Strikingly Simple Designs with Collaged Birds

Hey there, crafty friends! Marie here again from Marie Nicole Designs. I am thrilled to be back on the Spellbinders blog to bring you several card designs I created using the designs from the Dina Wakley Collaged Birds collection!

In this collection is a few sets of Better Press plates that also include the coordinating dies. I also enjoyed using some coordinating sentiments and 3D embossing folders.

I was very inspired to keep the designs simple and use just a few bold colors together. You can see that on all three cards I have black, white, red and gold.

The first card I created features the COLLAGED BIRDS Better Press set. This set includes the birds, some scripty font, and the coordinating dies for the birds. I pressed the birds using black ink and then die cut them.

There is also a splatter pattern in this set that I wanted to use. The set does come with a template for placing all these elements, if you’d prefer, but I decided to go with my own design.

I first added a gold circle using some gold watercolor that I added to the rim of a container cap about the size I wanted. Then, I carefully pressed it onto the paper. After the watercolor was dry, I added the font Better Press plate to the background, but with no foil or ink. This way, I was able to press the font image into the paper to give an embossed look. It’s subtle in the background but it definitely adds some texture.

Then over the background, I added the splatters. I inked up the splatter Better Press plate with some red ink, and pressed it onto my background. Next, I added the birds on some foam adhesive, and the sentiment.

For the sentiments on today’s cards, I used the Better Press HOLDING YOU HEART sentiment plates with some embossing ink, and then heat embossed them with white embossing powder on black cardstock. The sentiments also come with coordinating dies to perfectly cut out sentiment strips.

For my second card, I wanted to keep within the theme of my design while mixing it up a bit. I pressed the birds onto my background, again using black ink. Then, I pressed the birds again onto a separate piece of paper and fussy cut them out very close to the outline of the image. I used these bird images as masks.

I covered the birds on the bottom of my card with the masks I created, and then added some tape across the background at an angle, and then ink blended my red ink onto the bottom. This way, I was able to add the red ink to only the background of the birds. Before I removed my masks and masking tape, I added splatters with my gold watercolor.

To finish this card, I added one of my sentiment strips, and then mounted this front panel over the background with foam adhesive. My background I embossed with the SCRIBBLED FONT 3D Embossing Folder.

For my third and final card, I used the large feather from the FEATHER DREAM Better Press set. The feather images in this set are so gorgeously detailed! The very first thing I did was mask off a vertical rectangle about the height of the largest feather. I ink blended the rectangle in red, and then removed the masking tape.

Then, I carefully placed the feather plate onto my Better Press platform in just the right spot so that when I pressed it, it would align with the rectangle with a little overlap.

I used the watercolor-on-the-cap trick again to add that gold half-circle, but this time I masked off just the side of the cap I wanted to press onto my paper with tape, and then applied my gold color. The tape sticking out the top and bottom of the lid helped me to line it up on the side of the feather and press it in just the right spot.

And after my half-circle was applied, I added splatters diagonally from one corner to the other. I then finished this design by adding my embossed sentiment right over the center of these shapes and images. I love the precise simplicity of it!

Thanks so much for stopping by today to see these designs created with the Dina Wakely Collaged Birds collection. This was such fun set of cards for me to create, and I hope you have some ideas and inspiration to get you creating as well.

Until next time,
Marie Nicole

Spellbinders Supplies:

Other supplies

White cardstock, red ink, gold watercolor, paintbrush, foam adhesive, masking tape, embossing ink, white embossing powder