Sweet Tweets - Upcycled Cards

Yesterday I assembled a few (all right -- 20) cards. I saw a winsome bird motif on another blog and felt wooed by the simple lines and clever idea.

 

I dove into production and I didn't take any step-by-step pictures. BUT, what I did was so easy, I know you can do it too and have amazing results. First, I made bird body patterns using an old manila folder.  I drew two small birds, one with tail up and one with tail down. I liked the tail-up version and made a slightly larger rendering of that one.

 

Satisfied with my three sweet little birds, I made them each a manila wing. I pulled out Turkish marbled paper, maps, pages of music, and kitchen labels. Oh, and several paint sample cards too! The mixing and matching began!

Experimenting with designs and colors meant some serious play time. Once I felt satisfied with a combination, I used double-sided tape to anchor the bird, its wing, and small beak on a card.

I stacked up several before setting up my sewing machine. Taking a big breath, I ran each card under the needle so that machine stitches added style as well as extra hold.

I love this little fellow with a wing from a Wild Sweet Orange tea envelope.

Sewing on paper was new to me, but the work went well and I really like the final result.

The combination possibilities boggle the mind. In the best sort of way, of course.

 Map wing, paint sample card body, marbled paper card!

 A paper sugar bag became the bright pink body of this cheery bird.

An old map serves as the card behind a Trader Joe's spiced chai label body and marbled music wing.

The marbled music used as a wing on a previous card, now serves as the background for this striped pink songstress.

The other side of the Wild Sweet Orange tea envelope works well with a purple paint sample card.

 

Culture is Learned found its way from an old sociology textbook to the wing of this charming bird cut from the brilliant blue of a world map.

Have you up-cycled something recently? Please share!

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