Toucan Cage and Stand - Trimcraft DT

Hello, Recently I've been working with some absolutely gorgeous papers called Botanical Beauty.  They are by First Edition and as always their papers are just gorgeous, not only in design but in the lovely selection of finishes and effects you always get in each pad.  The Botanical Beauty papers are absolutely stunning and I just knew I wanted to make a bird cage with them, afterwards I decided it just ‘needed something’ and so I made a stand to match!  (please scroll down for video)

How To:

I cut the bird cage itself on one of my cutting machines, but you could cut similar using die cut panels and join theme or use a sharp craft knife and ruler to cut basic grid bars if you prefer.

I’ve applied a citrus green metallic gilding polish to the cage bars and the matching stand, hopefully giving a hint of Verdigris. I used a gold metallic gilding polish for the top and bottom sections of the cage.

The 12x12 Botanical Beauty pad has birds and flowers In the right size for this make, so I fussy cut out 1 larger Toucan for the top of the cage and 2 smaller toucans on branches to go inside the cage.

The toucans inside have been mounted onto acetate, I created a box section rather than 2 strips as this gave more stability and still allows them to move about if touched.

The blooms have also been fussy cut from the pattern papers and I’ve used foliage dies from 2 different sets to arrange amongst the blooms, I used FE textured cardstock in 2 shades of green for the leafy foliage.

The stand I decided to make to go with the cage is basically 2 small shallow box pieces with a scored and folded section for the stem.  I added a top to the stand by layering up 3 or 4 squares of card sandwiched between pattern paper and applied the green gilding polish around the edges to fill in any gaps in the layers.  I have added cardboard inside the base and top to weight it down so the cage sits securely on top.

Here's a video to show the cage and stand in more detail

Products Used:

First Edition 12x12 Botanical Beauty Paper Pad – FEPAD185

First Edition 12x12 Textured Cardstock Pad – FEPAD062

First Edition Tropical Die Set – FEDIE235

First Edition Foliage Die Set – FEDIE0197

Acetate, Gold Tassel

Gold Gilding Polish, Green Gilding Polish

Adhesives: d/s Tape, Clear drying glue, 3D foam pads

This project has been created for Trimcraft Design Team and also appears in my Project Gallery on The Craft Blog here:

Heartfelt Thanks Card - Step By Step Tutorial

Hello, I'm back again to share another Step by Step card tutorial.  This week the +Papermilldirect Design Team are working on the theme of ‘Pinterest Inspired’ and I’m using this card pinned here as my inspiration.  From this design I decided to choose the trio of embossed shapes on bright backgrounds and bird as elements for my own card.

Step-by-Step:

Using nesting circle dies, cut 3 from Papermilldirect White Linen card and 3 larger ones from papermilldirect coloured cardstocks (Mandarin Orange, Dark Violet and Marine Blue).  Emboss the white linen circles using 3 different effect embossing folders.

Cut a panel of PMD White Linen approx. 4 5/8” x 6 5/8” and stamp sentiment of ‘Heartfelt Thanks’ in bottom Right corner using black Archival ink, mat onto slighter larger panel of PMD Black card.  Glue embossed white circles onto coloured card circles and then arrange onto card front as shown.  When happy with layout, glue top circle to card base and then add the other circles using 3D foam pads, allowing each circle to overlap the previous one.

Take a woodgrain embossing folder and add memento rich cocoa ink to one side of the inside, use to emboss a small piece of PMD Buff cardstock.  Trim into a small branch shape approx. 3” long.  Die cut some small individual leaves from PMD Apple green cardstock.

Die cut a bird shape from PMD Teal and buff card and add to card front using 3D foam pads, positioning across the overlapping circles.  Add 3D foam  pads to back of branch.

Adhere branch onto card front, positioning it so the bird looks to be perching on it.  Add small pieces of 3D foam to the back of each leaf and add to branch in pairs.  A small dab of clear drying glue on the stalks to adhere them under the branch.  Score & Fold and A4 sheet of Papermilldirect plain White cardstock, trim down to create a standard 5” x 7” card base and attach completed panel using a combination of double sided tape and glue.

This is a great way to make use of those scraps of gorgeous bright papermilldrect cardstocks and the embossing adds lots of extra interest, the use of white linen gives a lovely texture and plenty of white space which adds impact to those bright colours.  I felt my design needed a 'sentiment' to finish it off, but you could make this card for all occasions simply by changing the sentiment and / or centre element.

Materials Used:
White Linen Card, Plain White Card – Papermilldirect
Black, Mandarin Orange, Dark Violet, Marine Blue, Teal, Buff, Apple Green coloured card – Papermilldirect
Swiss Dots, Divine Swirls, & Tiny Mosaic Embossing Folders – Cuttlebug
Woodgrain Textures Embossing Folder – Crafters Companion
Circles #65755 Die set – Sizzix
Wildlife Dies set #FEDIE053 – First Edition
Foliage Die Set #FEDIE019 – First Edition
Sentiment Stamp – Clearly Besotted
Inks: Jet Black Archival Inkpad, Rich Cocoa Memento Inkpad
Adhesives: D/S Tape, 3D Foam Pads, Cosmic Shimmer glue