Build a Birdhouse Archives - Kathy by Design

Photoplay Beach Vibes Mixed Media Bird House Card Tutorial with Spellbinders Dies

Hello, Friends! Today’s Beach Vibes Mixed Media Bird House Card Tutorial is definitely not for the birds! It’s a super cute, happy and beachy card made from scraps, so it’s perfect for our Throwback Thursday tutorial this week.

We’re working with a few scraps (and I do mean a few!) of Photoplay Paper’s darling Beach Vibes paper collection. I had no real focal image left, so I had to create a focal image using Spellbinder’s Build a Summer Bird House dies. If I were a bird, I would definitely take up residence in this adorable lighthouse shaped bird house. How about you?

Paper Waves, Fussy Cut Beach Huts and Mixed Media Details

Torn paper edges are a great way to mimic the shoreline on a beach themed card. The tutorial will show you how I layered these torn bits of designer paper to achieve that effect. Then, fussy cut beach houses from scraps of designer paper and tuck them between the layers to add depth and dimension to your card design. Age your beachy birdhouse with ink, dry brushed ivory paint, and tapped on bits of blue paint. Here’s how I created my lighthouse:

First, die cut the light house birdhouse from heavy kraft paper.
Die cut again from copper metallic paper, then blue woodgrain from the paper collection.
Carefully trim the copper roof from one die cut, and the blue roof from the other.
Adhere the blue lighthouse layer over the kraft.
Then back the copper with thin foam tabs and adhere.
Back the light area with vellum paper and trim around it.
Cut the light from silver foil and adhere behind the “glass”.
Adhere a gem in the center of the light.
Cut the posts from kraft cardstock and treat with brushed on ink and paints. Back with foam tape and adhere.

A Peek Inside

When we create the card base, I’ll show you how easy it is to score in a pocket. Then we will create a little gift card wallet and journal card together.

Little touches like this turn a simple card into a gift.

Beach Vibes Mixed Media Bird House Tutorial on YouTube

If you’d like to see me create this card base and watch the way I created the layers on the card front, I hope you’ll enjoy this video tutorial on my YouTube channel.