...A New Nest - Folk Art style with freebie cut files

ED - Laura Jane, thank you for your lovely comment - I have only ever used Silhouette machines, at present I have a Cameo with upgraded software and I find it super simple, but I have no idea how it compares to other machines, I am sorry!

Good Afternoon folks. I had an opportunity to make something yesterday since I had no internet connection for most of Saturday and a lot of Friday also. Turns out it was my system that was at fault and so one new hard drive/router later (ouch) I am online again. Since the store was unaccessible I wasn't able to do store admin, emails etc and so while I waited the 8 hours 37 minutes and 57 seconds that it took my new piece of kit to backup everything I ever did, I made this.

I have a billion things just lying around waiting for an opportunity for me to alter/fix/gussy them up and this little birdhouse was top of that list. Thankfully younger me had the forethought to employ the wee folks one rainy afternoon in the task of giving every raw wood product I have a base coat of paint so that when such an opportunity arose, I was able to grab it and not wait around on paint drying because unless you are a kid, I have little to no patience.

One of the things I have been most pleased with this year has been the Folk art papers - in particular - The Dirty Collection.  I had run out a few sheets of these during the March release and I had been thinking for ages how pretty they would look on this wee birdhouse. Here's a little walk around the birdhouse, see what you think.

 

I love that little butterfly - from my much underused set of fabulous Spellbinder Butterflies - Wonderful Wings die templates LF-006. That really is a terrific set of butterflies, expect to see a lot more of those from me.

Do you like my little roses round the base? - those are real dried mini flower buds on dried moss - picked those up at a craft fair, they smell heavenly.

What about the mini fence detail on the side of the birdhouse below? If you like it - I have loaded it as a freebie at the store, click here to get your free .svg and .dxf files. A dinky little doodad for lots of projects. The cut file makes a mini garden fence about 5.5 inches long, it's easy to join a few together if you need a longer fence.

I used a piece of a square cut with Heart Squares die template S4-343 from Spellbinders to make the decorative 'bargeboard' running down the edge of the roof. Dis you like my little shutters? lol, I just punched out a flower from the digital paper I printed and chopped it in half. They are attached with a scrap of card.

Do you like the little scroll with the sentiment? I have also made it a Freebie over at the store - pick yours up here - it's supplied as .svg and .dxf files and there are actually three pieces to it although I have only used two of the shapes to create this little banner. The sentiment is from A Good Egg set and is perfect for a pair folks who are close to my heart who are just setting up home together in a new house.

 

I made a little card to match and can I just say WOW - Would you look at the beautiful detailing from the new Adorning Squares die templates S4-389 from Spellbinders. That lovely cut out detail that frames the medallion panel. We just got these for the store and I am in love with them. They are just stunning! I added my sentiment again, ton the curved scroll, this time slightly larger. The little blanket stitch birdie from Sewing Box hugs was just the perfect little image to complement this set I thought. I gave him a beady eye by adding just a dab of glossy accents and colouring it with a black copic once it had dried. A few more little roses and dried moss, I am very happy with this little set. Making this was just the tonic I needed to combat the technical nuisance of yesterday.

Hope it tickles!

OOh btw, have you chosen you card from the WMS Flower show to CASE yet - we'll be starting the CASE competition on the 23rd here on the blog! Join us!