Birthday cards for kids

I am in serious need of rebuilding my birthday card stash so I’ve been trying to make a few birthday cards whenever I don’t have another card project to work on. Today I’m sharing some birthday cards that would be great for kids (or kids at heart!).

Bright colors and fun patterned papers always make great birthday cards. On the left card I added a die-cut sentiment and a few punched balloons. On the right card, the focal image is from the pack of patterned paper; I just cut it out and matted it with black card stock. I added a strip of yellow polka dot ribbon to both cards.

Last Christmas I received my first House-Mouse Designs stamp set, and it’s sized perfectly for an easy birthday card. I stamped the image twice on white card stock and colored them with colored pencils and Gamsol. Then I die cut the images into panels for two cards — one more boyish (above), and one more girly (below).

The last two cards aren’t necessarily for kids, but the colors and style of these cards fit well in this post. And they’d be great cards for older kids, tweens or teens.

When I made these cards I wanted to use up some leftover paper from making valentines. For the card on the left I die cut the word “celebrate” and two shadow layers from two of the paper patterns. I embossed an aqua card base with the Bursting Dots embossing folder (Taylored Expressions) and added the layered sentiment with foam tape. I finished the card with a few pink pearls and a strip of silver glitter card stock along the bottom edge. For the right card I die cut several balloons out of the patterned and coordinating solid papers. I adhered them across a lime green panel and used a black marker to add the strings. I added a die-cut sentiment and several dew drops, matted the panel with back card stock, and attached it to a white card base.

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Cards to share

I’ve been getting back my crafting mojo little by little, but now I’m behind on my blog posts. I just can’t seem to get everything together. Oh, well. Today I’m going to share a bunch of cards I brought to work to share with my coworkers. I wanted to celebrate spring, so there are lots of flowers, and some rainbows and unicorns for good measure.

I used patterned paper for many of the cards to make the process a little faster (at least in theory; I still spent plenty of time deciding on just the right layout or paper combination). Then I just added a little embellishment — ribbon, twine, and/or sequins — and a stamped or die-cut sentiment.

I tried to use as much of each patterned paper as I could, so I made several cards with leftover strips or small shapes. Using packs of patterned paper makes it easy to coordinate colors and patterns.

This is a layout I’ve used before that I really like. It’s a great way to use different patterns and/or textures because the repeated shape ties everything together. You just want to use a shape that’s kind of “chunky” and not too detailed — hearts for Valentine’s Day, leaves for autumn, trees for Christmas. The colors on these cards are a little fall-ish, but they are still some of may favorite cards in the bunch.

I focused on making cards for a variety of occasions/needs, so I used lots of different word dies and greeting stamps. I also made some cards with no sentiment on the front so they could be used for anything. (I might make more of those next time.) All of the cards are blank inside.

A rainbow die is an easy way to get focal images for multiple cards — just cut the shape out of multiple colors of card stock and then mix and match the pieces. (The die I used is from Taylored Expressions.) I combined the rainbows with fun patterned papers and several “colorful” sentiments. And I have some fun unicorn sentiments, so I had to include a few of those, too.

These are actually the cards that started this project for me. I had an old card kit that had been my mom’s, and when I was struggling find some creativity I decided to work on the kit. I used the kit directions as a guide and changed up most of the designs at least a little, including using additional sentiments. I liked how the cards turned out, but they didn’t feel like they were quite my style, so instead I decided to share them at work.

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March Christmas cards: Postage collage

For my Christmas cards this year, I'm going to try to focus on using products that I haven't used before. That wasn't necessarily my intention at the beginning of the year, but as it happens my January and February cards fit that criteria, so I'll just keep going. This month I made eight postage-themed cards (four each of two colorways).

To make the postage images, I used the Postage Collage Christmas Stencils from Waffle Flower. The layering stencils, together with the coordinating die, create a panel of six "stamps." I used six ink colors: Sandstone, Cocoa, Robin's Egg, Lime Green and Forest from Hero Arts and Hollyhock from Close to My Heart. I also used gold paste to add a little sparkle and texture. After the ink blending was done, I stamped details, like postmarks and values, with the Postage Collage stamps.

With the ink colors I used, the postage images naturally divided themselves into two color groups. So I cut the stamps apart and created four cards with a blue card base and four with a green card base. I used a text background stamp on each card (A Little Christmas Carol (Unity) for the blue and Christmas Story (Penny Black) for the green), added a bit of white splatter, and stamped some of the detail images around the middle of the card base. Then I added the postage images with foam tape. I finished each card with a few clear droplets and a sentiment in the lower right corner.

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Friendship Stamp Along cards

Earlier this month I participated in the Friendship Stamp Along virtual event from Hero Arts. It was five live online cardmaking classes featuring different techniques. I had purchased the product bundle, so I had the main products for the projects, but I did substitute inks and some other basic dies. I didn't create all the cards during the event, thanks to a cat who was determined to lie in my craft space. But I did go back and finish them later (with a few changes here and there), and I’m excited to share them.

The first card we made has three panels. It’s typically called a trifold card, but that phrase has always bugged me because it has two folds, not three. (Just like bifold wallets and doors only have one fold. Who started this naming convention, anyway? I’d like to have a few words …). Anyway, this card is basically two A2 card bases facing opposite directions (one has the fold on the left, the other on the right) with the backs layered over each other and glued together. I hope that makes sense.

We used arch dies and acetate to create a window in the card front, and the floral panel on the inside flap is made with layering stencils and a coordinating cover plate die. We used the die to emboss the flowers instead of cutting them out.

For the second class, the new technique was splattering texture paste. We mixed a little water and paste and then used a paint brush to splatter it on the card base. I tried the technique, but I couldn't quite get it right — and then I dropped my paint brush and got paste on my pants and it turned into a whole thing — so I used Dr. Ph. Martin’s Bleed Proof White medium for the splatter instead. I love the bright spring colors on this card.

In the third class we actually made three cards. We started with a small piece (I think 2" x 4") of six colors of card stock then created a faux embossed look with stamping. We arranged several solid-style stamps on a stamp positioner and stamped them on one of the pieces of card stock using coordinating ink. Then we moved the card stock just slightly up and to the right and stamped the images again using white pigment ink. We followed the same steps with the rest of the card stock colors and then cut the panels into pieces to use on three cards.

For the fourth class we used an acetate card base and applied texture paste through a stencil to the front of the card. The back of the card has a panel of card stock on the inside and the outside (so the acetate is sandwiched between pieces of card stock).

The instructor pointed out that if you write  your message in the card with a black pen it would look cool peeking through the acetate. I agree — sort of like an extra script-style background. But if you don’t like that look you could write on the back of the card instead.

In the last class we created an ombre effect on solid stamps using a stamp positioner and a blending brush. Basically we stamped an image once then applied darker ink (or another layer of the same color) to part of the stamp, used the blending brush to tap the stamp and soften the edge of the darker ink, and stamped it again over the original image.

I haven't done a virtual stamping class or event in quite a while; in general, I don't love doing things virtually. But I really liked the product bundle for this event, and I'm very happy with how my cards turned out. Maybe best of all, it helped me get back some of my crafting mojo.

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February Christmas cards: Vintage postcard

I managed to sneak in a few Christmas cards just before the end of February — whew! I tried to keep the supplies to a minimum, and I only made six cards, but I think they turned out pretty cute.

I paired together a sheet of paper from the Toile Tidings Designer Series Paper pack and images from the Winter Post stamp set (both retired from Stampin’ Up!) for a vintage look. I die cut the postcard shapes out of Very Vanilla card stock using the Mini Postcard die (Honey Bee Stamps). I used a blending brush to apply Crumb Cake ink around the edges of the patterned paper and the edges of the postcard to add to the aged feel.

Here is a close-up so you can see the debossed details in the die-cut postcards. Brushing on the Crumb Cake ink also helped make those details more visible. The “cheer” sentiment is from another old Stampin’ Up! Set, Endless Wishes. To embellish the cards I used some hemp twine and a few sparkly green enamel dots.

Hopefully I will be better prepared for making March Christmas cards. I also really need to replenish my birthday card stash. I’d better get busy!

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