Maybe it was 24x longer!

All I can say is, I think I turned something simple into something complicated!  But I am happy with the results and now I have 18 birthday cards to add to my stash, I was down to zero!
First I ran out of ink and had to re-ink a new printer and discovered that its cartridges  don't like to be re-inked.  I got through it and all is working fine, if any of you have a Pixma mg3022, I can explain how to do this.  Why would I re-ink instead of buying a new cartridge?  Because reinking cost me 65 cents a cartridge.

I used a lovely bird image from Graciellies Design - I love birds and flowers and botanicals!
I printed this on 130# watercolor paper.  This gives the image a really rich look, The color is a warm white and the black really pops, it has a vintage letterpress look to it that I Love!

I picked out papers from my Anna Griffin stash.  I seem to love papers and images with a high level of contrast.  I love muted tones too, but contrast seems to draw me!

I cut frames and frame backgrounds on my Cricut.

Now you might think 'So why did this take so long?' 

I'm thinking that too!

I distressed te frame background:

I created a template to trace over the focal image and to fit the frame, 

Cut them out and glued them together

I made a happy birthday banner for the bird to carry in his beak.  I used the set Elegant Greetings

and 22 hours later I have a batch of birthday cards:

Honestly, I think it took me four hours over two days to make these, Which is why I did a batch, life is so hectic lately, it is nice to have a stack on hand.  Using this image you could also do, get well's congratulations, happy wedding, happy baby, all kinds of events!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your next batch takes less time!

Ginny M

I also have something special to offer to my blog readers!

a 10% discount at Graciellie Designs!

Here is your code to use at check out!

GINNY10

Enjoy!