Cardmaking-Companion-Blog

I cannot believe how the time has flown since I last made a post here - I've been busy getting the March edition of "News and Views" out - this is the free monthly e-mag from Cardmaking-Companion which comes with a set of free background papers or card toppers every month.

If you don't already get it, and want to sign up for the newsletter then just look down in the right hand sidebar of this blog for the coffe cup and newspaper and fill in your details there (don't worry - we never share these details with anyone else!).

This month's freebies focused around Mother's Day which is on the 14th of March in the UK but differs in the rest of the world, for example in the USA it is the 2nd Sunday in May.

Here is one of the cards which I made from the set - the free printables can be printed in different sizes on your printer but I have kept this one full size and I have used a cream card blank 21cm x 15cm

I layered the large topper onto silver mirror card and fixed it to the card blank. I then decoupaged a single layer over the vase of tulips and added glitter highlights.

The ribbon sentiment was also matt and layered onto silver mirror card and fixed below the topper.

Inside the card I fixed a pale pink insert and punched a row of tulips along the bottom edge. Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the insert and the card sold as soon as it went on display this morning!

My own Mother died from cancer over 22 years ago but this does not take away the joy I still get from making Mother's Day cards. If you are lucky enough to have your Mother still with you then please don't forget to make her day special and make that special handmade card just for her.

Susan

Cardmaking-Companion.com

Technorati Tags: card making, card toppers, Handmade Card, Mother's Day

In an earlier post this month I spoke about the cards I make to support the children's village. Well it's coming into the season when our card making is in full swing - Mother's Day, a Baptism service and Easter are all big sellers.

Now this type of card making is different from making cards for personal use or as a business proposition.

It costs £1 GBP to feed and school one child in Uganda for one day so when we first started this venture that is what we priced the cards at. The dilemma we face is that although we want to make the cards as attractive as possible we cannot make them too elaborate as they would cost more to make than what we sell them for.

The above two Mother's Day cards are perfect examples of what people get for their £1.

The blank cards are plain white 6"x6". The front of the card has been covered with embossed wrapping paper. The blue card has been matt and layered onto silver mirror card and the lilac card has been matt and layered onto purple pearlescent card and silver mirror card.

The Mother's Day sentiments are silver peel-offs stuck to a pearlescent tag mounted onto the silver mirror card. These are fixed to the cards using 3D double sided sticky pads to give some diemnsion to the card.

Finishing card making embellishments are a blue chiffon bow and a lovely lilac spotted fabric butterfly on the respective cards.

I think they are really good value for £1 but would love to hear what you think!

Susan from Cardmaking-Companion

Technorati Tags: card making, card making embellishments, Mothers Day Cards

Maybe I'm showing my age her but when I made this card the word "funky" just sprang to mind! Is that a word that's even in use today? Pprobably not, but it does me fine!

 This Home Made Birthday Card would make a great card for  a young teenage girl.

The card developed around the rubber embellishment which was another of the ones I got from the Manchester Show.

I decided to glue the embellishment to the inside back of the card - obviously in normal circumstances this wouldn't be seen but I used a Zig Zag Circle Nestability to cut an aperture in the front of the card.

 The front of the card has been covered with a Red and Pink Small Checks paper from Cardmaking Ideas.

I've had a sheet of pale pink peel offs for absolutely ages and never seem to have found the right card for them but I thought they might be just right for this one.

I used the Happy Birthday sentiment and then decided that the card looked a little bare so I stuck stars from the same peel off sheet around the embellishment on the inside of the card.

In the photgraph on the right you can see what the card looks like when opened up.

Anyway I hope you like this one - it's easy to make and just that bit different.

Susan

Technorati Tags: card making, card making embellishments, home made birthday card, peel offs

Take a look at this video it shows how to use your card making border punches to create corners with them. Although the punches shown are a specific brand and design I'm sure with a little practise you could apply these principles to your own border punches.

Technorati Tags: card making, card making border punches, cardmaking, Cardmaking Ideas

If you have read the "About Us" page on Cardmaking-Companion you will already know that I make cards which I sell to help support a children's village in Uganda.

 I sell the cards, as part of a team, once a month, at Longton Community Church.

The type of cards which always fly off the stand are the ones with words of encouragement on them, especially when they quote a bible text.

Whilst these cards may not be the most difficult cards to make they are certainly the most appreciated by both those who buy them, and by those who receive them.

This photograph shows some of the latest batch I have made. The card blanks are in a range of pastel shades and have a foiled design on them.

The message has been rubber stamped in black VersaFine ink onto white card, matt and layered onto plain card in a complimentary colour to the card blank.

Most of the cards have no card making embellishments on them, only an occasional jewel as a flower centre.

We as card makers can get carried away with making elaborate creations but sometimes all that someone needs is a simple message of encouragement to help them get through the troubles they are facing.

I leave you with this one thought - could some one you know benefit from a card like this at the moment?

Susan from Cardmaking-Companion

Technorati Tags: card making, cardd making embellishemnts, cardmaking, rubber stamped

You may be looking at this Handmade Wedding Invitation and be wondering what is so unusual about it?

It looks like a fairly standard 6" by 6" square card which has been covered with a heart covered background paper.

The plain white feature heart is cut from a Nestability layered onto a pink scalloped heart. (The pink picks up the hint of pink which is in the background paper.)

The heart has been embellished with mini pink heart jewels and then, using 3D foam. has been mounted on top of a pale pink organza bow. The tails of the bow are actually pinned down by the heart which creates quite a nice effect.

So what is so unusual about this card? Well it has nothing to do with the actual make-up of the card, it's to do with the reason why I made it.....

....Last weekend a young friend of ours came round to the house to give us an invitation to his wedding in August, later this year.

He knew I made handmade cards and he asked me to create an invitation for him to send to his fiancee, basically inviting her to her own wedding!

 Now I have to admit this is the first time I've ever heard of this, let alone be asked to make one. However our friend, Stewie thought it would be a romantic gesture and would make his fiancee feel special.

As I've said before I'm a hopeless romantic at heart  so no matter how unusual the request was I couldn't say "no"!

For the inside of the card I made a pale lilac insert which toned nicely with the pink and brown on the card's front.

At the outside edges of the insert I used a nice flourish punch which has a central heart. This is a very simple thing to do but I think it always adds a lot to the overall look and feel of the card.

I left the insert blank because I thought it would be nice for Stewie to write in his own words and feelings.

  On the front of the heart I just printed in a nice script "For Lisa With All My Love".

I gave the card to Stewie today and he was already in trouble for being late going home to Lisa - I just hope that she liked the card as much as Stewie did!

Susan from Cardmaking-Companion

Technorati Tags: card making, Cardmaking-Companion, handmade cards, handmade wedding invitation

 For me Valentine's Day conjures up a picture of Romance from a bygone age.

I suppose at heart I'm just an incurable romantic and the latest range of Vintage Valentine Card Toppers from Cardmaking-Ideas captures the feeling perfectly.

Valentine's Day as we know it dates from the 19th Century and it is a tradition that shows no sign of dying out. Infact each year there seems to be more and more cards sent.

I love these vintage images for a number of reasons - for me they just ooze romance and some of them are very sensual; and you can make a card with them very quickly and easily. This is a definite plus point if you are making a number of cards for sale.

This particular image is in the running to be my favourite - I love the Art Deco feel to it and the colour scheme.

The image comes with a choice of 2 different colour borders and I have chosen to use the one wth the purple frame. I have then matt and layered it onto a lilac and then burgundy card.

These are not normally colours you would think work well together but they fit perfectly with this image. To set off the intense colours I have used a white pearlised base card.

The set comes with 2 different coloured sentiments and I have used the purple one and have again matt and layered it onto the lilac and burgundy card. I have mounted it using the 3D foam pads to raise it off the base of the card.

You could dress this card up with other card making embellishments but I feel that the image is powerful enough to carry the card.

Now the only decision is who do I send it to? Should I send it to my husband, or tease one of my sons and send it to him?

Technorati Tags: card making embellishments, handmade Valentine's Day card, vintage Valentine's images

  Des is the lead pastor at Longton Community Church and today is his 40th birthday!

So to mark the occasion here is the handmade birthday card which I made for him.

Des enjoys a game of golf so this led me to pick one of Cardmaking-Ideas' Argyle patterns for the background paper (this one is in silver and dark blue).

I matt and layered this onto a pale blue card and then silver mirror card.

The numbers and the sentiment were cut out from the George cartridge on the Cricut using another Cardmaking-Ideas paper - the grey textured pattern. I again matt and layered these onto the silver mirror card.

Have you noticed that a lot of the shop bought cards use the 3D foam pads for their embellishments and then seem to double the price of the card?

Well there's no reason why we can't do that with our own handmade birthday cards.

Although you can't see it in this photgraph the numbers have been affixed to the card using 3D sticky foam pads to give the card dimension.

And finally just remember:

"The first forty years of life give us the text: the next thirty supply the commentary!" Arthur Schopenhauer.

Technorati Tags: card making, Cardmaking Ideas, Handmade Birthday Cards