The Birds and the Bees (and Butterflies, too)

I was on the hunt. It was my husband's grandmother's 90th birthday, and I was going to make a very special card for her. So I was frantically searching for that "perfect" piece- something that would work great... for a woman who is totally sweet, but I have seen her three times in my life, and don't know much about her- except that she liked birds. 

 

No offense to you old ladies out there, but there's just something about glittery birds and butterflies that makes me think of some of the sweet older ladies I know. So I came across this set of water colored, glittery butterfly and bird sticker set (K & Company), and I thought, "hey, I can make a bunch of cards out of that" and so I did. 

I wish I would have photographed the card I made for grandmother- it was pretty-  bird with a sunflower in its beak, and I thought- sunflower, Kansas- perfect- score!

 

 This first one I liked because the metallic teal background really makes the butterfly pop off the front of the card, and I liked how the butterfly sort of invades the space of the sentiment- like it's resting there in approval of the greeting. 

Here are some others I made from the set:

This one is intentionally simple because I designed it for my dear, no nonsense friend, Edith, who is a bit of pioneer woman, yet elegant, so I think it suits her rather well. 

Ah yes, another butterfly. I like the simplicity of this one as well. The sticker itself is pretty flashy, so I thought a subtle pattern along the back, with just a little shine would work well. 

This one is for my aunt. She has red hair, and I can't seem to avoid using copper whenever I make cards for her. This gorgeous red copper embossed paper was the exact color of the wire on the butterfly, and I do like to match!

Side note: I put a tiny bumblebee sticker on this inside of the card,which tied the outside with the inside, and that is something I'd like to do more. I'm usually out of time working on the outside of the card to finish decorating the inside or the envelope, but I really enjoy decorating the whole thing when I can... I think I liked this one the best of the series...

I still have several more stickers left yet, and would like to make a card using each one! Have you ever made a series of cards using a sticker set or some other common element? I'd love to hear from you!

The Modern Birthday card- repurposed

My dear, sweet sister-in-law is the easiest person to make cards for. I know what colors she likes, and I know what her style is- kind of a uber chic anthropolgie-loving hipster. And so when I received a thank you card on this gorgeous floral letterpress paper, I knew exactly who to re-purpose it for!

But it was too small for what I had in mind, so I found this awesome plastic finished paper, it needed just a little texture, and since I've been seeing so many polka dots these days (fashion-wise, that is), it seemed like the perfect fit for my very fashionable S-I-L. But me, being the high maintenance girl that I am, I needed something shiny, and I came across this beautiful metallic taupe that worked great with the colors of the focal paper. And to top it all off, I took my trusty Martha Stewart Happy Birthday punch (which I use endlessly) and I cut the sentiment in half, and glued  the top line portion along the polka-dotted portion so that you only saw the words and made it seemingly float... It seemed more modern and didn't compete with the space of the card. I can't believe it, but I forgot to photograph the inside of the card, which contained the other half of the punch (which is "birthday" in case you are wondering).

At any rate, I had a lot of fun with this card, and I like re-purposing cards. I'd love to see what you're doing with re-purposing, or if you like constructing modern, simple cards!

Well, I am off to a stamp show here in Albuquerque, so I hope to return with tons of ideas and inspiration!

Blue and bold flower card

 Here's another easy, striking format for a card (any occasion) that yields a nice result. Pick two stamps. I love flowers, and this stamp is really cheerful. I took a bold color, folded it with a noticeable difference in bottom lengths (there is probably a special name for this style, and I have no idea what it is). Then I grabbed my white embossing powder.

I am a texture person, so I took my cute big daisy stamp and covered the whole front of the card and ten I stamped part of the stamp on the bottom margin inside  the card as well. 

 I stamped and embossed the white card stock, too!

 I intentionally made this photo large so you could see the detail. 

I attached a ribbon along the top and tied a wired bead on the end to dress it up a little, and then last but not least, I grabbed a scrap of my bold blue and stamped the sentiment. Isn't this easy?

I think you could really re-invent this concept with all sorts of stamps, really. Simple geometric shapes, woodgrain (for a masculine card)... lots of options. Have you done much with tone on tone embossing? I'd like to hear about it!

Just a simple hi

I wish I could take credit for making this card- it's just so darn cute and cheery. My mom made this little sweet card with not much more than an eyelet, some thin gauge wire, and a couple of daisy punches.

That's it. And look at the payoff.

I love seeing really simple cards that are striking like this one.

And I'd love so see your simple, elegant cards too!

Itsy bitsy teeny weenie yellow... birthday card

This card makes me sad. Not because of anything on the surface, but I can't for the life of me find that darling happy birthday frame stamp (doesn't that just bite?)

But beyond the surface of this seemingly normal square card lurks the unexpected ..

It's an accordion (mini accordion card on top).

So with a simple untie of the bow, you have a happy little boing, boing mini card bursting out!

What is hard to see on this picture (apologies for my less than stellar photography) is that the white paper on said accordion mini card is stamped with a matchy yellow gift stamped all over to leave a fun, colorful, yet fairly subtle texture to the otherwise slightly boring white cardstock.


Again, I hope to provide you with credits on these cards, but they are so old, I don't know how I could find out about half the stuff I used . My primary hope is to bring inspiration. :)

Wellness in a card

I bet you're never going to guess what kind of card this is...

Give up?


Okay, in case you are wondering, I am sassy. I apologize if you are not a fan of the sass, but there is more to come, better believe it!

My mom bought these two little stick figure stamps AGES ago, and we've done different things with them over the years- made them into brides, a dad (for Father's day), etc.

But we thought little stick figure lady already was rocking the nurse's uniform, she just needed to accessorize (and have a little more color- she's just so pale! So we rigged up a little old school nurses hat, a state-of-the-art clip board, and a stethoscope- grabbed our colored pencils and voila you have a sweet little get well card!

What sort of get well cards have you made?

I like this card (if I do say so myself). I like the simplicity of just candles on a card, I mean, c'mon, if it's your birthday, and someone hands you a card, you don't say, "hmmm. Candles. I wonder what those are for?" Are you with me on this? I guess I'm kind of high context. Anyway, you can probably tell just by looking at it that I made the cuts a little wonky. I used an X-acto knife, and intentionally made the cuts goofy so that you can't tell that I am terrible (I repeat, terrible) at using these!

So I attached three tear drop punches onto the front of the card, and the patterned designs are on the inside.



And here's what the inside looks like...

Fun, huh? I figure you could use any printed paper, and with all the punches available these days, you wouldn't be stuck using just the balloons, but I'm a traditionalist (sometimes). I like me some balloons for birthdays.

But I posted this because you could interpret this idea so many different ways and have a really cute and interesting card- am I right? What would you do?

Once, twice, 3 times a lady...bug

Ah yes, the lady bug. I have always liked lady bugs, and so making a cute little gate card with a bunch of black circles and you have yourself a cutie little card! This was so simple, I dare not give the tutorial- you can tell just by looking at it what we did. I have re-made this card (and don't have a picture, sorry) for my beautiful niece two years ago, and I had a red circle shaped card, so it was even easier, and I added some wire on top to make antennae- super easy! And if you're just joining us, you will start to see a pattern here. I don't do difficult cards. I love making cards for loved ones, but I just don't have the time or the patience to make super-intricate over-the-top cards. Less is more as far as I am concerned, and this is one of those kind of cards.

I like this idea for a kid's card, even a baby shower (cute as a bug)-

So now it's your turn! Show me your cute kiddo cards, and watch me be amazed!

thanks for reading!

History in the making... of cards, that is

Used to make two of every card (this was approximately 100 years ago). That way, I could have a box (or 30) filled with card to use when I needed them, or have inspiration. My poor mom has been holding many of my cards, and a number of her own know for a loooooong time, so we decided to get with the program (better late than never), and take photos of the cards so we can use the ones we've already made, and with the advent of Pinterest, there's no reason not to share these- especially since I've been so inspired by so many talented folks out there with their own cards.

Got to apologize here- I am posting old cards, so I do not have much by way of credit, but I hope that these will inspire future card creations, so I am going to post some, and I'd love to hear your feedback!

So this one my mom made, and i think it's darling. She took some chalk ink to give a soft look it, and if you can't see it well (sorry) the stem of the flower says Happy Birthday!

   

This could be done a 100 different ways, and that's one of the reasons I like this card so much. You or use a different center (this one is a flat marble), or use a fabric flower, or even maybe could make this stamp be the string connected to a balloon!I have always liked long skinny cards, and this one is simple and lots of fun!

I still have this cute stamp at my parents' house, (I will find out who to credit and post )- Do you have this stamp? How have you used it? Remember, sharing is caring!