Blue Buntings

Oh my... made this last week and am just now trying to catch up on showing some cool projects (well, I think they are cool!)  Here's a good'n:

Supplies and notes:

• First, let me say, as I've been struggling with images, I finally came to the conclusion I'd have to build my own photo box.  (I've had excellent luck taking images outdoors on the side of the shack, but with all of the snow and my crazy crafting schedule, I needed an alternative). So, the other night, I was granted crafting time (as anyone with kids might understand), so I took a sip of my drink and went to work on a Costco chip box.  This is one of my first indoor-nighttime images... hang in there... I'll be tweaking the design little by little...)
• I used Ranger Transparent Texture Paste through a Heidi Swapp stencil on a library card base
• Alcohol inks then added: Mermaid, Rust, Gold, and some blending solution
• I used birds from my go-to guide bought specifically a lifetime ago when I was in Ornithology for the purpose of destroying... in a good way: I made placemats for my apartment of the birds I had to study.  Still have the placemats, still craft from the book!  Still study birds... 
• Vintage seam binding
• Sequin strand from Target
• I had typed a quote from Roger Tory Peterson (even though this wasn't a Peterson guide), but the quote covered too much of the gorgeous background... I think I'll glue it to the back.  I typed the quote with my old typewriter onto parchment and then dipped it through puddles of Vintage Photo and Chipped Sapphire Distress Paint (UPDATED... DONE!) It said something like: Birds are free and have a mobility that most people envy...

I plan to enter this into the following challenges:

• STAMPlorations Mixed Media for January
  
• Stamps & Stencils: Oh So Blue: (This may not qualify for a win because it is not mostly blue, but this project was one of many that started out with intentions to be entered into this challenge, so, by gum, I'm going to give it a shot... [read in the voice of an old man in an old Warner Brothers cartoon])
• Simon Says Stamp on Monday: Stencil It... to which I said, "OKAY!"