Stamped Birdhouse by Katy Leitch

Hi everyone, Katy here with my very first post for the Rubber Dance DT.
My project today is a pretty altered birdhouse using the stunning A Little Birdie set as my main focal stamp. I have a real thing about birds and these ones are just adorable!

Rubber Dance stamps used: B3-M A Little Birdie, NP5-M Weed Love

I bought the wooden birdhouse at Michael's (USA), and have also found a quite similar one online at Calico Grafts (UK). 


Step by step instructions:

1) Paint the birdhouse all over with acrylic paint (I used a pale green – my paint was opaque but if yours isn’t undercoat with gesso).

2) Tear pieces of vintage music sheet and adhere the music sheet to the birdhouse.

3) Knock the black of the music paper back with watered down acrylic paint (the same colour as used in step 1).

4) Stamp the Weed Love images all over the birdhouses in Leaf Green and Olive Archival Inks – it’s easier to do this on the sides without an acrylic block. If you have a very awkward shape, consider stamping onto tissue paper instead and adhering the tissue with decoupage medium. Stamp the words from A Little Birdie also.

5) Ink all around the edges with Watering Can Archival to give some definition. Add some twine to give texture.

6) Stamp the bird three times – colour the legs on one, the body on another and the wing only on the third. Cut out as shown. 

7) Die cut a branch and add it with flowers and Idea-ology Foliage (Tim Holtz), placing the bird legs on top.

8) Shape the body of the bird, and the wing, and adhere in place using silicone glue.

Finish with more Idea-ology and twine to the roof.







Top tips!

• Permanent ink is best to stamp over paint – my favourite is Archival but you could also use StazOn.

• To hide the cut white edges on the fussy cut bird use Archival Ink applied right around the edge with a Cut-N-Dry Nib – the nib allows really precise application.

• If the silhouette birds don’t stamp perfectly simply use a permanent black pen to fill any small gaps.


Here are two more views of the birdhouse – it’s decorated on all sides:

Supply list:

All the stamps used for this project are from Rubber Dance and can be found on these pages:
Animals (B3-M - A Little Birdie)
Nature  (NP5-M - Weed Love)

Other products:

Wooden birdhouse (available from Calico Crafts)
Old music paper
Acrylic paint
Permanent black ink
Permanent inks in green and grey (I used Archival Leaf Green, Olive & Watering Can)
Coloured pencils or other colouring medium of your choice
Metal charms
Paper flowers
Twine


If you can’t find a little birdhouse to decorate, why not make your own version from chipboard? I cut mine from chipboard using Tim Holtz’s Artful Dwellings die but you could just hand cut a shape.

I really hoped you enjoyed my project as much as I enjoyed making it. 
See you next month.

Katy x
My blog: http://postcardsfromtheattic.blogspot.co.uk



To find the stamps used for these projects, and many more, visit the Rubber Dance website at www.rubberdance.com. You can meet us on Facebook - come on over and say hi!

Click here to read about Katy and the other DT members.