Tag: birthday cards

Posted in birthday cards, card making, craft, Stampin Up

Birthday Card for Megan

Posted on by Be Encouraged

I’m excited to have a special birthday card to share today. With the Covid -19 SIP isolation in May my friend couldn’t be there for her daughter’s birthday. So along with the other treats planned she asked friends and family to send cards. I was so happy to have such a fun reason to make a card and hopefully Megan will enjoy receiving a card from California.

Since purple is Megan’s favorite color and she loves chocolate cake, I stamped the cake image from the “Happy Birthday to You” stamp set in Highland Heather ink and choose the coordinating cardstock for the card’s base.

I used a color wheel ( from Michaels ) to find coordinating markers for the Highland Heather ink. In this case the color wheel triad showed a minty green which sounded delicious on a chocolate cake and a soft orange. FYI a triad color schemes consists of three colors equally spaced on the color wheel.

The image was cut on a mechanical press using coordinating dies, the cake outline around the cake image and the platter on a scrap of highland heather. I’ve had questions on this stage before so if anyone want a video clip of the process let me know.

For a soft feminine card rounded corners were added after stamping the Happy Birthday Sentiment, also from the “Happy Birthday to You” stamp set. I used my old corner rounder from my Creative Memory scrapbooking days.

Finally, I used three adhesives in assembly, a snail tape runner for the big pieces of cardstock, liquid glue to the thin area where the cake stand met the platter, and dimensionals to add depth by raising the cake image from the card.

At the very end I added a sheet of decorative paper with purses and shoes to liven up this card for a lovely young woman. Thanks for the card making fun and Happy Birthday Miss Megan.

Posted in Anna Griffin, card making, craft, recycling, Stampin Up

Recycling Greeting Cards

Posted on by Be Encouraged
Anna Griffin Embellishments

As you know, I enjoy sending handmade paper cards with a loving message to the special people in my life, that is a greeting card’s purpose. Just as receiving a card makes me feel someone cares and can lift my mood, sending a card causes me to slow down to remember significant people in my life, which also raises my spirit. This would be a win-win situation if it wasn’t for the paper waste left behind. So to reduce my environmental impact here are some ideas for card material after reading.

Shred and use for:

Packing material – Why buy more plastic when you can use a natural material. This will require saving up the shredded cards unless you are very much loved.

Easter basket fillers – Just a few shredded cards can fill a basket and it’s nice how the card’s color adds a decorative element.

Fire starter – First pack it hard into toilet paper holders or pack then wrap in wax paper to avoid wisps of embers or flames when burning.

Planter or garden mulch – Paper is wood fiber which can be used with other fine mulch on garden beds, though colored paper should not be used around vegetables.

Paper mache pulp – A paper mix to form facial features or ornaments on larger paper projects , here is a link with details and instructions https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/paper-mache-paste-recipes-1245287. .

Use whole for:

Home decorations – Add paper or metallic elements pulled off cards to wreaths or planters around your house. At Christmas try making a swag from previous year’s cards to decorate a doorway or mantle.

Recycled Greeting Cards – Glue a new inside sentiment page in the card you received and send to another friend. A note on the back saying it was recycled would make it even more appreciated.

Paper mache strips – In this case, it’s the building blocks of paper mache not the glue or paste, again check link above for details.

Creating Beads – Create beads for jewelry making with the paper scraps, here is a link with how to information https://www.thesprucecrafts.com/how-to-make-paper-beads-4045300.

Sailing Home Stamp & Die Set

Please share your ideas in the comment section below, we’d like to see them. Thanks

Posted in card making, craft

Gearing up for a birthday

Posted on by Be Encouraged

My family is filled with car guys, who enjoy discussing motors and gears in depth when out driving, at dinner, or watching tv (you get the picture) . So I was so thrilled to see gear thinlit dies in Stampin Up’s Classic Garage Set in time for my husband’s birthday. The set includes stamp images of a classic car, tool box and fuel can which will be useful for so many masculine birthday cards. But what stopped me in my tracks were the gear dies. Yes this would be lovely paired with the classic auto for a traditional card but the minimalist in me can’t wait to try a modern card with shiny silver gears, One google search later I took my inspiration for this card from CraftyKylie.com on Pinterest. Lovely job Kylie.

I wanted a sleek modern card so the Cardstock was paired down to a gray and black color combination. The gears definitely look modern in silver foil paper (See A). These were first cut with the foil side against the cutting edge producing a clean image. However when I tried to make a slightly different image by reversing the die so the cutting edge was against the paper backing the image was too rough. Any ideas on how to reverse the die cut edge with good results? Well, I will definitly try that again because I like the slightly different pattern (See B)

You probably recognize the tan cut up grocery bag under my work. When I forget my plastic sacks at the grocery store this is my way of re-using their bags.

The Card goes together quick and easy, I spent some time adjusting the silver gears on the left side of the Cardstock but then all that’s left is embossing the greeting in silver . My first try I used black ink instead of versa mark with the silver embossing powder and a fullers earth pad (my mistake but it was right next to the embossing powders at the big box store) instead of the anti static embossing buddy to stop stray embossing powder and the results are underwhelming. Did I mention I just bought my heat tool? But thanks to Brenda Keenan over at http://www.keenankreations.com/ I now know the right way.

Finally, once I had all my tools in place the card was finished in 15 minutes. At the last minute I switched gears, literally (see C below). Here is my birthday card, hope this encourages you on your next project.

Figure C – Initial idea for card and final version on bottom