A little birdie told me...

 ...to use that piece of patterned paper, rather than hoarding it!

For a long time, I had an 8" X 8" piece of DSP in my stash that was patterned with some pretty birds. Because each of the birds was quite large, I couldn't figure out how to use it for a very long time.

Finally, I decided to use a circle die and cut out as many of them as I could (four of them!) to use on cards. I came up with the card design you see above, where I have cut away a portion of the top of the card front.

I have some pastel pink, adhesive backed, polka dot fabric (yes, actual fabric) that I adhered to the front. I glued a piece of pale pink cardstock to the inside. It was important that the solid pink match the polka dot fabric because both would be visible from the front.

The die-cut circle with the bird was backed with a slightly larger circle of the same cardstock that was used to make the card base. It was then popped up with foam tape.

I added a pink vellum, two-layer, die-cut flower over one of the flowers in the paper's design, just for a bit more dimension. The flower center is a Nuvo Drop.

The sentiIment was stamped, die-cut and popped up with foam strips.

In this photo you can see how I cut the card base. I used the same circle die that I had used for the mat behind the bird image to partially die-cut the half-circle on the front.  This is called the "partial die-cutting technique," and there are many videos online showing how to do it. 

I used a ruler and a craft knife to cut to the left and right of the half-circle and then to cut along the score line up to the top of the card.

An arched rectangle die was used to cut the perfect size and shape for a stamped sentiment panel on the inside.

It was very satisfying to come up with a card design that showed off these pretty birds and to finally use up that piece of DSP. Do you ever get stuck for a while, not knowing how to use some of your supplies? I get a lot of bits and pieces from the thrift store, and I often have to leave them lay for weeks before I land on an idea for using them.

Thanks so much for stopping by, and remember to laugh--a little or a lot--every day.

Cheryl