A {Tweet} Froggity Blog hop!

Hi all

Well another month of 2011 gone and it means it's the Banana Frog blog hop time once again! With Spring in the air the theme for this month is birds and I hope you've been enjoying the {tweet} offerings from all the other froglets :) If you're here without hopping why not hop on over to the Lilly pad and start at the beginning to be inspired!

So without further ado here is my feathery offering for March ...


Is it a piece of wall art? is it an embellishment? or is it a bespoke brooch? ... the answer I think is all of the above! It's small and cute and oh so easy to make.

I used the Hiya Chick stamp set and the shake your tail feathers tadpole stamp set alongside some chipboard, music paper, gesso, distress inks, blonde moments embossing powder, small flowers and bling, some scrap paper and some craft wire. (by the way both stamp sets are on sale at the moment go grab a bargain!!)


Using the transparent image sheet in with the stamps I was able to draw out a template big enough to accommodate the bird on the branch and then cut this from a piece of chipboard.


I covered it in strips of music paper..


.... then trimmed it to shape and painted it with gesso.


I coloured it with distress inks ..


... and then stamped the end of the branch around the outside for a decorative pattern and embossed the bird. Some of the embossing powder stuck to the pattern I had stamped, a happy accident as I like the way it fills the branch out :)


Stamping the sentiment from the tadpole set ...


.... I then cut it up, inked it and added it to my collage along with some tiny paper flowers.


Leaving my collage aside to dry I made a wire cage to go over the top of my compositon. A little fiddly but worth the 'slightly' blue air in my studio LOL


I slipped the cage over the top of my chipboard collage...


...and attached the craft wire at the back with masking tape.


To finish off the back I glued some scrap paper onto it, trimming away excess with a craft knife and sanding any rough bits with a nail file


et voila, a cute little birdcage that could be used for anything you like!


I like it as a little wall plaque and think it would look great as a set of 3 but also think it would look great as an embellishment on a special card or scrap page and would look cool as a brooch by just adding a brooch pin to the back .... why not have a go and show me what you do with yours?

Thankyou for visiting my little corner of the lilly pad today your next hop stop is with the lovely and oh so talented Jo Firth Young and don't forget to leave comments where ever you go there may be prizes!

I hope you're well and happy and until soon Happy Crafting
Love
M x

PS My limited edition Art Tart DIY project CD's are available on my website see the post under this one for details and links ... why not try something different today :)