bluebird of spring by Leah

With March approaching, most people's thoughts in the United States turn to spring. Wouldn't it be fun to chase away a friend's winter blues with these sweet spring wishes?

Supplies that you'll need:

• Jenni Bowlin Bird Chipboard
• Jenni Bowlin Chipboard Flowers
• Jenni Bowlin Tart Tins
• Vellum Butterflies in Yellow
• Pearl and Rhinestone Charms in White
• Jenni Bowlin/Ranger paints in Stick Candy, Malted Milk, and Soap Powder
• Jenni Bowlin/Ranger inks in Stick Candy, Malted Milk, Speckled Egg, and Brown Sugar
• Ink Blending Tool
• Ranger Crackle Accents
• Crackle medium for paints
• Ribbon {I used a leftover piece from the February Mini Album Kit}
• small stick to attach your butterfly to {mine was a leftover from the December kits}
• small piece of floral foam, floral moss, and spanish moss - all available in the floral aisle of your craft store
• small twig to attach to the base {optional}
• heat gun, hot glue gun and glue sticks

For the bird, you'll need the Malted Milk paint, crackle medium and Soap Powder paint:

Give the small chipboard bird a coat of the Malted Milk paint and allow it to dry thoroughly. Feel free to use your heat gun, but keep it as a distance. The heat can sometimes bubble the paint as it dries:

Apply a nice coat of the crackle medium and let it dry. The less you push the medium around when you're spreading it on, the better crackles you'll get on your finished piece. Allow it to dry. If it's wet at all when you apply the overcoat, it won't crackle.

Spread a nice, thick coat of paint on top of the dry crackle. Make sure you have plenty of paint on your brush and spread evenly - you can't go back over your work much, because the crackle medium can cause the paint to clump.

Watch it crackle as it dries. I don't like using a heat gun to dry this, unless I keep the gun well away from the piece, so that the paint won't bubble.

Distress your chipboard bird by dabbing your finger in Malted Milk ink, and swiping it across the bird in the same direction as the crackles.

Finish the edges with the same method, using the Brown Sugar in.

Attach the wing using a hot glue gun, and add a rhinestone for the eye. then set it aside to create the base, and "nest" for your bird.

Apply Stick Candy paint to the small chipboard flower from the package. Once it dries, apply a coat of Crackle Accent. Set it aside to dry.

Apply a coat of malted milk paint to the tart tin and allow it to dry.

Distress the tin using the same method as the bird, using the Malted Milk, Brown Sugar and Speckled Egg inks. Just gently press your finger in the ink pad and brush across the tin. You can wipe excess off using a paper towel if you need to! Allow the ink to dry.

Glue a small piece of the floral foam to the bottom of the tin, using the hot glue gun.

Hide the foam by gluing a piece of the Spanish moss to cover. Cut off any flyaway pieces.

Press bird into the foam and add hot glue to hold.

Once the crackle on the flower for the base is dry, distress it first with the Stick Candy ink, and then with Brown Sugar ink.

Add some floral moss on top and glue.

To make the banner piece, curl the paper around the edges.

Distress with Brown Sugar ink and the ink blending tool.

Glue the tart tin to the base, and add the stick on the side. Embellish your bird by adding the tag, bow, pearls, and mounting the butterfly on the stick behind the bird. 

All finished and ready to give to a friend or enjoy yourself!

I hope you enjoyed this sweet little project! Leah