A little birdie told me . . . Case Study, CASology, and Cards for Diggers

Yep! I promised cards with little birdies on them, and here they are!

First up, I was able to take inspiration from this week's challenge at Case Study, from this cute card here:

Here's my version:

So greatful for the idea of cutting apart the words once I'd stamped out my "Happy Birthday".

I am also entering this at CASology . . .

. . . because if cute little birds don't say happy, then what does, really?

I had another 2 pairs of birds to play with, and lots of cards needed this week, so I also made . . .

This next card ended up being my favourite, though.  I started with the idea of sewing some strips of paper from my paper strip stash .  Then, when I went looking for a base card to sew them onto, I came across a card which already had a circular window cut into it.  Now maybe  it's just because I was watching Baz Lurhmann's version of Romeo and Juliet last night, but that gave me an even better idea . . .

I love how the yellow bird is "serenading" the pink bird.  Note to self: make cards with windows more often!

From the perspective of using my Couterfeit Kit for these cards, well, I always reserved the right to add scraps from my stash, didn't I?  The birds (cut from the back of the blue paper on the last page I posted), the twine, ribbon and yellow paper on the second card are the only things strictly from the kit.  But everything else is from the stash, and I am A-OK with that.

In other card- and Counterfeit Kit- related news, the Counterfeit Kit girls issued a challenge to make a card for "Operation Write Home" (where card-makers donate cards for use by the US military).  This was not the first time I had heard of this concept, so I figured it was time to do some research and see if I could find an equivalent that was a little closer to home.

I found one, and it's called Cards for Diggers.  At the moment they are appealing primarily for Christmas cards, but after an email to Tracey, the organiser, I was happy to discover that cards for any and all occassions are greatfully received.  I've pulled a whole pile of cards from my "finished card" stash (some Christmas, but not all), and am hoping they'll be on their way to Tracey by the end of the week!