Swirly Bird Cage Card

This is the card I have made for the Little Claire August digi challenge, I didn't mean to post this article yet but it has posted so I will go with it. The challenge isn't launched till 5/8/15 so see if you can guess what the theme is just by looking at the card (I wouldn't have got it by looking at the card). If you want to enter the challenge just take a look at the Little Claire blog on that date and you will find all the information you need to enter. Good luck...........

what you will need:
Little Claire Swirly Bird Cage digi stamp
6" x 6" cream base card
brown paper
gold mirri card
dark pink paper scraps
cream card to print onto
260gsm white card
gold water based paint
gum Arabic
duck egg blue water based paint
random swirly stamp (I used a corner stamp from Elusive Images)
Tattered Lace Essentials circles dies 11 & 12
First Edition tag die
die cutting machine
Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Vintage Photo
Cut n Dry foam
gold ribbon
Hobbycraft sentiment stamps
colouring in implements
fine tip black pen
11 small pearl embellishments
3 amber coloured crystals

Mat and layer the brown paper onto the cream base card.

Cut a piece of card to roughly the size you need for the crackle backing paper.
Paint the card with the gold water based paint and allow to completely dry (make sure that the gold completely covers the card).
Paint the card with the gum Arabic and allow to completely dry.
Paint the card with the duck egg blue water based paint and wait for the crackles to appear. Allow the card to completely dry.
Trim the card to the required size.
Tint the edges of the card using the Cut n Dry foam and Tim Holtz Vintage Photo distress ink.
Using your random swirly image stamp and the Tim Holtz Vintage Photo distress ink stamp the image around the edges of the card to create a vintage faded/worn look.
Mat and layer the crackle background onto the mirri card.
Stick the crackle background/mirri card onto the base card.

Open up the Little Claire Swirly Birdcage digi stamp in your graphics program and re size the image to measure 4" from one side of the vine to the other.
Print the image onto good quality cream card.
Position the Tattered Lace Essentials Circles die No11 over the image (you will cut into some of the vine) and run through a die cutting machine to cut out the image.
Using the Cut n Dry and Tim Holtz Vintage Photo distress ink shade around the edges of the circle.
Colour the image with your choice of colouring in implements.
Cut a circle from the gold mirri card using the Tattered Lace Essentials Circles die No12.
Stick the image circle onto the gold mirri card circle but place the image off centre so that more of the mirri card is showing at the right hand side.
Stick the mirri card and the image topper circle onto the base card.
Using a fine tip black pen draw the vine tendrils coming off of the image and onto the crackle background.
Using one of the First Editions tag dies which has the cut out flowers at the bottom cut 3 large flowers and 7 small flowers from the pink paper.
Stick the flowers onto the image and the tendrils which you have drawn but leave one of the small flowers to one side to put on the sentiment.
Stick a small pearl in the centre of each flower.

Using the First Editions small tag die cut 2 tags from the cream card.
Tint the edges of the tags using Tim Holtz Vintage Photo distress ink and the Cut n Dry foam.
Using the Tim Holtz Vintage Photo distress ink Stamp the Hobbycraft sentiment Best onto one tag and Wishes onto the other.
Thread a piece of gold ribbon through the holes of the tags and cut to size.
Stick the tags into position on the base card.
Stick the small pink flower onto the tag to hide the hole.
tick a small pearl at the centre of the pink flower.

Stick 3 amber crystals onto the card.