The Birds, The Birds

Hello all, for the second time tonight!  Although I've already been here once this evening for PaperArtsy, now it's time for the new challenge over at A Vintage Journey, and I'm so happy that I'm finally able to jump back on board after having to take a break from vintage journeying for some actual journeying!



The very lovely Chris is our host this fortnight, and she's looking for Birds of a Feather...

Get out your avian stash and come fly with us for this leg of the Vintage Journey we're all on.

Remember to check out our Travelling Instructions to be sure you'll qualify for a shot at the prize voucher from our generous sponsor Country View Crafts.

There's lots of feathery inspiration for you over at A Vintage Journey, but before you migrate over there, here's what I came up with.

I seem to have missed the autumnal crafting boat - a pity, as I love those colours - and my mindset has moved firmly towards winter.









These two wintry tags were made separately, and seemed very different from one another at first, but I noticed they had a couple of things in common...

The birds, of course...












And the bare branches...















And they also share the same script stamp for texture - one in Coffee Archival...













... and the other stamped in DecoArt Chalk Paint.













So although one of them is full of strong colour (yup, my favourite browns and blues are definitely taking pride of place on my craft table at the moment), and has bold graphic detail from the stencilling...













... while the other is pale and snowily monochromatic, with just a touch of additional texture from some sponged Picket Fence Distress Stain...












... I decided to use matching embellishments to make them into a pair.  The Word Bands may just be my favourite Idea-ology pieces of all, I think...










And if words are your thing, you can't go wrong with a pen nib!

There are toppings of crinkled ribbon, dyed to suit, as usual, and both tied with black paper string just to pair them a little more strongly.






And that's pretty much that.  Sometimes these amazing Distress products and some atmospheric stamps are all you need, and that's what I was in the mood for this time around.

I hope you'll hop over to A Vintage Journey to see what my amazing team-mates have cooked up, and that you'll be inspired to join us for this leg of the journey with your Birds of a Feather.

Be as a bird perched on a frail branch that she feels bending beneath her, still she sings away all the same, knowing she has wings.
Victor Hugo

While I'm here I'm also going to do a quick plug for my festive make over at PaperArtsy, seeing as it had only a bare few hours to make its presence felt before the birds swooped in (the birds, the birds).

If you're looking for a simple way to make your Christmas more crafty, do hop over and take look at my Perrella Presents!









And thanks to the fabulous Deborah from The Rusty Cage for the suggestion to play along at Tag Along with their Winter theme.  I'd like to enter the frosty blue branches there.  That's my first challenge entry in ages!!