Birdhouses Through The Seasons Collection – Card Inspiration with Annie Williams

Hi there, this is Annie Williams and I’m excited to be back today to share a couple of projects using the new Birdhouses Through The Seasons Collection by Vicky Papaioannou.  This collection really spoke to me as a nature-lover, so I wanted to use as many of the seasonal sets as I could together.  Since the birdhouses are large enough to fill a card front, I was inspired to create three fun cards in different sizes for a variety of occasions.

I thought the tall birdhouse from the Build A Fall Birdhouse die set would be perfect for a slimline card, but I’m not quite ready to start my fall crafting.  Since the elements from each die set work together, I could easily turn that beautiful house into a spring home for this pretty card.

• Die cut white and Pink Sand cardstock with the birdhouse die from the Build A Fall Birdhouse die set, adding the oval die from the Build A Spring Birdhouse to the lower opening.
• Lightly blend Hickory Smoke Distress Ink around the edges of the white birdhouse with a sponge dauber.
• Trim the roof from the Pink Sand birdhouse and lightly blend a bit of Kitsch Flamingo Distress Ink on the bottom before adhering it to the white birdhouse with liquid glue.
• Adhere a piece of Silver Fox Cardstock to the back of the house to cover the openings.

• Die cut brown and green cardstock with the branch die from the Build A Winter Birdhouse die set. Blend Mowed Lawn Distress Ink on the bottom of the leaves on the green die-cut and Ground Espresso Distress Ink on the bottom of the branch.  Trim the leaves off of the green die-cut and adhere to the branch with liquid glue.
• Die cut white and green cardstock with the flower and leaf dies from the Build A Spring Birdhouse die set. Blend Wilted Violet Distress Ink around the edges of the flowers and Mowed Lawn Distress Ink on the bottom of the leaves.
• Die cut teal and white cardstock with the bird dies from the Holly Frame Gala die set. Trim off the teal backs of the birds and adhere them to the white die-cuts with liquid glue.
• Apply Gold Hot Foil to white cardstock using one of the sentiments from the Essential Glimmer Sentiments Hot Foil Plate Set and the Glimmer Hot Foil Machine.

• Trim a piece of Glacier Cardstock to 3” x 8” and emboss it using the Slimline Flora Embossing Folder.  Mat it with Mirror Gold Cardstock before adhering it a side-folding 3.5” x 8.5” white card base.
• Add the branch to the top of the card with foam adhesive. Wrap a small length of natural twine around the branch and secure it behind the birdhouse while adhering it down with foam adhesive.
• Add the birds to each opening of the house with foam adhesive and pop the sentiment up on the bottom of the card.
• Embellish the house and branch with the flowers and leaves. Add small gold crystals to the center of the flowers.

Other Supplies

Heavyweight white cardstock, Hickory Smoke, Kitsch Flamingo, Wilted Violet, Ground Espresso, and Mowed Lawn Distress Inks, sponge dauber, natural twine, tape runner, liquid glue, foam adhesive

The lighthouse birdhouse from the Build A Summer Birdhouse die set is so beautiful and unique, I was had to build a cute summertime scene for it.  With some quick and easy sandy beach sketching and a bit of diecutting, this bright and cheery mini slimline card is perfect for sending a sunny hello.

• Trim white cardstock to 3.25” x 6.25”. Using Copic markers, add a line of tall grass just above the bottom of the panel with quick flicking motions in several different directions.
• Beneath the line of grass add a layer of tan ink with Copic markers before dotting two or three darkers shades of brown on top randomly to form the sand.
• Blend Tumbled Glass and Salty Ocean Distress Inks around the edges of the rest of the panel to give the illusion of blue skies.
• Stamp a sentiment from the Tweet Sentiments Stamp Set onto the panel with black ink.

• Die cut white woodgrain and Cosmic Sky cardstock with the birdhouse die from the Build A Summer Birdhouse die set. Trim the roof and other details off of the blue die-cut and adhere them to the white woodgrain lighthouse with liquid glue.
• Die cut Mirror Gold and red cardstock with the anchor, light, and life preserver dies and adhere them to the lighthouse as shown.
• Die cut kraft woodgrain cardstock with the birdhouse stand dies, blend a little Ground Espresso Distress Ink onto them to shade, and adhere together with liquid glue.
• Die cut white cardstock with the shell and gull dies. Blend Hickory Smoke, Dried Marigold, and Shaded Lilac Distress Inks onto the shells to color.
• Die cut one of the cats from the Kitty Cats die set using dark grey cardstock and a few clouds using the Cozy Home Scene die set.

• Adhere the background panel to a 3.5” x 6.5” side-folding white card base with tape runner.
• Add the birdhouse stand, shell, cloud, and gull die-cuts directly to card front with liquid glue.
• Pop the lighthouse, cat, and starfish up on top using foam adhesive.

Other supplies

White cardstock, white and kraft woodgrain cardstock, Copic markers, Versafine Clair Nocturne Ink, blending brushes, Tumbled Glass, Salty Ocean, Hickory Smoke, Dried Marigold, Shaded Lilac, and Ground Espresso Distress Inks, tape runner, liquid glue, foam adhesive

With so many extra elements included in each die set in this collection, you can even make a card without using any of the birdhouses.  Here I’ve taken the nest and egg from the Build A Spring Birdhouse die set to create a simple and sweet baby card.

• Die cut white cardstock using the nest and egg dies from the Build A Spring Birdhouse die set and the branch die from the Build A Winter Birdhouse die set (three times).
• Color the branches using Copic markers, adding some simple shading to each die-cut.
• Blend Tea Dye Distress Ink onto the entire nest die-cut with a sponge dauber, then add Vintage Photo Distress Ink to just the edges and center. Blend Kitsch Flamingo Distress Ink onto the egg die-cut.

• Trim white cardstock to 4.125” x 5.375”. Die cut the center out using the Large Oval Pattern and Large Oval Inner Rim dies from the Elegant Twist Ovals die set.
• Apply Pink Hot Foil to white cardstock using one of the sentiments from the Mini Everyday Sentiments Glimmer Plate Set and the Glimmer Hot Foil Machine. Cut it out using one of the coordinating dies in the set.

• Lightly blend Salty Ocean Distress Ink in the center of a top-folding A2-sized white card base with a blending brush.
• Adhere the die cut frame on top of the card base using foam adhesive.
• Add the branches inside of the frame with liquid glue, then pop the nest and egg up on top with foam adhesive.
• Adhere the sentiment to the front of the card with foam adhesive.

White heavyweight cardstock, Copic markers, Salty Ocean, Kitsch Flamingo, Tea Dye, and Vintage Photo Distress Ink, blending brush, sponge daubers, liquid glue, tape runner, foam adhesive Annie-Williams-2021-Birdhouses-Through-The-Seasons-11 I hope you enjoyed this trio of nature-inspired cards and thanks so much for stopping by today.  You can find more inspiration over at my blog AnnieBWills.com.