Next, I die cut and assembled one of the cardinals from the new "Layering Cardinals" die set. I cut the base cardinal three times from red card stock for dimension and the layering pieces from a darker red card stock. I added some additional interest and darkness by adding some dark red dye ink around the edges of the base bird. I added a black gem for the eye, and for the beak and the feet of the cardinal, I used matte black card stock. As a final detail, I added Glossy Accents to the beak.

For the cardinal's branch, I die cut it three times from Neenah card stock for extra dimension. Again, I went around the edges with a brown ink to darken it. I die cut all the leaves for my branch from the "Assorted Leaf" die set using different shades of green card stock. I darkened the lighter leaves with a bright green dye ink and added Tonic Nuvo Shimmer over all the leaves for even more shine. I arranged the leaves behind the branches and adhered it to the card.

I adhered my cardinal to the branch with some foam tape behind the top of the cardinal so it was level with the dimensional leaves. On the open twigs on the branch, I added some red pearls.

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