I bet that you thought that this was going to be a discussion about the birds and the bees. It is…just not THAT one. Spring is finally here in Texas. I know this because all of the trees are sprouting tender young leaves, the flowering trees and shrubs are in bloom, the spring bulbs are pushing their way through the dirt, I have planted my tomato plants, and there is virtually green pollen covering every square inch of our cars, windows, and patio furniture. We are all sneezing our fool heads off here in Texas, but that’s okay because winter is gone!!
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Today’s card starts with the Bird and Bees Stamp Set. Like most of you, I start with a vague idea of where I want to go. I don’t make a sample card first. I don’t really know exactly how many pieces that I will need, so I stamp a large selection. They are small and don’t take much time to color. You will see later on that I didn’t end up using the cherries. That’s okay, I will put them aside. They are bound to show up on another card in the future.

I have included the copic colors used for those who want to know.
Tree: E13, E15, E18, E27
Leaves: YG05, YG07, YG09, YG67
Blossoms: R000, RV21, RV23, RV25
Cherries: R27, R29, R59
Bird House: E40, E42, E44, E47, E49, White Gelly Roll Pen, E70, E73, E75, E78
Bird: E13, E15, E17, YR04
Bee: Y17, C8, ROOO, V01

I cut the images out using the coordinating Birds and Bees Die Set. Accents and highlights were added to the flowers, leaves, birdhouse, and limbs using a Black Gelly Roll Pen and a White Gelly Roll Pen. My favorite Uni Ball Signo Gold Glitter Pen was used for the flower stamens.

I played around with the layout. Rather than do the traditional standing tree, I opted to use the Rectangle Windows Trio Die Set and cut windows from a 2 3/4” x 5 1/2” piece of MFT Dots and Stripes Sorbet paper.

I cut a piece of #80 Neenah Solar Crest Cardstock, using the largest die from the Deckle Edge A2 Die Set. I laid the cut out window piece on top and figured out where the opening would be. Purple tape was used to mask off the edges. Using a Tim Holtz Ink Blending Tool, and the cloud stencil from the Outdoor Scene Builder Stencil Set, I blended on Tumbled Glass Distress Ink to create a cloudy sky.

The sky panel was taped to a piece of Desert Storm Khaki Cardstock.

Thin black strips of cardstock were added to the top and bottom edges of the window cutout piece. The small images were added to the tree limb using a Hero Arts Glue Pen. The panel was flipped over and Scotch Foam tape was added to the back for extra dimension.

The sentiment is from the Welcome Home Die Set. Four pieces were cut from black cardstock, stacked, and glued.

The completed panel was taped to a #110 Neenah Solar Crest Cardstock folded card base using a Kokuyo Tape Runner.

I left this card with a simple greeting on the front. The inside can be customized using the versatile Welcome Home Stamp Set. The phrases “Welcome to the Neighborhood,” “Welcome Little One,” “Hello Neighbor,” “From Our Home To Yours,” etc. would all work well.

As always, thank you for sharing a bit of your time with me today on another creative journey.

Joyfully, Jo Ann

Supplies used:
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