Cardmaking-Companion-Blog

This is Cardmaking-Companion's own blog site.

Here I will show you some of the cards I have been making, chat about what's going on in my world, or share with you things that have caught my attention.

If you are looking for detailed intructions about how to make cards, or about a particular technique then you will need to pop over to Cardmaking-Companion for that.

Many of the papers I use are from our sister site Cardmaking-Ideas. You will be able to get them yourself, and the beauty of them is that because they are downloadables, once you have them you will be able to print and re use them time after time!

I hope you enjoy reading this blog -To view the posts just scroll down.

I'd love to hear from you so please feel free to leave your comments after each post.

Best wishes

Susan

Cardmaking-Companion

The next card on the list of cards which I have from the promise auction was a "Sister" Birthday Card, which also had to reflect the intended's 30th birthday.

I haven't got any brothers or sisters so believe it or not this was the first "Sister" card I have ever made!

As usual I had left the making of this to the last minute so I decided to use my tried and trusted card making formula.

(As an aside I'm not the world's greatest cook so at the start of each year I work a really good recipe for a dinner party and then make it over and over again until we have worked our way through all our friends, and then it's time to find another new recipe! Same reasoning behind my card making when I'm on a tight schedule!)

The base mat on this card is  bubble metallic rich pink. I was told that the recipient is "girly" so I routed out a suitable background paper. (Oh how I wish I could still wear stiletto heels like those on the paper!)

The "30" was straightforward - cut from  the George cartridge on my Cricut. Unfortunately the Mirri card I used was quite thick so I had to finish cutting the numbers out with a cutting knife and I slipped - disaster averted when I covered up the splice with a card making handbag charm tied with some ribbon!

I was a liitle stuck over what to use for  "sister" - the sentiment rubber stamps I had were too small and most of my peel offs were either silver or gold. However right at the bottom of my peel off box were some pink letters and stars.which were perfect for the Mirri card. On the same peel off sheet were the "Happy Birthday"sentiments , which again I matt and layered.

In 2 or the corners I used a tiny matching gem stome embellishment.

The insert was pale lilac and at either side of the card I used a shoe card making punch to compliment the theme of the card.

Anyway I hope you like my Sister Birthday Card - the photographs were taken at night time so they are a little dark.

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A good friend of ours turned 60 today and he also retires (lucky him). Now I've known the date was looming for a few weeks now but it was only this morning that I got time to sit down and make his 60th Birthday Card.

Now I hurridly routed around in my stash and found this wonderful background paper from the Transatlantique Collection by Graphic 45.

The sheet was a 12"x 12" but the center image fitted perfectly onto my 8" x8" card. I mounted it onto gold bubble foiled card and then a pearlescent brown.

The image was so rich and striking that I didn't really want to distract from it so I decided to keep the sentiments to the minimum and added no further embellishment.

The "60th" is a simple black peel off, mounted onto an oval cut from the pearlescent brown card and then framed with a scalloped edge gold foiled card. Both of these were cut using Nestabilities.

I fixed the ovals using double sided sticky pads to add dimension to the card.

For the insert I used a lovely warm sand colored sheet and kept it plain (i.e. without my usual punched corner!). For the outer edges of the inside of the card I used the cut offs from the original sheet which showed old shipping line posters.

I have to admit I was very pleased with the result and now only wished I'd bought more sheets of this beautiful paper as it is one I picked up from a bargain bucket and was reduced by 66%.

Motto of the story - even if you're not sure how you will use it, if it's a bargain buy it as you'll put it to good use one day!

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Whilst browsing the web I found this clip from the BBC about how to make a Victorian Christmas Card.
I hope you enjoy it - please note viewers outside of the UK may not get access to this video.

For download instructions and templates Click Here

By carefully choosing which rubber stamps, background papers and toppers you use you can make your cards look like traditional or Victorian Christmas Cards.

Technorati Tags: card making

I am gradually making my way through a list of special request cards. The lady who gave me the list is very organised and has listed them all in date order, given the loose description of what she wants, and who the card is for.

Well here is the next one on the list -  an 80th Birthday Card.

I don't know whether the lady this handmade birthday card is intended for has good sight or not but I decided to make a colorful bold card.

As in all my "specials" I have used a 8" x 8" card blank. I routed around in my stash of papers and found this one in a box my good friend, Linda, had given me. It is a K & Company glittered design ( I think from the "Berry Sweet" range).

I matt and layered it onto cream hammered and pale green cardstock.

Th "80" is cut from my old and trusted friend, the George cartridge for the Cricut, using the same cream and pale green card stock.

The numbers have been mounted using 3D sticky pads onto a Nestabilty circle, layered onto cream card stock cut with another Nestability die. I used larger 3D sticky foam pads to raise this from the base of the card.

Routing around again in my stash ( Note to self - I really must get more organised!!) I found a packet of die-cut cardstock which matched the paper.

The pink flower die-cut  was perfect to add balance to the card using once again 3D sticky pads.

For the insert I chose a pink sheet - and stuck random punched butterflies from the cream and green cardstock along the edge. The idea being that I picked up the 3 main colors from the paper. However on reflection I wished I had used a cream insert.

Anyway the card has been delivered and the lady who ordered it is delighted with it, so now onto the next on the list!

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Not a card making post this time - but a video.

I often talk about the cards I sell at Longton Community Church, well I thought you might like to see our new video about the Church.

I hope you enjoy it!

Everyone Matters from Longton Community Church on Vimeo.

On 4th September I shared with you the Handmade Dedication Cards which I made for Elijah. Well today we had another Dedication in Church, this time for Elijah's baby cousin, Emilie.

This time both Emilie's Grandmother and her Auntie (Elijah's mum) wanted cards.

For the Grandmother's card I thought I would just create the same design as I did for Elijah, just changing the colour scheme to pink, instead of blue. Anyway you know what they say about the best laid plans.....

...So this is how the design turned out! Silver foiled embossed card has been layered onto silver Mirri board on a 8" x 8" white card blank.

The centre piece, as in Elijah's card, is a mock book made from a Nestability die. The front page has a pink inlay behind it.

The centre bookmark is a thin strip of ribbon with a miniature cross charm on it. A pink Mulberry Rose embellishes the top of the book, whilst each corner of the matt has a pink pearl embellishment to finish the card off.

The insert I made for the card was in pink with a card making punch cross in the bottom right hand corner.

The second card I made again features the child's name and the service date, but this time I used the circular eyehole Nestabilty die, sitting it onto a circular matt (Nesties again), and then a silver Mirri Board eyelet matt. (The idea was that this would resemble a flower head, like those on the background card.)

Both of these photograghs were taken whilst it was still quite dim this morning. Although the photos are quite dark it does show clearly the printed pink embossed pattern of the background card.

Two green butterfly embellishments "flutter" around the flower head , and a beautiful angel charm completes the card.

In this case the insert was pale green to compliment the butterflies.

I hope you like them both!

Card Making Charms are a great way to add interest and embellishment to your cards and they are not expensive! Check out some of the deals on offer today....

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Technorati Tags: card making punches

My eldest son, David, has just finished a year's work at Castle Church, Stafford. The Church has a craft group  and they made this lovely card for David when he left.

I personally have never thought about making a Collage Card but I have to say that this card is very striking. What the photogragh does not show is that the collage is behind a sheet of acetate so it has a "gloss" finish to it.

Now I know this type of handmade card is not everyone's cup of tea (it wouldn't do for us all to be the same!) but I really like it.

The collage is made from handmade paper and embellishments. The card blank is one that is made especially for inserts so that once you have put in your centre piece the front folds back in on itself and seals the work inside.

This type of card blank can be used for cross stitch inserts, freestyle sewing etc.

Handmade Paper Collage

Now the last time I did any collage work was way back in primary school so I don't know what my attempts at this type of card would be like, although I'm certain they wouldn't look anything like as good as this one!

If you want to have a go at making your own Collage Card then all you need to get started is some handmade paper:

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In my last post I mentioned that Linda had given me 50+ handmade cards for me to sell at Church so I thought it would be nice to share a couple of the Handmade Birthday Cards with you.

When Linda offered to make some cards for me she asked what I wanted - the answer was anything! But she had to bear in mind that these cards are sold for £1(GBP) so that impacts on how much work or embellishments go into the card.

Every single card she gave me was beautiful and I think you'll agree that the purchasers are getting a real bargain!

As usual I don't think the photos are doing the cards justice (Christmas wish list = new camera?).

The blank cards are actually white but look a little pinky in this photo. The rest of the colours Linda has used are really subtle pastels.

She has inked the backgound and masked out a "moon/sun". Linda is great at rubber stamping and has stamped a brown branch onto the background.

The birds have been stamped onto pearlescent card and then have been cut out. She has curled them slightly before sitting them on their branches and that gives the card a little dimension.

Linda loves glitter! So a little around the edge of the matt on one card, and on the "moon" on the other makes the cards look special.  A rubber stamped sentiment finishes off each card.

I really love the "clean" feel of these cards and I know they will sell like hot cakes on Sunday!

Then to round things off after she had gone home, Linda sent me a beautiful bouquet of flowers to thank me for having them - with her giving me so many beautiful cards, and for giving me permission to share them with you,  I think it should have been me sending her the bouquet!

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At Church today we had a Dedication Service for one of our youngest members, Elijah. This is a service where the parents commit to explaining the Christian Faith to the child, and we the Church Family commit to supporting the family whenever or wherever we can. When the child is older it is up to him/her to make the decision whether or not they want to be baptised.

This is the Dedication Card I made for Elijah's Grandmother to give to him. Actually that  is not completely true, I started the card off  and was just making the "book" when my friend, Linda, who had come over for the weekend from the Isle of Man, helped me finish it and completed the design.

I have to say Linda is, in my opinion, one of the best cardmakers in the UK. - That's not just a friend's flattery - some of her work is truly exceptional!

Unfortunately I had to rush to take the photographs before Church this morning and they're not so good.

The "book" is cut from a Nestabilty die - the pages have been curled and  pale blue ink has been brushed across the edges. Because the die sizes are such, Linda painstakingly cut  base blue card to shape to sit between the white "pages" and the silver Mirri board "cover". The white satin ribbon has been glued down with a pearl embellishment to hide the glue spot.

The cross has been rubber stamped in Slate Grey ink and it comes from a set available from Stampin'Up. Although the photo does not show it clearly the cross has been stamped flat onto the white card and then a duplicate cross has been layered over it using 3d foam pads.

A simple cross has been punched into the pale blue insert. As you'll have gathered I love using card making punches on the inserts. I have quite a selection but am always on the look out for more.

As you can see from the photos a satin bow and some more embellishment pearls help to balance the card and complete the design.

I normally make cards on my own so it was really good making this, sat on the floor,  with Linda whilst watching Saturday night TV. I feel so blessed to have good friends.

Linda was also kind enough to bring over about 50 cards which she has donated to my card stall for Mission work. I'm sure a few of them will find their way onto this blog soon!

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