Rose Blossom Bird Feeder

Do you ever see something in a store that you could alter and instantly get an idea? Well that's what happened to me when I was in Joann Fabrics one day and seen this little bird feeder. It was cute and had kind of a shabby look going on but I wanted to change it up a bit. I decided to use the bird feeder for one of my Spellbinder Design Team gallery projects.
I started out by cutting and embossing ArtEmboss soft metal sheets (it's like a crafting foil) from Amaco using the Rose Blossoms Edgeabilities die (s4 044) from Spellbinders. If you haven't ever used the metal sheets it is really easy to work with and it works great in the Wizard. It comes in a variety or colors (with a silver back) and also in copper, brass and pewter. The colored foil can also be sanded, doing this really makes embossed images pop! I cut out enough pieces to go all the way around the top edge of the bird feeder. I wanted the foil die cuts to hold the raised embossing so I filled the back of the die cut with clear household silicone which also works great for an adhesive.

Here is the backside of the foil die cut. ~
You want to make sure you completely fill it in as shown here.~ Then I started placing the foil pieces around the top edge of the bird feeder. I let a little of the foil hang over the edge to give the bird feeder a little more dimension. Here is a close up of what the foil looks like once the top is done.I also wanted to add some foil around the bottom and on the hanger so I cut and embossed several pieces of foil using the Doodle Parts die (S4 121) from Spellbinders and following the same instructions as above I adhered the foil.

Here is a picture with the foil Doodle Parts around the bottom and on the hanger.~Once I had all of the foil pieces adhered I let the bird feeder sit over night so the adhesive would dry and the silicone would firm up. The next morning I took the bird feeder apart so I could start painting it. I used Coffee Bean (brown) acrylic paint from Plaid for the first two layers of paint. You can just use a sponge brush to apply the paint. I wanted the bottom layers of paint to be dark so once the bird feeder was sanded it would have distressed or "shabby" look. After the brown paint was dry then I put on two coats of Parchment (ivory) acrylic paint from Plaid. Once all of the paint was dry then I lightly sanded all of the metal pieces.

All of the coloring was done using the Copic sketch markers. Here is a close up of the top once all of the coloring was done.As you can see from the pictures I also added a doodle and a butterfly to the cylinder part . The doodle was done using the Doodle Part (s4 121) die and Flying Beauties (S4 123) die from Spellbinders. The doodle part was done exactly like the other foil pieces. For the Butterfly I made two die cuts, one was using the foil and it was cut and embossed and the other was just a die cut that was cut from brass. I did this so the butterfly would be more sturdy. On the foil piece I filled in the back with the silicone and then placed the brass die cut on the back. Once the butterfly was dry I painted, sanded and colored the doodle piece and the butterfly. Then I used an adhesive to adhere the pieces to the acrylic cylinder.

Here is the finished bird feeder.~To see another beautiful and very inspiring project done with foil, be sure to stop by another Spellbinders Design Team Member's blog Paper Fections by Sharon Harnist. Sharon designed and altered a beautiful Herb Garden using the foil technique.

Supplies~
Spellbinders--Wizard Universal Die Cutting and Embossing System, Rose Blossoms Edgeabilities (s4 044), Doodle Parts (S4 121), Flying Beauties (S4 123)
Amaco--Cerulean Blue Foil, Light Brass
Beacon Adhesives--Fabri-Tac
Copic--Sketch Markers-V01, V04, B21, B23, BV04, G24, YG95
Plaid--Acrylic Paint-Coffee Bean, Parchment
Joann Fabrics--Bird Feeder
Loctite--Clear Household Silicone
Other--Sponge Brush, Sanding Block

Using the Spellbinders dies and the foil you can take something that is ordinary and turn it into extraordinary!

Thank you so much for stopping by today! I hope you are having a fantastic week!!

Smiles!
Heidi