Three Weddings, A Baby and a Birthday!

A mixed bag of cards required for this week....

First up is a selection of Wedding acceptance cards - you know the sort of thing that costs a fortune in Clintons!


This one was so quick to make - 3 punched hearts with diamantes, a piece of ribbon and a printed greeting. It honestly took about 15 minutes tops to make and most of that time was waiting for glue to dry.


I love these cuttlebug hearts - they are the most versatile dies I have after my Nesties. At first I thought these designs were a bit TOO simplistic but after extensive research (popping into Clinton's) most acceptance cards are very similar.


More cuttlebug hearts - this time in silver. I got a bit carried away with the glitter but the customer loved it.


I would have loved this card when I was eight and loved all things pink. All the shop cards for this age group seemed a wee bit 'old' for my liking - loads of them had shoes and handbag images which I felt were really more suitable for teens. Therefore my big number templates were used again...
My mojo was flagging by the time I got to this one but I was still pleased that I had made all five cards in one night. There's a lot of white space on this card cos I didn't want any patterned paper clashing with the glittery stork sticker. There's something missing from it but I didn't really know what else to add.

More Strange Requests..

Two quite unusual requests for cards this week...

This first one is for the friend of a work colleague who is emigrating to Australia in the next couple of weeks. I was at a total loss initially, thinking along the lines of kangaroos and boomerangs, but after playing Geo Challenge on Facebook I came up with the flag idea (strange what inspires us cardmakers isn't it!). The actual card was huge - nearly A4 size - and was fastened together with tape and ribbons. The flag itself was surprisingly easy - I found a website where you can print off pictures of flags for kids to colour - and then used good old tracing paper (Smart price greaseproof paper!)

The second card was for an 18 year old lad who is into paint-balling. I made the splats bigger than I should have and they wouldn't all fit onto any conventional card sizes so I folded an A4 sheet of card in half length ways rather than to A5. This unusual size worked well but I did have to make an envelope to fit. If I could get readymade envelopes in this size I would use this size a lot because everyone commented on how unusual it was.

I do think that using different sizes of cards can make a great impact. I can't remember the last time I used the basic A6 size card blank - it just got so boring. Most of my cards nowadays are either 6x6 square or A5. I only wish I could get 8x8 envelopes cos the possibilities with that size of card are endless!

Cards For Men

My heart always sinks when I have to make cards for men.... unless I have a specific request such as a football shirt or something alcohol related, I tend to over girlify them.

My mam wanted me to do her a card for my step-dad Brian's 70th Birthday... and I tried to make this card more manly by using these wonderful Papermania For Him papers. I love doing age specific cards cos you can't go wrong using the numbers as the main embellishment. I often wander round Clinton's (for research purposes you understand) and once you get above a certain age the choice of cards available is atrocious. Hopefully this will stand out amongst the generic shop-bought efforts.



This card was for a work colleague who wanted a Valentine card for her fiance but didn't want slop and slushyness everywhere. I cut the hearts on my bug, inked them and joined them with a remnant of black ribbon. The paper along the bottom I got from a bumper pack of patterned papers - it's roses but with a lot of black in with gives a more gothic look. I thought it looked a bit too plain but she was over the moon with it so as long as the customer is happy then so am I.

Cute Chicks

I downloaded these images from the Pink Petticoat site ages ago but have only recently had time to play with them. They are so cute and are ideal for girly birthdays in springtime and probably good for easter cards as well.
I started by cutting out the images with my Nestabilities and giving each image a different coloured scallopped border. The red border went well with this red and pink spotty paper I got free with a magazine .This purple stripey one is the only one I wasn't really pleased with - I just couldn't get the look I wanted with that ribbon. Paper is from papermania Rich Blue pack.

This pink and green spotty paper is actually from a pack of Christmas papers I got with Papercraft Essentials but I didn't think they were very Christmassy.

Good old Doodlebug - I love this pink and orange stripey paper and wish I had a roll of it!
More spotty paper from Papermania Rich Blue pack. At first I thought these papers were too dark and masculine but I guess with the righ products anything can look girly.

I am going to have to get some proper grown up pens though - these were coloured in with bog standard felt-tips from a multi pack. I have been admiring the Marvy le Plume pens but they will probably have to wait until my birthday. And I would also love some pens in very light pastel colours but I can't find any - reccommendations please!