Welcome to my crafty blog and our new theme at the Alphabet Challenge. This time it’s the letter F, and Lynda has opted for ‘furry friends’ as the subject.

This ‘birdhouse garden’ set from Claritystamp is one of my all-time favourites and I thought it was about time I got it out again. I’ve actually CASE’d (Copy and Selectively Edit) this card from one I saw on Pinterest quite a while back – it really makes me think of a garden in summer. I’ve also used a slimline (DL) card, which isn’t my usual choice but I thought would work, thanks to the current challenge at Inkspirational

I started with a slimline (DL) card blank, and masked off the top and bottom with low tack tape. Then lightly brushed Distress Oxides in ‘broken china’ and ‘mowed lawn’ along the panel – the green was a bit lighter than I wanted, so I added some ‘iced spruce’ onto it as well.

The next step was to add the bird table, along with the animals and birds. That does look like a big crow sat on the bird table, but I have to tell you they are not small around here at the moment!

I then added in some more plants – I used one of the ‘wee foliage’ stamps for this in first and second generation black Archival, using a small piece of torn paper so I could vary how high they were. Slightly worried I might have overcooked it at this point, but we had such a wet May here followed by a very warm first two weeks of June that everything in the garden has grown vigorously! I also used the torn paper & a sponge to add a bit more definition in the landscape plus some shade along the plants.

I finished by running a micron pen along the edges of the panel (which stopped the squirrel from hovering in mid-air!) and then added the sentiment along the top edge.

Now, Lynda’s theme for Alphabet may be ‘furry friends’, but I think these ones might be frenemies! I can see a little story going on here, with the cat keeping a close eye on the bird, who’s busy defending the seeds & nuts on the bird table from the cheeky squirrel – what do you think?