Odd Bird Toy

It's all about birds this month at Alpha Stamps! This month, we were given a bird shrine, and since I've been having so much fun making toys lately, I couldn't help but make this shrine into a toy as well. My goal was to make it look like a well-loved toy from years gone by; you know, something you'd pick up at an antique shop or, I guess, at a thrift store.

The shrine comes with a front and a back, a plastic disk for the window, and two pieces for the inside. I used both of the inside pieces of the shrine to make a deep niche, and added some mini bird eggs and some micro beads to achieve a snow-globe affect. On the outside, I covered the shrine with black and white polka-dotted paper and colored it with Copic markers. It was way too bright and new looking, so I sanded it down quite a bit, and then brushed on some Cognac colored ink to make it appear aged.

 

After gluing all the pieces together, I drilled a small hole in the back to insert the winding key. It may look like it, but this is not actually a working toy. I used two sizes of wheels, 3/4" and 1 1/4".  I painted them black, and then added a little turquoise to the inside. Once the paint was dry, I sanded them down and added an axle. Dowels would work best for this, but I didn't have any at the time, and I was impatient. I used the handle of an old paintbrush that just happened to fit. Luckily for you (and me, now that I destroyed my only junky paintbrush handle!), Alpha Stamps carries the appropriate sized dowels to fit each sized wheel. The wheels are attached with some E6000 glue.

The eyes are bead caps, and I just had to add a little crown on her head. I love these little crowns. I need to stock up on some more! For a complete list of the supplies available at Alpha Stamps, click here.

Flying Birds Altoids Tin

Happy New Year! Let's get the year started off with an altered tin. Here's a little something I whipped up for Alpha Stamps; it's my first project for 2014.

I love the new Bird Cages collage sheet: so many lovely wire cages! And because they're all black and white, you can use them as is, or color them with Copic markers to match your background paper.  I chose a tall cage that had a sad little bird in it, and then used wires to have three colorful birds fly around the cage. I'm quite sure they're working on an escape plan for their incarcerated friend.

 

The trick to getting those birds to fly is to make a tight little curl on each end of a thin, but sturdy wire. This will give your glue something to grab on to. I like to use E6000 glue for a really good hold.  

Here's the inside of the tin. I used the same collage sheet as the colorful birds (Lady in Blue) for the image of the lady. She's layered on a doily and surrounded by little pearls. In this shot you can see the ribbon that goes around the lid of the tin as well as the way I attached the wire to the birds, which I painted black before cutting them out. This gives the paper a little more body and a more finished than a stark white background.

Here's a link to the Alpha Stamps blog post, where you'll find all the supplies I used for this project, including a blank tin. (No embossed lid!) For more tips on altering tins, I posted a full-length tutorial here.

Here's wishing you a happy (and crafty) 2014!

Formal Birds

Here's another 4" by 4" block with birds on it; this one went to a swap partner on Craftster. Basically, I grabbed a bunch of stuff from my stash and this is what happened.  I kind of like how seriously they are taking themselves.

4" by 4" Art

My mom needed a little pick-me-up, so I made her a little piece of art. It's a 4" by 4" block of wood, containing a fairy godmother, a bluebird of happiness, a word of wisdom, and all my love.

I love you, Mom!

Brothers To The Bird

Someone purchased Lucifer already, so I decided to make him a couple of brothers. Meet the twins, Gregor and Jasper. I just knew those antique puzzle blocks would come in handy some day!

Halloween Raven

I just listed this in my etsy shop, but if he doesn't sell, I'm going to adopt him myself! He's a feathered black raven with an antique lace collar (I gave it a bit of an orange wash to match his hat). The wooden spool he's standing on was hand painted and sanded, but the other two blocks are vintage blocks. I love the patina.

I couldn't resist adding the little clear spider sticker onto that bottom block.

Meet The Alpha Stamps Design Team Blog Hop!

I have been an Alpha Stamps design team member for several years. (They just can’t get rid of me!) I love all the wonderful supplies they carry, and having the chance to work with new materials before they are available on the site. Getting sneak previews of up-and-coming collage sheets, rubber stamps, and embellishments is the greatest! Plus, working with other design team members is so inspiring. I hope you enjoy this design team blog hop. This year’s team is so talented, so be sure to visit all the blogs. It’s always so fun to see how, even though we were all given the same supplies to work with, everyone’s creations are so unique. Plus, if you comment on the blogs, you could win some fabulous artwork!

 The artwork I've highlighted in this post was created using new Collage Sheets made for the "Birds in Hats" Swap at Alpha Stamps! (Click on the graphic above for more information on the swap.)

I love using birds in my art. I used 4” by 4” coasters and some fun birdhouse shapes for these projects, plus some fabulous bird themed collage sheets. I couldn’t resist adding some mini pom pom fringe to the edge of this one. I love that stuff!

 Back:

Here’s a little bird ready for a party. She’s donned her best pearl necklace and a fancy hat that’s actually an embellished nest. I added some vintage sequins, some rhinestonres, and some orange Stickles to give this coaster a little sparkle.

 Back: 

 Here’s what you can win from me if you leave a comment here:

Look how fun these bird house shapes are! I set these birdy neighbors up on a little grassy knoll, which is actually a Scrabble tile holder. I painted it green and added some of my favorite fibers and paper flowers to make it look a little more organic. I think it’s a sweet little decoration for spring.

Be sure and leave a comment on my blog to be entered to win. Leave your name and email address so that I can notify you if you are a winner. If you'd rather not leave your email address, please check back on Monday, June 11 to see if you've won. And don’t forget to hop on over to the next Alpha Stamps Design Team Member Blog for more chances to win some fabulous artwork!

Rackybirds, with tutorial

A couple of years ago I was wondering what to do with all our leftover plastic Easter eggs, and came up with the idea of making them into birds. Now that Easter's come and gone, perhaps you have some extra eggs lying around. Here are a few pictures of the birds I made, and a version of the tutorial I first posted on Craftster.org.

The flock, sunning on our back wall:

And here's how to make them:
1. Gather your supplies. You will need: plastic eggs, some sort of paper to cover them with (I used pages from an old hymnal I found at the thrift store), a little tape, some shirt cardboard for the beak and wings, a wire hanger for the feet, some thinner wire used to wire things together, matte finish Mod Podge, some jewels for eyes, and some silk flowers and little acorn caps for adornment. Tools needed are: scissors, an exacto knife, needlenose pliers, a needle punch (commonly used for book binding), a cutting board, a sponge brush, and inkpads.

2. This picture shows the completing of the bird's tail in 5 steps. Cut out your tail shape and tape it to the rounder, bottom part of the egg, right where a tail should be. Wrap the tail with small pieces of the paper you will be covering your bird with. Once the sides are wrapped, continue to cover the tail and rest of the egg, until all is covered. Make sure that you put several strips on that connect the tail to the body. You want to make sure that is good and secure.

3. Once you are done with the tail sections, go ahead and cover the top part of the eggs. Don't worry about getting the paper perfect near the opening of the egg. Once you get your feet and beak on, you will be assembling the egg and going back and covering that area to seal the body shut.

The legs are made with short bits of a wire hanger, bent to form little feet. To place the legs, put the egg together and decide how you wish the bird to be standing. Take your needle punch and punch a hole for each leg. Surprisingly, this is not too hard to do, and your egg should not break if you work the punch in gently. Once you have the two holes, insert your wire legs, and put the egg back together to see where the legs need to be positioned so the bird will stand. You may have to bend or splay the feet a bit to get your bird standing. Once you like the way the bird looks, remove the top and wire your legs together so they won't slip out once the bird is complete.

4. This picture shows the inking of the beak and the covering and cutting of the wings. You will need a beak and two wings for each bird. I used a modified heart shape for my wings. Cover a side of the wing with your scrap paper, trim the excess, and then cover the other side and trim again. See that little brush beside the inkpad? I have no idea what it's called, but I purchased it for inking at my local independent stamping store. These work great for this project, but I'm sure a similar brush or sponge makeup applicator would work as well if you can't find this particular type brush. After you have covered the beak and wings, you need to go ahead and get them inked. I not only inked the wings blue, I went back with some black ink and put an edge on them to make them stand out a bit more. You are also going to want to ink a little of the face area of the bird with the blue ink before you go to attach your beak.

5. This picture shows the inside of the eggs before they are ready to be joined. To attach the beak, put the bird together and decide where the beak should go. Once you determine that, take your needle punch and punch two holes through the bend of the beak and the egg. You are going to be taking your thin wire and feeding it through those two holes and then twisting in on the inside of the egg to secure the beak. Make sure it's on good and tight! Once your feet and beak are wired, you can put the body together and take some of your remaining paper scraps to cover the seam where the two parts are joined. Give your birds and all their parts a couple of coats of Mod Podge. Once the birds are dry, take your ink brush and add color to them. Let that ink dry for a bit, and go wash your hands. (You will probably be a bit inky at this point.) Do not Mod Podge over the ink once it’s applied. It will run!

6. Now that the birds are dry, it's time to attach the wings. Mine were adhered with E6000 glue. Use a good rubber band to hold the wings in place while they dry. You can put the eyes on now. I used little self adhesive jewels found at my local craft store. These birds love flowers, so grab that E6000 and stick a bright silk flower on each little birdie head. Top that with an acorn cap. Now they look like they're ready to party!

One more shot, just for fun:

Sweet Little Birds for Valentine's Day

I made these little birds using plastic Easter eggs as a base. They're the sure sign of spring, and so fancy with their jaunty little floral headgear and acorn caps.

Look how much fun they have when they get together and hang out...

 If you'd like directions on how to make these birds, click here. I posted a full tutorial on Craftster.org.

Spring will come!

It's the dead of winter here, but I know spring is just around the corner. Alpha Stamps carries these cute little birds with niches in their bellies, so I had to make these little birds-on-blocks. I'm really looking forward to spring!