Sunday, November 3, 2013

A Bevy of Birds

This quartet of bird cards started way back in the summer.  As I lay in bed after my major bunionectomy surgery, I felt like coloring.  I'd already had these birds from Stampin' Up!'s Touch of Nature in my box of uncolored images.  Then, I looked up bird images on the Internet, and found some that I could adapt to this generic bird stamp.  (I've linked to them so you can see my inspiration)  Coloring them was great therapy.  And once I made more and more trips to my attic studio, I found ways to incorporate these birds onto different cards.

I see a lot of robins here in the Northeast:


The black patterned paper is from Anna Griffin, and the rust one is from Stampin' Up!.  After coloring the bird image, I subtly shaded the areas around him with Antique Linen distress ink, but you cannot really tell in the photos.


I should have written down which stamps I used along the way, because now I forget where this sentiment came from!  The black thread is vintage, from a thrift shop in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  :-)


I've got finches around my home, too, but none in this pretty black and yellow combo:


This black standard double-faced satin ribbon from Michael's own brand is a dream to work with.


After placing the The Paper Studio's Harper's Boutique music note paper up against the yellow of DCWV's Lemon Flower, it needed something else.  The black and white stripe, also from Harper's Boutique, look like piano keys here!  Added some Liquid Pearls to dress it up further.


I've never laid eyes on a junco bird, but boy are they pretty.  Feathered in soothing shades of brown, gray, black and white, they look so very soft, and I want to touch them.


I tried to match the feel and colors of the bird with a Soft Stone (PTI) card base, and a beautiful damask paper from Graphic 45.


Not exactly sure where this brown satin ribbon came from, but what a statement it makes with this bow.  The sentiment is from Hero Arts Year Round Sentiments.


Bluebirds are important in Native American folklore.  I found this bit of info on Wikipedia:
The Navajo identify the Mountain Bluebird as a spirit in animal form, associated with the rising sun. The Bluebird Song is sung to remind tribe members to wake at dawn and rise to greet the sun:
Bluebird said to me,
"Get up, my grandchild.
It is dawn," it said to me.
And many of us have heard the term "bluebird of happiness".  Wikipedia attributes its origins to a song:

A popular American song of 1934, "Bluebird of Happiness" by Sandor Harmati and Edward Heyman, was recorded twice by Jan Peerce and also by Art Mooney and His Orchestra. That song is probably the origin of the American phrase "the bluebird of happiness," which is also mentioned in the film K-Pax and alluded to in the song "Over The Rainbow" from the "Wizard of Oz."


A Brilliant Blue card base (remember that retired SU color?) was rather bold for my taste, but went well with the bird, so I tempered it with lots of white.  The sentiment is from Inspired By Stamping's Chalkboard Birthday.


If you have questions about any of the products I used, feel free to give me a shout.  There's a link on the sidebar near the top that says "Contact Me".    I've just run out of time, and there's an awful lot of products used on all these cards!

18 comments:

Julie Tucker-Wolek said...

These are gorgeous!! I loveeeeeeeeee the colors and the birds!!!

Paperesse said...

These are ALL just so cute, I love them, and especially the black and yellow one!!!

Marisa said...

Way to rock the bird image times four! Love how you mixed it up with the layouts and colours. Think third one is my fave. Thanks for popping by my blog today :) I hear you re: being sooo busy! Hoping your foot is healing quickly and your progress will soon enable you to be back in your normal shoes and walking like crazy :)

Benzi said...

Of course, I love these beautiful bird cards. We have just about all of these birds in my area, if not all. Great job coloring.

Unknown said...

Holy guacamole these are sooooo beautiful! I'm especially partial to that bluebird! I hope all is well with you! I'm sorry I have been away so long. After Dad passed away, I guess I just checked out for a while. I am in a much better place now.
Hugs
Ellen

Bonnie said...

What a beautiful flock, Colleen! I have this stamp but I'm not sure that I've ever used the bird. That needs to be remedied! Each one of these cards is unique and gorgeous!

Vicki Dutcher said...

What a beautiful set of bird cards! WT color!

MackieMade Paper Creations said...

All of your cards are so pretty! And the bows and ribbon are gorgeous!

Lisa Elton said...

Sigh...these are ALL just beautiful Colleen. You've colored each little bird to perfection. I love the finch card and your card with that luscious brown bow!!

Unknown said...

WOW!! I just love the way all these turned out. I always love to see the same image done different ways.

Hugs~

Holly AKA KopyKat said...

Wow these are so beautiful, fabulous design and colors!

SD pooja said...

Wonderful card with bird on them ! I loved the coloring and thanks for sharing the links,I had few bird images but not their English names.I got to know few through the links.The one with junco bird n blue bird are My Favorite !!

Jessi Fogan said...

Oh my gorgeous, Colleen! So realistically coloured, and I love how you finished the cards - each one just perfectly embellished!

Hussena said...

Such gorgeous cards Colleen! I just love the way you have colored the birds in each of them. Each card is just so elegant! And I really enjoyed the information you shared about these birds. TFS! :)

Leslie Miller said...

These cards are all completely amazing! I'm thoroughly stunned by the beauty of each. You're so right about the striped paper looking like piano keys. Love the sheet music with the bird image. All the colors and designs are simply gorgeous. This is inspiration at its finest!

Anonymous said...

Amazing cards!!!!!

Sherri P said...

wow, the different colors of the birds really make a different look on the cards. great.

Emily Keaton said...

Your bevy of birdies is just stunning!! WOW!! your coloring is absolutely perfect, and I just loved seeing how very different you could make these cards. Hard to believe that you used a single bird stamp to create all of these wildly different birds!! You are SO creative!!!

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