Extreme Birdhouse Makeover & Ezee Pzee Reveal

OK, I admit that I stole my title from the new issue of Canadian Scrapbooker Magazine, but today's project is absolutely inspired by the CSM cover and I think you are going to LOVE IT (but then, it's an Ezee Pzee project so what isn't to love?).

Here are the components of my Ezee Pzee Dezign team package. Kathy at Ezee Pzee always puts together the most inspiring collections - can you believe the intricacy of the butterflies? And how about that acrylic swirl & bird!

As soon as I saw that we were getting a birdhouse, I knew that I wanted to convert my birdhouse into a wind-chime. I chose Basic Grey patterned paper, along with some acrylic paint for covering the hard to paper parts of the birdhouse. For the chimes, I found a set of really ugly windchimes at my local consignment store (for a grand total of $2) and dismantled them for the chimes.

I decorated my Ezee Pzee bird by first colouring with Copic markers and then adding a layer of Glossy Accents. The eye of the bird is a tiny black brad. I created a picket fence for my bird to perch on with a Martha Stewart border punch. The front of the birdhouse is embossed with a wood-grain embossing folder to give extra dimension. The flowers are coloured with Copics, Glossy Accented and also spritzed with a heirloom gold glimmer mist.

The back of the birdhouse is simple, with more of the wood-grain embossed paper and then a line of flowers. Don't tell anyone (lol) but these flowers are part of the soon-to-be released line of Ezee Pzee borders that Kathy & I have been working on. I'll probably get in trouble for showing them but they are just too perfect for this project that I figured I would risk it.

I decided to use all 3 butterflies on the one roof. I first inked them using cherry coloured Walnut Ink. Then I spritzed them with gold glimmer mist for a bit of shine. I added some tiny pearls to the wings of the centre butterfly. I love the detailed scrollwork on the butterfly wings - these needed next to no embellishing.

This final side of the birdhouse includes my favourite piece of the Ezee Pzee set - the acrylic bird. This bird is just so sweet that I didn't actually want to do anything with it but I finally forced myself to add some colour using alcohol inks. I attached it to the roof at a bit of an angle so that light can filter through it. The flower is layered paper cut using Tim Holtz's Tattered Flowers die but I've added one of the Ezee Pzee chipboard flowers to the centre. At first I just used Copic markers and Glossy Accents on the flower but at the last minute I added some alcohol ink to link it more with the bird.

My last step was adding a line of scalloped felt along the roof line, and then another scalloped piece to the bottom (this is one of Martha Stewart's deep cut border punches). I'll be honest though, the main reason I added the scallop pieces was to hide my messy hot glue work building the birdhouse. I've never been able to use hot glue without making a mess!

Do you want to make your own birdhouse? Visit Ezee Pzee (on the web or Facebook) and put in an order. Or check out one of the stores that are lucky enough to carry these products. I'd love to see what you create!

Oh, and one final note, check out the other Dezign Team member blogs to see what they did with this great kit:

• Dana
• Diana
• Jennifer
• Katie
• Rena

Challenges:

• A Spoonful Of Sugar - anything but a card
• Allsorts - Inspired by nature
• C.R.A.F.T. - not a card
• Crafts and Me - anything with wings
• Fab 'n' Funky - make your own embellishment
• Paper Play - add shine
• Paper Crafting Journey - anything goes
• Simon Says Stamp - make your own embellishment