I am in a swap group that does themed swaps. One of the January swaps focuses on symbols of the new year, and the swap organizer listed birches as one of the symbols. Apparently birches are very resilient so they are considered a sign of rebirth and the new year.
With that new fact in mind, I decided to use my new, never-been-used birch dies to create a care. I die cut the trees from watercolor paper and watercolored the bark to create the traditional dark gray patches. To create the background panel, I watercolored a blue sky and left the bottom third of the paper white to be snow. After placing the trees on the background, I painted two birds and added some shadows with gray paint, then added a sentiment.
This card is entered in these challenges:
NBUS #82 -- NBUS item is the birch tree dies
Crafts Galore Encore #143 -- anything goes
Colorful Options -- blues, whites and grays
Die-cut Divas -- use a new item
Word Art Wednesday #733 -- anything goes
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday -- add a sentiment
Sandy, you have really captured the essence of the new year. I love the snowy feel of this card, and the Cardinals are wonderful too. I can see why birches may be a sign of a fresh start, possibly because they peel their bark so much, but that’s just a guess. Thanks so much for sharing this with us at Word Art Wednesday. From all of us, we wish you and your family a very happy new year!
ReplyDeleteSweet cardinals in the birch trees! Thanks for sharing at Die Cut Divas!!
ReplyDeleteYour background is exactly like the sky where I live today. The sentiment is perfect for a wintry day. So glad you joined us at Die Cut Divas for our January 2026 Challenge.
ReplyDeleteYou've painted a wonderful wintry work of art, Sandy! Excellent sky and shading and the birds are so sweet! Thank you for inspiring everyone to use their NBUS! Happy New Year! Hugs, Darnell
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