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Showing posts with label bird. Show all posts
Showing posts with label bird. Show all posts

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Birds of Bling

Christmas is sooo last season. I have set my sights on spring now. I am determined to make it as difficult as possible for the dark, grey thoughts that usually take hold of me in February. And with a stash of blingy bits and a massive creative flash taking hold of me now that my college exam is over, I set to work. Gimme some birds of spring bling.

 

Right, these birds started life as... wait for it... Christmas crackers. Yep. Miss Cheapskate here collected the torn up bits of Christmas crackers. Actually, it was even more embarrassing than that. The crackers had been used for decoration at a party hosted by friends and so I actually took the rubbish home from their party... Reason being that I was attracted by the sparkly card board, the black ribbon and the metal tie clips. 












Anyway, at first I thought I might reuse this for Christmas tags, but then I realised that my drawing room was so bare after taking down the Christmas deco and I didn't want to throw out the vase of twigs. Hence the idea was born to craft some decorations for that. And instead of Christmassy shapes I eventually settled on birds - they remind me of spring time...

I downloaded a few bird templates from the internet - a simple Google Image search throws up plenty of designs - and printed them on some card and cut them out. Then I used those three templates for drawing the bird shape onto the cracker card.












The result was not quite blingy enough. But I am one of those loonies who picks up any solitary earring lost in the street and who holds on to broken bits of jewellery and "whimsies". And from that stash I spruced up the birdies...

... with heart-shaped buttons...












... with the wire ties twisted into a heart-shape... 











... with a little bell...











... with a little red ribbon from my Lindt chocolate bear...










... with a heart pendant...











Some of the birds I gave wings by punching a hole into them and then just feeding the black ribbon through. He really looks as if he is soaring, doesn't he?











In any case, I am delighted with my blingy birds. They are happily hanging on the branches. Best thing: They are so light that every time someone passes by, they flutter in the air. Heck, they flutter at all times - this old house has a fine draft that comes in very handy for that.


A bit whimsical, I guess - and whim is not really something I usually like - but hey, I am waiting for spring time and they will remind me it is on its way.


Best,





Sunday, January 3, 2010

Christmas is Over - Let's Hear Some Birdies for Springtime

Happy new year, everyone! I hope you had a great Christmas and a lovely "slide" into the new year, as we say in German. Any new year's resolutions? Mine are fairly simple:

  1. Spend more time with the children
  2. Smoke less
  3. Update the blog more regularly
  4. Study on time to avoid nightshifts and worries as before deadline in December
  5. Take more photos and experiment more with photography
I am a self-confessed Christmas-lover, but this year I seem to be a bit impatient about getting all the Christmas stuff down again. Traditionally the date for that is the 6th of January. Maybe I can't wait for that because our - beautiful - Christmas tree is half-naked already. No, decorations are still up, but the tree looses needles if you as much as cough beside it!!! The cats have been doing their best, too, to strip the tree of its greenery. Well - nonetheless it was a beautiful tree and the photos I took do not do it any justice:



However, now that we have passed the winter solstice and the days are getting longer again - yoohay - I can't wait to leave Christmas behind me and welcome the spring. My fingers were itching again to do something crafty, so I sat down spontaneously yesterday with a bright idea. Seeing that bird silhouettes are still - just about? - the rage, I made some bird magnets.






You probably have some old, simple fridge magnets stuck on your fridge door. Well, actually you may not - as you all have carefully decorated, tastefully designed kitchens in which mucky old magnets do not feature *ahem*. Well, mine came from the dishwasher door *double ahem* ... box with thrown-out bits and pieces. *remembertoincludenotlyinginlistofresolutions*  Anyway, you often get them as little advertising gifts, thin strips of magnets with a company logo or message printed onto them. 


I doodled a bit and then settled on a bird design which I drew onto the back of the magnet. I used some silver gel marker for that - just because that was easily visible on the black magnet.



Then I cut out the silhouette with my kitchen scissors. This part of the project probably would benefit from some sharp crafting scissors. But with a bit of patience and luck even my klutzy kitchen scissors did the trick and I cut out two different types of silhouettes.



Lastly I simply coloured the front of it in with some black permanent marker. Any colour, I guess, would do. You could tie them in with your colour scheme or use spray paint to get an even finish. 








Here are the birdies - they have taken refuge on my poetree on the dishwasher door. What do you think of them?