Bird bringing best wishes

Today's card didn't photograph very well - the white flowers look way brighter than they really are. Believe it or not but this card started as a napkin! The centre block is cut from a napkin with paper clay added under the bird to create a 3-D look. Once everything had dried enough I added touches of H2O's to the bird & surrounding flora to create a bit of shine.

I have to give credit for the idea (of using napkins and clay) to Debi as she taught this technique at a class at Country Lane Scrapbooking. My only complaint about how the bird worked out is that the backing cardstock wasn't thick enough and so it warped as it dried. I was able to flatten it enough through the use of lots of Sookwang tape and a heavy book but I also matte the image several times to give it even more stability.

To turn the bird into a card I used the sketch at Sketch Saturday - I like how the ribbon is woven through the layers of matting.  The background paper is Basic Grey plus gold foil paper and brown cardstock from my stash.

Challenges:
Top Tip Tuesday - luscious layers
Paper Playtime - use some brown
Scrappy Frogs - something new (new technique)
My Tme to Craft - things with wings
Sketch Saturday - sketch

Something a little different - napkin art

Last weekend I took another wonderful class with Debi at Country Lane Scrapbooking. I swear Debi must spend most of her time just thinking up ideas for different ways to use materials and products because she continually amazes me with her creativity. This time she had us use a napkin (yes, a napkin) as our card base and then embellish from there.

Don't let the traditional colours fool you - this ain't your mama's Christmas card!

The napkin we started with was quite adorable but I'm thrilled with the finished, more interesting product. After removing all of the extra layers from the napkin, it was adhered to a piece of cardstock (I used a brayer to get it really smooth). To alter the design, I added a real button on the belt, some glitter on the snowflakes and pompom and, best of all, a new face. The face is part of a Stampotique stamp ("Clover") and it adds just the right touch of freaky. The final touch was the addition of a Stampotique Mini Ornament in the bird's beak. I'm sure many will disagree but this is just my favourite Christmas card so far this year! But who to give it to????

Challenges:
Christmas Cards All Year Round - card with santa
Crafty Catz - recycle (napkin & the button came from a shirt)
Dream Valley Challenges - non-traditional Christmas
Fab 'n Funky - non-traditional Christmas
365 Cards - pick a pattern: Stripes
Poisoned Peas Please - walking dead (tell me this doesn't look like a zombie santa!)
Forever Night - anything goes
Sparkle & Glitter - twisted holidaze