Happy April 2012 Everyone:)

I am so very pleased to tell you all that

as of this month

Birdnuts Mixed Media

is 

1 Year Old!

Woo Hoo!!!

It's my 

1 Year Anniversary 

of my blog, 

and Oh boy has it been a

Fabulous Year!!!

When I finally decided to jump in both

feet and start a blog, I really didn't know

how it would be received, as this is

a late in life choice that I had made,

and I haven't looked back since!!!

In just 1 Year, 

I'm Gobsmacked to say,

that I somehow managed to get the 

attention of some 

Fabulous Internet Shop Owners 

who have so graciously 

invited me to be 

Guest Designer and

Resident Artist for Representing their Shops!

I've even managed through 

Graphics45

to have a couple of my Favourite Pieces

Showcased in their Customer Gallery.

I've had the Great Pleasure of having

a Fabulous Assortment of Wonderful Artists

and Artisans 'Friend' Me on Facebook!

Which I invite you all to 

send me a 'Friend' Invite as well!

(Badge on my Column)

And even Better is all of You!!!

As of this month, 

350 Followers

and 

over 12,000 Views!

in just 1 Year!

I'm So Proud!!!

So Thank You all so very much!

And do stay tuned as throughout

this whole Month of April 

I will be posting all sorts of

surprises!!!

So I want to get the month started with 

one of my 

Lovely Internet Shops 

that

I'm Proud to say that I'm

Artist in Residence for:)

Gail Schmidt

of

Shabby Cottage Studio

Gail has brought in a Beautiful Assortment

of New Goodies into her shop and

listed more Fabulous Tutorial Classes to boot!

From Wonderful New Line of Journals

for Art Journaling

to

Pan Pastels

and 

Supplies

In a Plethora of Colours to chose from!!

And one of Gail's New Items are

something I just love to play with!

The Crafters Choice

and

Balzer Design

6 x 6 Stencils!

So to Celebrate Gail's 

New Goodies

 in her Shop, 

I thought I'd give you a Mini Tutorial

on how I like to use the

New 6x6 

'The Crafters Choice' Stencils:)

Stencil Backgrounds 

for ATC's, (Artist Trading Cards), 

Envelopes, Journal Pages

and So Much More!!

For this mini tutorial, I chose the

Harlequin 6x6 Template Stencil

and Used 

Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist

Using blank ATC Cards and Envelopes

for ATC's.....

...and a couple of my Favourite Script Stamps

and StazOn Black Ink....

....I started by stamping the blank cards

and envelopes with the Script Stamps....

...then with the 

'Harlequin'  Crafters Choice Stencil

I sprayed the blanks with

Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist.

This gave me a great starting point for

creating this ATC Card and Envelope....

'Oh Deer Harlequin'

LOL!!!

(Yup, Me and My Deer Again!)

For for an added bit of fun, on the back 

of the ATC, I used a Library Card Holder

to sign my ATC with:)

The Fabulous Assortment of 

The Crafters Choice Stencils

and all the other 

Wonderful New Products 

that Gail has just listed

will certainly get your Mojo going

for some Fun!!

So I hope my Mini Tutorial gives you

lots of ideas on making some wonderful

backgrounds as a start to some 

Fantastic New Projects 

for you all!!

And do check back soon, 

as there's 

lots more ahead here on 

Birdnuts Mixed Media!!

Enjoy!!!