Meet Merry. He will grace one of the pages in our mini book, but for now, we are going to use him to show us how a birdie is born.

To begin with, let me just say that I know the colors on these pics are kinda whacked. Apparently my dining room is more fluorescent than I bargained for, so apologies. Really, the papers at my house are all the right colors.

Use your template to trace a bird shape.

Cut him out, and then find a piece of scrap paper that partially covers him. Trace the part it covers and cut it out.

Aww, look, he has a turtleneck! Hmm, he doesn’t like it, so why don’t we trim that into a v-neck sweater. Very preppy of him.

We’ll give him a jaunty little ascot as well. I like him in red. Just trim it to fit. Ink your edges and glue it down.

Now, I think that sweater needs a little something, so we’ll use some scraps to create a mask that covers up the bird’s bum and the ascot. If you think of this ahead of time, you can skip this step and add accents before you glue it down.

Ahh, I like this stamp. It makes me happy. So we add that to his sweater, move the mask pieces and voila- very cute.

Now he needs some accessories. I’d like to bring out the yellow in the paper, especially on this bit of star grungeboard. I am only half unpacked, and I have no idea where most of my ink pads and paint daubers are boxed up, so we improvise! I have an ugly mustard color that is too dark, and my daughter happens to be coloring at the table with me, and has graciously lent me her bright yellow crayon. I mix the two- and perfect! Weathered and cute. I did experiment a bit on some scrap grunge to see if it would work out first.

Now I cut out a star just bigger than the grunge board in red to help our star pop.

We need to add some details before we glue it on. Add a little faux stitching.

Now check out the edges of your papers- don’t they have cute names? Don’t they have cute lettering? Lettering you could totally steal and put on your bird? Awesome! You could also stamp out what you wanted to say. At any rate- let’s give him a message.

Before you adhere those bits, glue on some twine. To make a simple knot without adding a bunch of bulk, lay one piece under another, glue them down and tie a little knot. Trim the knot’s edges.

Now just layer on your words and star accent, and he’s dressed and ready to go! Handsome little guy, isn’t he? He looks good on my Christmas tree, which brings me to my next point.

If you don’t have time to do the entire album, but you are enjoying the look and feel of things- why not do up a few quick ornaments? Pop a ribbon through the bird and he’d happily nestle into your tree and look festive.

Now. . .we do have a winner!!!

The random number generator told me that 38 was the lucky one:

#38

Cute little album. I wish I had enough creativity to do stuff like that.

http://peace-inthe-storm.blogspot.com/2008/12/scrapbooking-how-to.html

Comment by Elda — December 10, 2008 @ 9:29 am

Congrats Elda! E-mail me your contact info and I’ll send you the Cosmo Cricket “Chemistry” paper kit!

For those who didn’t win this time- don’t despair I have a few more give-a-ways up my sleeve. . .plenty of schwag coming in the very near future, so keep checking back!

cleaning up bloodstains. . .

all nonchalantly. . .

like . . .

yeah, here at the Godfather’s house. . .

these things happen. . .

Jonas had a major bloody nose- and even though he ran from the couch to the bathroom- well- it looks like murder in here.

He started bleeding in the living room, so he ran, dripping all the way, to the downstairs bathroom. He trashed it. There is blood all over the toilet and sink and floor, so I send him upstairs with his shirt wrapped around his face, beseeching him NOT to drip on my carpets, but to go get in the tub.

I clean up the half bath and all of the drips on the main floor and the sofa. This takes about twenty minutes, but I’m not complaining because finally I don’t have carpeting to worry about downstairs. Wood floors are so easy to clean! I can hear him in the tub upstairs, and assume all is well.

I go upstairs where I find another trail of blood leading me not into his bathroom, but MINE. There is blood on my bedding (which is on the floor because my sheets are in the dryer from Maggie sweating all over them last night), there is blood in my carpet, in the master bath toilet, on the floor and I open the shower door to see a bath tub that is bright red and full of water.

I’m seriously expecting to find him passed out in the bloody tub- that is how much blood there is!

I followed the bloody trail to his bathroom, which also looks like a crime scene, and he is standing in another tub full of blood. It is smeared on the walls, the floor, the toilet, all over him. . . it’s like Carrie at the prom.

There have been neater axe murders than what I’m dealing with.

So I ‘m on my hands and knees with a rag trying to get up all this gore before it sets into the carpet forever. I am very pregnant. I am also very full since I just gorged myself on Mexican food about an hour ago. I feel like a bloated, beached whale. I scrub, scrub, scrub. . . contraction. . . scrub scrub scrub. . .contraction.

Forty minutes people. It takes 40 minutes to clean it all up.

Unbelievable.