Making Kites on Cards with the Swirly Bird stamp set

If you have seen the Swirly Bird stamp set in the Stampin’ Up catalog, you may have thought to yourself that it didn’t look like much… or, like I did, what the heck am I going to do with these shapes?!

But the amazing thing you’ll see if you start looking at cards using this set, is that you end up seeing so many different options and opportunities! Kind of like life, right? You look at the jumble of people and situations and wonder how it all comes together and yet, usually you end up being pleasantly surprised by some of the cool and unexpected ways things come together! So, today I thought I’d share one of the first cards I made with the Swirly Bird stamp set… did you see those weird triangle shapes in the stamp image above? Check it out… they turn into kites when used together!!!

Tips for making this card:

Two stamps means lots of opportunity to play with color – Mix and match your colors for the striped part of the kite and the solid part. I was focusing on Delightful Dijon as this was a card for the OnStage displays using that color, but play around with your favorite colors to find new and fun color combinations!
Cut out some shapes to help your kites float on the breeze – While there is a coordinating thinlit set, it doesn’t cut out the kite image or the little bows. But don’t be dissuaded from adding this pop of dimension! Here are a few of my tips for cutting out stamp shapes so they look great:
– Always leave some white space around the outside of your images!
When I first started cutting out stamped images, I tried to cut exactly on the outline of the image. The problem with that is that I’m an imperfect cutter and so sometimes I would cut right on the line and sometimes I’d cut OFF the line, or leave a little bit of white. Which in the end, didn’t look so great. But when I would cut and always try to leave a little bit of white around the edges, you don’t notice when I’m slightly closer in one spot or a little farther away in others. Plus, it keeps the clean edge of the stamped image in tact, so the image always looks great!
– Move your paper NOT your scissors!
This is another trick that blew my mind when I first started cutting things out. If
you are like me, you learned in kindergarten to open and close the scissors in the direction of where you want to cut. And that works great if you are cutting strips of paper or other mostly straight lines. It doesn’t work so well when you are cutting curves or in little detail areas. So, now, I always start with my scissors open and slowly close them for my cutting, but with my other hand, I move my paper to change direction of the cut. Moving the paper allows for smooth curves and can make it a lot easier to get in to those tight little spaces.
Cut up your dimensionals (and the edges of the foam dimensional sheets!) to pop up even the littlest pieces – I wanted my kites to be floating on the breeze, but then I had to figure out what to do with the tails. Ended up being easy to just cut up some of the edges of dimensional sheets so I could pop up the thin lines behind a few of the bows on each string. Seriously, it is easier than it sounds!
Try the other stamps in unexpected ways! I thought the swirly images in the stamp set looked like birds nests or artsy flowers, but when working on this card, I suddenly saw clouds! That is the beauty of it, you can make them whatever you want! I used Soft Sky ink and then for fun, added a white sequin from the Metallic Sequins assortment to the middle of each with a glue dot.

I loved how this card came together and hope it inspires you to give this stamp set a second look and maybe you’ll see some fun and unexpected combinations for an amazing project!

And speaking of fun and amazing new products and projects, if you missed it over on my YouTube channel, I posted an “unboxing” video to walk through all the new ribbons, papers, accessories, kits, and many many new stamp sets! In fact, I had so much I couldn’t keep it all in one box! So, check it out and see if you find any unexpected favorites in there Smile