Green Thumb in Training!

The challenge put up by ARTastic for March was to use texture. I loved the inspiration of "Bluebirds" but didn't have any "bird" photos, however I felt the photo I used had a "bird" connection so I went with it. The day this photo was taken my great-niece Lilly was learning how to garden with the help of her wonderful grandma. It was a lovely, sunny day and the birds were chirping and flying around. If you look really carefully in the top, left-hand corner of the photo,  you can even see a bird flying by.

 

To create some texture in the background  I crumpled a sheet of tissue paper and glued it to some white cardstock. I then spritzed it with yellow Glimmer Mist. I cut the yellow circle from self-embossed cardstock and put the orange circle through an embossing folder. For a bit more texture I inked a couple of paper doilies and layered them beneath the photo. I found the insert from a box of chocolates, inked it to emphasise the texture, and cut a banner from it.  I then added a strip of ric-rac and a strip of punched cardstock  below the photo.

I then added an assortment of flowers, some of which I layered for more texture. Some of the flowers have fluffy yellow centres, some have hard jewelled centres. I found a vine of gold leaves, which I cut into separate pieces and added to the bird's wing.Even though the striped paper has no surface texture, it gives the impression with the print of  the leaf skeleton.
Hope you like my efforts.
PS Thanks to everyone who left comments on my entry for February. I really appreciate your comments and your support.
Cheers, Chris.