Birthday Matches

This idea was a very, very disappointing, so it’s a case of going back to the drawing board and trying again.

My niece's 21st birthday is coming up and I thought it would be nice to have some special “birthday” matches with which to light the 21 candles on her cake.

I will admit to being really lazy and thought I could just suitably cover a matchbox I already had ….. using a piece of sparkly hologram paper and a bit of doodling ….. however covering the box was a lot more fiddly than I thought, and my doodling was a far cry from the “cute and magical” I had envisioned ….

So I am going to get out my Stampin’ Up Sizzix Matchbox die and approach the idea properly ….. but am I right in thinking that matches will strike on sand paper???

Doodled Birthday Cake Card

This card measures 14cms x 14cms.

I’ve made another doodled card, it’s very basic I know,  but hopefully,  once I become more confident with my drawing and with all the computer gubbings that creating a download involves, I will get a bit more adventurous.  This is quite a learning curve for me …… but it’s certainly keeping my brain ticking over! 

I’ve created three free jpg. files which you can downloaded and can be resized, printed off and put into whatever project you use them for …. the designs are doodled, so please do not expect that lines are perfectly straight etc.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/h4crica1wfujpg4/Happy%20Birthday%20Panel.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0tcz4w1tvjjzssh/Birthday%20Cake.jpg

https://www.dropbox.com/s/ecqicpg41xxcc0k/Happy%20Birthday%20Banner.jpg

I have also created a pdf file that can just be printed off and then cut out, which has an extra candle design on it.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/yzpwvefzqev5lw1/its%20all%20fiddle%20fart%20Birthday.pdf

*Although I have created the files,  I cannot really help with any technical problems you have downloading or using them.  I would also ask that although the files are free,  they are not used as part of a competition or challenge without my prior permission*

Sewing Themed Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is the sort of card I would love to get.

I’ve covered the front of the card with a dressmaking themed paper from my Papermania A5 Bookprint paper pack. I’ve then added another paper that I thought looked  “retro” (and reminded me of my summer school uniform from way back when!).  The other bits and pieces include a length of tape measure type ribbon, tiny red ric rac braid, a Craftwork Cards circle sentiment and butterflies from a pack of K & Co. 3D embellishments that Dianne in Florida sent me from Michaels.

Broadway Birthday Card

This card is A5 in size and is made using a blue shimmer effect hand cut blank.

My sister in law asked me to make this card for a friends daughter, the brief was that Charlee had just starred as Arial  in the school production of Footloose and perhaps a Broadway theme with her name up in lights might be a nice idea!  No pressure there then!!

I asked for a photo of Charlee knowing that there are some brilliant photo editing websites where I might be able to find a billboard or something similar to edit the photo into, and I hit the jackpot first time on the site below.

http://www.writeonit.org/

After creating the picture, I edited it further in Paint to get rid of some bits where I wanted to add my own text too, like “Happy Birthday”

Then after printing the picture I mat and layered it onto silver, before sticking it on to an A5 card blank, adding assorted sequin stars and Stampin’Up Dazzling Diamonds micro glitter to give it some Broadway bling!

Why not have a look at the other wonderful things you can do with your pictures to add to cards etc. here, I’m addicted!!

http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/freebies/28-online-photo-editing-websites-to-have-fun-with/

Retro Kitchen Cards

These cards all measure 5ins x 5ins

Marc sent me these J Ellory Design cardstock sticks,  I just love the retro style and colours.

…. And as I spend quite a lot of time in the Food Room at work I thought they would be brilliant to use on “end of term - thank you” cards.

Simple Spotty Card

This card measures 7ins x 5ins

Nothing fancy today, just an excuse for using up scraps of paper.  The thick cardboard embellishment came from a pack  from The Range (99p) and the paper lace edging is  self adhesive from Paper Cellar. Done and dusted!

Four Cards In A Hurry

Each of these cards measures 5ins x 5ins.

Sometimes it might take me over two hours to do one of my larger commissioned cards , but sometimes I need to fill my staffroom box with quick and simple cards with as little fiddle farting to them as possible, otherwise the stock would never get replenished.

I’ve made these cards by simply covering the front of the blanks with mostly Stella and Rose papers (My Mind’s Eye) and then adding a Craftwork Cards circle sentiment which I have mat and layered using my Stampin’Up scalloped circle punches on top of a contrasting strip of paper and gold mirror card. 

A couple of flat backed gems complete the effect. Done and dusted!

DoCrafts Boofle Cardstock Stickers And Matching Papers.

These are the last of my Boofle cards using cardstock stickers and papers from the Boofle range.

By this stage I had used up all the small embellishment stickers that were in the Boofle cardstock sticker packs …..

…. and either made a few of my own or raided my boxes of oddments to put the finishing touches to each card.

I’m a very less is more girl, but with this range occasion I wanted to fill in every single space as it all sort of looked right.

In my my opinion this has got to be the best range Docrafts have done in a long time.

For the first time I have been able to make a set of cards using a character that is both current and very popular in the shops at the moment, which is part of the reason I think they went like hot cakes!

Birthday Cake Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is made using white linen effect card.

Another card using an Anita’s die cut cake topper, but I’ve added a handwritten sentiment that I saw and just loved, knowing that it would be idea for a card like this!

Big Eyed Cat Card

This card is A5 is size and is made with a hand cut blank of linen effect white card.

I don’t make many individual cards for children so this was a bit of a change for me, it was for a colleague and the brief was …. second birthday, loves cats and tactile!

The cat was a clip art image and with a bit of computer wizardry I managed to change the colours from browns to pinks, which I then enlarged, copying and printing it several times, so that I could make simple decoupage layers.

There were lots of fiddlyfarty finishing touches to do after putting the background mat and layering on the card blank like making separate sections for the wording using a variety of self adhesive letters, adding micro glitter to the darker pink parts of the cat and Ranger Glossy Accents to the nose and ears, plus embellishments of humungous eyes, a matching ribbon and a couple of charms.  I guess in all this card took me about two hours to put together.

Docrafts Boofle Cardstock Stickers And Matching Papers

A couple of weeks ago I showed you the first of a set of cards I made using Docrafts new Boofle range of stickers and papers, which I adore, and judging by the way my box at work emptied, everyone else does too!

Amongst the 6ins x 6ins paper pack there were two sheets of a patchwork (I wish there had been more) which included all the patterns in the pack, I managed to eight centre panels for my cards from these. When they were all used up I decided I wanted to continue with the patchwork theme and made up my own panels (as above) using four of the patterned papers, which I mat and layered on silver card.

I got twenty one cards from two packets of cardstock stickers and one 6 x 6 ins pack of paper with only a few scraps of paper left, and I was not “mean” with the papers, it became a bit of a challenge to use as much of the paper pad as I could.

My only tiny criticism of the cardstock pack is that I wish there were just a few more stemmed flower embellishments for Boofle to hold or to fill in the odd space.

….. this is so funny coming from the woman who usually moans about having too many bitty things that she can’t use on a sticker sheet!

Although I have used the same range of papers and embellishments it’s amazing to see how the different combinations can make the cards look quite different.

Little Boat Card

This covered hand cut card blank measures 5ins x 5ins.

A very simple mat and layered card today, using a boat embellishment from Michaels sent to me by Dianne, a text print paper from Papermania’s A5 Bookprint paper pad, coloured at the bottom with a Promarker pen, a contrasting paper from a pack that came free with a card magazine and a bit of blue corrugated card.  Done and dusted!

Docrafts Boofle Card

This card measures 5ins x 5ins and is made using a white linen effect hand cut blank.

My love for using Docrafts A4 decoupage sheets continues ….. they have proved so popular at work …. I can’t keep up with demand!

Docrafts Boofle Cardstock Stickers And Papers

I don’t usually go a bundle on character cards but I do love Boofle, in fact I have him on my keyring. As soon as I saw the Docrafts Boofle range I thought he is sooooo popular I should make a whole pile of cards for work, so I nipped into Hobbycraft and got two packs of the cardstock stickers (£2.50 each) and a 6ins x 6ins paper pack (£5.00)  ….. and now I am hooked!

I have mixed and matched the stickers and papers with other embellishments I already had like glitter photo corners from Paper Cellar and Craftwork Cards die cut circle birthday messages as well as a few tiny buttons.

For once, for me, less is definitely not more!!  I’ve piled on the bits and pieces and faux stitched everything to an inch of it’s life, adding Ranger Glossy accents to Boofles nose, the large buttons and flowers.

From two packets of cardstock stickers and one 6ins x 6ins pack of paper I have managed to make twenty one cards …… not a bad return for my money, and all I have left are a few scraps of paper, that I can easily  use in another project. Dead chuffed!

There are too many cards to show you in one go, so I hope you don’t mind me spreading over a few of posts in the coming months.

Bunting Birthday Card

Bunting is so on trend at the moment (hark at me, such a fashionista!!!)), so I thought I had better have a go too

I’ve used my triangle punch for the bunting, using an assortment of paper scraps.  Originally I was going to leave them plain, but found that by edging them roughly with a black fine liner it made the flags stand out more. The writing is my own.

Thirtieth Birthday Card

This card is A5 in size and is made using ivory linen effect card.
 

The brief for this card was pretty and pink!  I’ve used Papyrus Font size 14 for the sentiment and a variety of punches in various sizes for the embellishment.  Tiny flat backed pearls and faux stitching complete the card.

Docrafts - My Blue Nose Friends Stickers

How could I resist these stickers from Docrafts and costing only 69p a pack? 

These cards are a bit of an experiment and I feel like that there is some fine tweaking to be done.

The paper I used was came from one of those Payper Box stands, where you fill a folder for £4.99, as I loved the black/brown gingham effect so much I filled a whole £4.99 folder with it, just in case I couldn’t find it again .http://www.payperbox.co.uk/a4-printed-15-c.asp

The birthday sentiment circles are from Craftwork Cards.

I prefer the lamb card best as I think the Nestabilities frame on the donkey card is just fancy for fancy’s sake and is a just a bit too much.