Bird's Nest

A while back I started a card and once I had the background paper done, I wasn't sure what to do with it.  I had used my Little Leaves die-cut for a previous card, then kept the "stencil" that's created when die-cutting and used it to sponge a backdrop of leaves on white paper.  I added a grid with the Scor-Pal and then ran out of ideas of what to do.  I had tried adding some flowers and they just didn't look right, so I filed away the background and today, it just came to me what to do with it.  Viola ... my bird's nest card.  Hope you like.

 

"Bird's Nest"

 

 

Stamps:  Pendant Park (sentiment) (SU!)

Paper:  Whisper White, Not Quite Navy (SU!)

Ink:  Kiwi Kiss, Old Olive, Soft Suede, Early Espresso, Night of Navy (SU!)

Accessories & Tools:  Two-step bird punch, Little Leaves die-cut (stencil), raffia, Word Window punch, Scor-Pal, white gel pen, sticky strips, adhesives and dimensionals

 

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Using the stencil that's left over after cutting out the Sizzix Little Leaves, I sponged Kiwi Kiss and Old olive to create the leafy backdrop on the Whisper White cardstock.  I then used the Scor-Pal to create a grid (see Splitcoaststampers for tutorial on how to create a grid).  I finished the background paper by sponging around the outside edges with Old Olive and Kiwi Kiss inks.

I sponged two strands of raffia with Soft Suede ink and then added random patches of Early Espresso ink to give the raffia some color.  I wound one strand around two fingers several times, pulled in off and then started wrapping the other way.  Once one strand was used up, I added a second strand and kept wrapping until I was happy with the look of my "nest".  I tied the two strand ends together at the back to secure and hold everything in place.  I used sticky strips to glue the nest to the background, placing it on one branch.  I punched the bird out of Not Quite Navy cardstock and sponged with Night of Navy ink around the edges.  I glued the back wing to the body of the bird and popped up the front wing with a dimensional.  I then placed the bird sitting in the nest and popped it up with another dimensional.  I used the white gel pen to add an eye on the bird.

I stamped the sentiment in Night of Navy ink and punched it out with the Word Window punch and added it below the nest.