Pile It On Challenge # 05- Just Because

Hello everyone and welcome to a new challenge from Pile it On! This week our sponsor is Stamp n Doodle. The winner will receive 2 images of their choice! Our theme this week is 'Just Because', so please come join us with your 'Just Because' cards and link up with all those challenges!
I have to admit that this week was a bit of a stretch for me, a little outside of my comfort zone, but that is why I love challenges because they DO stretch you and you become a better crafter because of it, and I actually like how this card turned out.

I used the pretty bird image from Stamp n Doodle. I am not super familiar with bird species, but seeing as it is winter I went with a cardinal type of bird. Somewhere along the way of creating this card it became more of a masculine style, lol, but that is actually good because masculine cards are always scarce in my stockpile. The sketch inspiration was from this weeks challenge at Top Tip Tuesday.(**Here is my tip: when you are working with small die cut pieces like the birds on the banner, I usually run them through my mini-Xyron. It is just an easier way to get adhesive on the entire piece. If they are ultra-tiny (like the dots on i's or super small layers) I use my Zig glue pen.) This banner was cut from Rock Princess- I liked how the birds on it continued the bird theme in the card and then I ran it through my Cuttlebug. I thought this folder had a woodsy feel to it that fit with the rest of the card as well.
Other supplies used:
Paper: Colorbok, Stamp: Pink by Design, Twine: My Craft Spot, Digital Stamp: Stamp n Doodle, colored with Copics.

Here are my challenges for this week:
Top Tip Tuesday: sketch (see my tip above)
Stamp N Doodle - include an animal
Die Cuttin' Divas: Buttons, bows or bling
4 Crafty Chicks - Pokin' Fun (brads or eyelets)
Digi Doodles - Anything goes
Stampin' for the Weekend- embossing
Sweet Stampin' Challenge - animals
Card Makin' Mamas - Something old (all the paper is at least a couple years old!!)
Pixie Dust Studio - Include an animal
Victorine - anything goes
Crafty Catz - things with wings