightly with Broken China Distress Ink and then repeatedly ran the 2 stitched clouds from our Fluffy Cloud Dies through my die-cutting machine to create a full subtle background of clouds. I then assembled another trio of birdhouses, but this time I kept them all yellow with brown roofs and alternated the patterns for each using small patterned paper scraps I had on hand from our Spring Fling, Sleek Stripes and Dots & Stripes Pastels Paper packs. 

Rather than using the birds that come with the die set, this time I added small birds from our Little Birdie Stamps which I colored to look like canaries. When I was creating my cloud background the washi tape I was using to hold my dies in place caught the edge of my panel and tore the surface of my cardstock off, revealing the white core. However, I was determined to find a way to hide the boo-boo rather than start all over again since I was nearly done at that point. With this in mind, I stamped a sentiment from that same Little Birdie stamp set onto a thin stitched strip from our new Ribbon & Lace Border Dies using Versafine Clair Acorn Ink and adhered it along the bottom edge my the card to cover the mistake. It just goes to show almost every mistake can be covered with a little creativity.

Card No. 4: I created a Valentine's Day themed card for my last idea today using the new Build-A-Birdhouse Dies. For my background I layered the Quilted Hearts Portrait Dies cut from white cardstock over the top of a kraft cardstock panel. I also added a stitched scalloped edge to both using our new slimline style Ribbon & Lace Border Dies. For the bottom of my card, I added a strip of red heart print patterned paper from our Rainbow Bright Paper pack and layered a loopy heart border also in red over the top from our Heartstrings Border Dies. I love the little extra detail and texture the heart border adds without competing visually with my birdhouse as the focal point.

For my birdhouse, I cut the body of the house from kraft cardstock, adding a stitched heart opening and using small scraps of red gingham paper from our Classic Gingham Paper pack to embellish my house. As a way to hang my birdhouse, I added a garland of leaves from our Spring Greenery Dies, cutting three and layering them to form a swag across the top of my card. I then cut a red Scalloped Heart to center behind my birdhouse, added a simple red twine bow and stamped "For My Tweetheart" greeting, heat embossed on a small strip of kraft cardstock from our Little Birdie Stamps.

Card No. 5: Switching gears, I now have a series of cards to share featuring our new Rainy Days Dies which include all the pieces you need to create a layered umbrella, rain boots and several small groupings of raindrops. For this card I took all the small raindrops from the set and ran them through my die-cutting machine over and over again to create a custom background. If this is sounds too fussy or involved for you, I completely understand and I have shared an easier take on this look for card no. 8.

I started by cutting out all the pieces for my rain boots and umbrella from white cardstock and then inked them up piece by piece in the colors I wanted using distress ink with finger daubers, blending the colors of the rainbow for my polka-dot rain boots. While I had all my inks out and handy I also colored a small strip of paper for my stitched pennant which I cut out using our Stitched Rectangle Dies and heat embossed with a sentiment from our Over The Rainbow Stamps (heating it really well with a heat gun beforehand so my embossing powder wouldn't stick where I didn't want it). For the bottom of my card, I added three alternating layers of stitched scallops from our slimline length Ribbon & Lace Border Dies which I think almost look like ruffles. I needed something to visually balance the raindrops on the top of my card without being too distracting and I thought they fit the bill. Lastly I scattered some small red hearts from our Basic Mini Shape 2 Dies.

Card No. 6: If you're not feeling like having every pair of rain boots you make be polka-dot it's very easy to just eliminate the polka-dot layer from our new Rainy Days Dies and use the base of the boot die to determine the color of your boot which I did here using small scraps of patterned paper from our new Spring Fever Paper pack. Ironically I still gravitated towards polka-dot boots, but it opens up so many possibilities. This is yet another time I wish I could have these in real life! I think the rainbow gingham pair is my favorite! To frame my rain boots I used our Window Quad Square Dies which I cut from a tone-on-tone stripe from our Subtle Grey Tones Paper pack and added a lacy scalloped edge with our new Ribbon & Lace Border Dies. To back my square grid openings, I didn't want to add a color to compete with my colorful rain boots and white was feeling too washed out so I chose a soft grey cardstock (by Heffy Doodle) which I love!  I definitely must be better at incorporating grey in more of my projects. It's such a great neutral! I finished my card with the phrase "When it rains, look for a rainbow" from our Over The Rainbow Stamps. 

Card No. 7: Next up is a fun card where I coordinated my paper pieced rain boots and umbrella from the Rainy Days Dies to my background. For my background I cut various pink and blue tone-on-tone strips of patterned paper from a number of different paper packs using the thin stitched ribbon die from our new Ribbon & Lace Border Dies. Almost all of these were using leftover pieces of paper I had after trimming down a 6x6 piece of paper for an A2 card front. I always keep a small Ziploc bag of these on hand and hoard my paper scraps for instances like this. I then alternated and adhered these strips on the diagonal in a repetitive pattern like a patchwork quilt, trimming off the excess as I went. To give your eye a tiny bit of rest (just a tiny bit) I layered a Stitched Circle Small Die with our Scalloped Circle Mat 3 Die, both cut from white cardstock. I then arranged my coordinating umbrella and rain boots in the center and stamped the sentiment "You Brighten My Day" from our Spring Showers Stamps, adding another small pink heart from our Basic Mini Shape 2 Dies.

Card No. 8: My last card of the day focuses on the umbrella from our new Rainy Days Dies, creating a card that would be perfect for a bridal or baby shower. I cut five umbrellas from white cardstock and used a metallic silver Sharpie to color the metal portions of my umbrellas before layering the colorful portions over the top. I kept each individual umbrella a bright and happy monochromatic shade, alternating every other section with a different subtle tone-on-tone print from our Spring Fever, Gingham Pastels and Spring Fling Paper Packs. Before adhering my umbrellas to my card front, I stamped the background with raindrops using our Rain Showers Stamps. It's a mini 3x2 stamp set offering an excellent value! It has been designed to perfectly line up side to side and top to bottom on your card front in a repetitive pattern. I masked off the bottom portion of my card so that the raindrops would not fall below where I planned to add my row of umbrellas. Using our new Hayley Uppercase Alphabet Dies and Hayley Lowercase Alphabet Dies I created a custom greeting by spelling out the word "showering" and paired it with the words "You With Love" from our Spring Showers Stamps. Lastly I added a white scalloped border to the bottom of my card using our Ribbon & Lace Border Dies.

That wraps up today's sneak peek. I'm so happy you joined me today! I'd love to give a $50 gift code to one lucky winner using the rafflecopter below. Our daily sneak peek contests run through Saturday, January 14th at Midnight PST with the winners announced here on Sunday, January 15th. :)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Here's a closer look at the our new Ribbon & Lace Dies, Build-A-Birdhouse Dies and Rainy Days Dies used today and available for purchase on Friday, January 13th.

   

Other Sunny Studio Supplies Used (some items are not available until January 13):

A Bird's Life Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	A Bird's Life Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Picket Fence Border Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Stitched Rectangle Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Rain Showers Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Classic Gingham 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Rainbow Bright 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Gingham Pastels 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio
Dots & Stripes Pastels 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Mini Basic Shape Dies 2 Shop at: Sunny Studio	Fluffy Clouds Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Super Duper Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio
Subtle Grey Tones Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Spring Showers Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Spring Showers Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Heartstrings Border Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Spring Fling Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Slimline Nature Borders Shop at: Sunny Studio	Window Quad Square Die Shop at: Sunny Studio	Classic Sunburst Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio
Sleek Stripes Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Little Birdie Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio	Little Birdie Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Out on A Limb Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio
Quilted Hearts Portrait Shop at: Sunny Studio	Scalloped Heart Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Spring Greenery Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Big Bold Greetings Stamps Shop at: Sunny Studio
Big Bold Greetings Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Hayley Lowercase Alphabet Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Hayley Uppercase Alphabet Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Spring Fever Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio
Versafine Onyx Black Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio	Versafine Clair Ink- Acorn Shop at: Sunny Studio	Hero Arts White Detail Shop at: Sunny Studio	VersaMark Watermark Ink Shop at: Sunny Studio
Striped Silly 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Polka-dot Parade 6x6 Paper Shop at: Sunny Studio	Scalloped Circle Mat 3 Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio	Stitched Circle Small Dies Shop at: Sunny Studio