At some point last fall or winter I purchased a cute, small, wooden bird house. My intention was to alter it. For months that bird house has sat sadly on a shelf in my little studio begging to be decorated. In April as the weather improved and the birds returned to our feeders I began to think it was about time for a bird house renovation – lol. At first I thought I might make it as a gift for someone but while out for a walk, I realized it has been a long time since I did something just for me.
I began to think about what kind of bird house would make a happy home if I was a bird. At that moment I remembered a house we lived in when I was a teenager in Italy (my Dad was in the Air Force). It was a three story house with an apartment on each floor. We lived on the top floor. I loved living there, not because it was fancy, but because each exterior wall was painted a different bright color with contrasting colors for all of the balconies. It still makes me smile to think about coming home to that house!
Supplies List:
Digital Scrapbooking Supplies
Scissors, paper cutter, bone folder, paper piercer
Paper – Cre8it Magic Matte (Ink not smear when gel medium is applied when printed on an ink jet printer. Alternative is to print on matt photo paper using a laser printer.)
Adhesive – two sided tape, glue dots, Mod Podge
Embellishments – buttons, clear plastic tags, printed digital embellishments
Distress ink
Circle punches
Instructions:
Step 1 – Measure the sides and roof.
Step 2 – Cut a piece of colored 8 ½ x 11 printer weight paper the length of the front of your bird house. Lay it on the front of the house and create a hole for the perch. Fold paper back onto the roof along the roof line and tape. Find the inside edge of the roof line and run a pencil long the inside edge.
Step 3 – Cut along the roof line and place paper flush with the front of the house. Fold back the sides of the paper and tape. Use the pencil to mark the edges. At this point I also traced the hole above the perch and colored it in with pencil.
Step 4 – Cut the sides away and scan into PSE. Create an 8 ½ x 11 document. Drag your scanned image onto the document maintaining the dimensions. Create a second bird house layer (ctrl J in PSE11). Select the hole you colored in pencil with the quick selection tool on one of the layers and delete. You now have a template for the front and back of your bird house. Attach desired digital scrapbooking supplies (ctrl g in PSE11) to the template and add other embellishments as desired.
Step 5 – Using your shape tool, select the rectangle shape. Select fixed size and create a clipping mask the size of your roof and sides. Repeat step 4 to attach paper and embellish as desired.
Step 6 – For the shingles of the roof, I wanted to use inspirational word art and pop it off the roof by adhering it to cardboard pieces. To determine the number, size and arrangement of the words drag them onto the roof, resize and arrange as desired. Hide the roof layers prior to printing your word art.
Step 7 – Paint the “edges” of your house with acrylic paint.
Step 8 – Select digital flowers, birds, butterflies and other desired embellishments. Create print sheets with front, back, roof, sides, word art and embellishments. Print on magic matt paper. Cut out the roof, sides, front and back. Check the sizes by positioning on the bird house with a re-positional adhesive. Make needed adjustments. Cut or punch out the holes on the front of the bird house.
Step 9 – Cover all pieces and embellishments with several coats of gel medium (e.g. mod podge). Allow to dry thoroughly between coats. Store foam brush in a plastic bag between coats. The brush remains usable if stored this way overnight.
Step 10 – Adhere roof, sides, front and back to bird house with gel medium. Ensure that you use enough medium so the pieces are completely adhered to the house or you will have bubbles under your pieces. Cut out embellishments, layer word art on cardboard strips.
Step 11 – Adhere word art and embellishments to the house with gel medium and glue dots.
I am keeping this bird house for myself but they would make great gifts and would be a super fun summer craft project to create with your children or grandchildren. We would love to see how you use your digital scrapbooking supplies to create your own bird houses – please share your projects with us in the Scrap Girls Hybrid Gallery!
Live each day creatively,
Karen