Cardmaking-Companion-Blog

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!

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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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Reaching 40 years of marriage is quite an achievement so when our friends, Bob & Linda , were celebrating their Ruby Wedding recently I wanted to give them a special card.

I didn't have a lot of time to work on the card so I decided to adapt the Golden Wedding Card design. You don't always have to come up with new and exciting designs every time - if you're pushed for time adapt something you've already done which you know works!

So for this one the card blank is, as previously, 8" x 8" with gold mirror card and cream parchment matt and layered onto it.

The centre piece is my good old favourite Sizzix "Forever & Always" embossing folder. Of all the embossing folders I own this is the one I use time and time again!

I tried many different ribbons on this card but decided to use this satin red polka dot one. Note that I fixed the strip to the parchment matt before sticking the parchment onto the mirror card - this enables the ends to be safely secured between the layers so there is no chance of fraying.

Ten paper red roses form the bouquet tied with the matching ribbon. I'm not very good at ribbon tying and it took me half a dozen attempts to get this one to sit correctly.

I slipped a silver heart charm onto the wire stems of the bouquet, twisting the wire to ensure that the charm does not fall off.

For the insert I went a bit over the top! I used a pearlised gold A4 sheet and then using a Martha Stewart border punched a lace edging out in ruby red card.

It's been a number of weeks since the Ruby Wedding but Bob says the card is still sat on their mantlepiece!

Recently at Longton Community Church we held a Promise Auction in aid of the Mission Work we are doing in Uganda and Macedonia. I "promised " 2 lots, each of 10 Handmade Christmas Cards. Both lots sold well but after the auction one of the bidders asked could she alter her 10 to a mix of everyday cards. I didn't have a problem with this and she duly presented me with a list of upcoming occasions - the first of which is a wedding.

Now handmade wedding cards are not something I tend to make a lot of, but I have to say I am rather pleased as to how this one has turned out.

The card blank is my usual "specials" size of 8" x 8" and I've covered it with a sheet of paper from the do crafts Papermania Confetti pad. I love all the sentiments on this paper, and although I did toy with  the idea of putting a sentiment embellishment in the bottom left hand corner I decided the card worked just as well without it.

The 2 hearts have been cut using Nestabilities from a piece of left overpale pink  background paper which has a manuscript design on it.

The scalloped edge is also from a Nestability, cut from a pearlescent pink paper.

The cardmaking embellishments are from a sheet of wedding card embellishments which I picked up from a sale bucket. When I see sheets of embellishments in sale buckets I tend to buy them by the handful as I always find they come in useful.

I also added a heart shape jewel stick on to each heart  and to compliment the pink rose embellishment on the bottom heart I added a pink paper rose to the top heart.

Each of the hearts has been stuck to the card using 3 dimensional foam pads to add more depth to the card.

The insert (not shown) is pink with a heart punch out in the bottom right hand corner and down each inside outer edge of the card I have stuck 4 punched hearts.

If you have any wedding cards which you'd like to share with myself and other readers of Cardmaking-Companion just go to the Readers' Gallery on Cardmaking-Companion, follow the simple instructions and upload your card photo.

I seem to be in a season of special occasions and parties at the moment.  This card is one I made for my dear friend, Pam, who recently celebrated her 60th

Her mother had organised a surprise party for her at Farington Lodge, a beautiful setting, where we all enjoyed a wonderful 3 course meal.

I'm delighted to say that Pam was thrilled with her card.

The card blank is the 8" x 8" size which I now use for all my "specials" - onto it I matt and layered pearlescent card in blue and pink and then used a very ornate butterfly design paper from K & Company, "Sparkly Sweet" speciality paper.

Unfortunately the camera hasn't picked up all the thick glitter on this paper, so as usual does not do the card justice!

The numbers have been cut using my Cricut and have been mounted using foam pads to raise them from the card.

Luckily in my embellishments box I had a couple of rubber butterflies which complimented the paper perfectly.

The finishing touch was the "Happy Birthday" tag which I embellished with 2 crystal gemstones.

For the insert I used the same parchment paper which I had cut the numbers from and then punched the doily edging using a Martha Stewart punch. A small butterfly punch in the bottom right hand corner completed the card.

I cannot believe it has been nearly 9 months since I last posted here. For any readers who do not get my monthly newsletter - in November 2010 my husband suffered a massive heart attack and since then he has been slowly recovering. I am only just getting back into my card making and blogging....

This is a card I made recently for someone to give on a Golden Wedding Anniversary. I thought the embossed Sizzix "Always & Forever" was very appropriate ( Golden = 50 years married!). I've previously used this folder on wedding cards.

The white card blank is 8" x 8" - I get all my blank card stock from Craftwork Cards. I like the quality of the card, the price is reasonable and delivery times are excellent.I have built the card front up with a series of mats and layers using gold mirror card, mottled cream parchment and a random off cut background paper from my stash which had appropriate sentiments on it. The embossed card is a pearlised cream.

I really love using these hand made flowers on my cards at the moment. I created the bouquet from a selection I bought during my recent visit to the North West Stampers Exhibition at Port Sunlight. The flowers have tiny leaves on them but the larger green stems are punched from a scrap of green card. To tie the bouquet together I used metallic gold ribbon - it's quite a stiff and fiddly ribbon to tie, not my favourite, but suitable for the occasion.

Inside the card I used the same mottled cream parchment I'd used for one of the mats.

The insert is made from an A4 sheet and is too small to fit fully inside this size of card so what I now do on larger cards is to punch a suitable border from a sheet of the same paper. I then glue the border down onto the outer edges of the base card. It looks very effective.

To finish this insert I added a "Happy Anniversary" peel off in the bottom right hand corner.

Although this card fitted neatly into the matching envelope finishing touches would have been to make a box for it and to have decorated the lid, unfortunately I ran out of time. If this card had been going to be posted it would have had to have had a box as it would not have survived the postal system!

In a recent Promise Auction to help raise funds for a Mission  Trip to Uganda I offered to make 10 cards, as and when, they were required by the bidder.

The successful bidder has just asked me to make a card for a 15 year old teenage "girly" girl.

Well I have to confess I've really struggled with this one - it's due to be handed over tomorrow and I've sat for ages trying to decide what to do.

Ideally I would have liked to have put a rubber stamped image onto the card but despite having boxes of stamps I soon discovered none of them were really suitable - so this is my finished result.

I've used a white 8" x 8" card blank and after searching through my stash I found this girly birthday paper.

After matting it onto some pink Mirri card I wasn't sure what to do next!

Finally I decided to cut out 3 of the pictures from another piece of the same paper and mounted each of them onto an inverted pink Mirri scallop cut with Nestability dies. I mounted them over the original pictures using 3D fixing pads.

To give the card a bit more "umph" I've embellished parts of the individual pictures with stick on jewels. I toyed with the idea of putting a lilac ribbon over the top of the parcel picture but after trying it decided it was too much. As usual I don't think the photo does the card justice!

For the inside I cut up another paper from the same pad and put a border of girls along the outside edges before using a pink insert with a punched heart in the bottom right hand corner.

I just hope the bidder likes it!

For those of you who are new to this blog , you may not realise that every month Cardmaking-Companion issues a FREE monthly newsletter called, "News and Views". With the newsletter comes 7 FREE digital background papers.

It's very easy to sign up for the newsletter - simply scroll down the right hand margin of this blog and you'll see the sign up box, or alternatively sign up directly from the main website.

Each month I show a card I have made with one of the free papers, and I thought this month I would share this with you on the blog.

I love this striking grey, pink and black floral paper. It's quite a busy design but lends itself well to either a plain card or a more elaborate design.

This 6" x 6" card blank has been covered with the paper. I have some pre-cut cream hammer finish circles and one of these has formed the centre piece of the card. Onto this I have mounted a scalloped edge circle, cut with a Nestability, from one of Cardmaking-Ideas' dotty papers.

I made a small bouquet of 3 rose floral embellishments and hand tied them with a pink ribbon, fixing them to the card with some PVA glue.

Around the edge of the circle I punched some butterflies, alternating a plain pink one with a "dotty" one. Small pink pearl embellishments were added to the body of each butterfly.

I decided to leave the card sentiment free but a peel off sticker would have worked in the bottom right hand corner.

Inside the card I used a pink insert and, as usual,  punched a design into the bottom right hand corner.

I have already sent this card to a dear lady called Emma, who is 80 years old, and has just undergone a 7 hour back operation. Thankfully the operation has been a success and Emma is expected to make a full recovery.

Tomorrow is the turn of yet another young couple from our Church to get married (what are they putting in the coffee!) - Rachel and Phil.

Here is the card which I've just finished making for them.

I've covered a landscape base card with one of our own very pretty heart papers. This was given away with July' edition of "News and Views" and will shortly be appearing for sale on Cardmaking-Ideas.  I think that it's a really pretty paper which works so well on a wedding card.

The centre panel is made from a pale pink pearlescent card ( in the photogragh it has lost its pink sheen) and has been embossed using my Cuttlebug and a Sizzix embossing folder.

The cake and wedding bell decoupage embellishments are ones taken from a sheet of wedding day handmade embellishments. These were very reasonably priced and most stores stock similar ones. Two self adhesive pink faux pearls decorate the remaining 2 corners of the panel.

The card was very easy to make and looks better in real life than it does here in the photo.

I just want to share with you this card I made for my friend Margaret who was 60 yesterday.

Margaret is a very special lady so I wanted to make her a very special card. What makes her so special is that she has recently donated one of her kidneys to another member of our Church who was in desperate need of a kidney transplant.

Margaret is not related to the other person but felt directed by God to put herself forward for kidney matching. Now if you are not religious you might say that this is a load of rubbish - I'm not here to argue the semantics or rights of this I'm just reporting to you what Margaret felt she had to do.

None of the recipient's family were a match but Margaret was so the operation went swiftly ahead.

Margaret has saved the recipient's life because she was failing to respond to dialysis.

What a selfless act - at 59 years of age Margaret knew the risks and was prepared to take them.

Could I be so selfless? The honest answer is I'm not sure - I would like to think I could be but until faced with the situation I do not know how I would react.

As you can see on the card I have made a little bouquet from the floral embellishments which I got at Port Sunlight and I've used lots of pink gemstones to add life to the brown and pink cardstock I've used for the Toppers.

The backing paper is a spare sheet I've had in my "stash" and I thought the brown and pink made a nice choice rather than standard floral, silver or gold based papers.

The words and numbers are cut from the Cricut George cartridge. The base card is cream and I added a punched pink insert.

Anyway I hope you like it and after telling her story you can see why I think Margaret is so special!