Free As A Birdy... **with edit!**

...for a change... I have made... a card! I am having a bit of a cardmaking revival at the moment and am loving making inky and messy backgrounds and adding elements to the card... which is what I did this morning. Using plain white cardstock, Distress Inks and Grungeboard I made this 6" square card.




I started by cutting the white card to make the main mat.. then used Old Paper, Stormy Sky, Chipped Sapphire and Vintage Photo Distress Inks to colour it - spritzing with water on the way.. oh and I always forget to say this at the right place... once I had coloured the whole piece with Old Paper, I dried it and then used a mini script to clear emboss to make a resist... and cos I over heated the EP it kinda disappeared into the card... making it look like a Batik technique.. happy accident! I used the sprig from the very first set of UM stamps I bought for my Tim Holtz collection... this set is three years old and I just love this sprig... and I have been neglecting my older TH stamps recently... so I thought I had better rectify that :O)) The sentiment is actually a mini version of the sentiment on that very first sheet... happy accident again (actually, that is true cos til I started typing this post, I hadn't noticed!) The twine is just Jute, a huge roll for a quid from B&Q about four years ago... and still loads on it... geeee, I love a bargain LOL




The cage is cut from Grungeboard... using the Caged Bird Alteration, the birdy is cut from card covered with music score and the wing is more GB... I embossed the cage with the Damask Texture Fade... then coloured it with Vintage Photo, embossed with VP Distress Powder... and then used my finger to add a little gold Dabber to make the texture pop. I cut the bars open so birdy is free... and then scouted the bombsite garden and snaffled a few twigs to go on the cage for birdy to stand on. The brads etc were bashed with a Texture Hammer... and.. finally... I added a Memo Pin and poked it thru the card, adding a Jump Ring and little Idea-ology Bird Charm... there you go... a nature card.. of sorts LOL



So... speaking of nature and gardens... AlfieCat has been a nawty boy again... he came in yesterday from one of his hunting forays... and I didn't hear him come in... which is not normal because he has a huge bell on his collar... his collar, aha! That is why I didn't hear him... the little monkey has gone and lost it... again! I get him a collar with a snap closure on it so if he snags it, it will just come apart... so off I went into the Spinney behind our house... did I ever say... the fence has an AlfieCat sized hole in it so he doesnt have to leap about??? Mad, I know, indulgent... most certainly folks LOL So... off I trotted into the Spinney... the collar is electric blue so I thought I might find it... nah... so I went across the path and into the little woody bit on the other side... you should have seen the size of the toadstools in there... I am not telling porkies when I say that one of them had a cap the size of a dinner plate! HUGE!!! Anyways... nope, no collar... so out I pop from the undergrowth... only to scare the living daylights out of my neighbour who was walking their gorgeous Golden Retriever... thank goodness he has a good nature (the dog, not the neighbour ROFL) and didn't get spooked by my appearance like the wild woman of Borneo. Anyways... Alf was confined to barracks last night... he was not impressed I hasten to add... and Grim went out and got him a new collar and tag this morning... and off he went on another hunting mission (Alf not Grim... that would be toooo funny!) Anyways... I better get a wiggle on... have a massive heap of things to do today - like making the Sunday Stamper... oh and I have a special guest setter for tomorrow too! So, whatcha got planned for the weekend??? Do tell, I am ever so... erm... nosey LOL Thanks for looking... TTFN


**EDIT... @ 12:02pm**
You will NEVER believe this... you know I am telling you that AlfieCat is a nawty boy and lost his collar??? Well, I still cannot believe this... Grim has just called me downstairs... and... there on the rug in the dining room is Alf... with a blue collar on the floor next to him... but... he is still wearing the new one... so... HE FOUND THE OLD ONE!!! and then... HE BROUGHT IT HOME!!! ROFLMAO.. how cool is my little furbaby.. not to mention incredibly clever... I have never heard of a retriever cat! So, the other week when Grim asked him to bring him home a pigeon, he did - the Grim asked for a mouse, yep, in comes a mouse... so I asked him yesterday to find his collar... and indeedily, he turns up with it!!! I have asked him again to get me a nice winning lottery ticket today LOL... wouldya ever believe that he could not only find his collar but also have the intelligence to bring it back home... what a boy!!! I am grinning like a loon here now :O))

Hels x