Posts Tagged 'cards'

Photography Goods: Paper Quilled Vintage Camera Cards

Published March 19, 2013 Crafts & Sewing , photography 1 Comment
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Back in January I mentioned buying a Beginner Quilling Kit. You can see my first attempt here. It was fun, but I haven’t had a chance to try it again since then. While looking for inspiration I came across these awesome quilled vintage camera cards by Sweet Spot Card Shop on Etsy. OMG! So cute!! The little details, like the tiny gems for the flash and lenses, really sets these apart.

That got me thinking about the art of quilling in general. A lot of quilled design feels sort of dated. And that is good if that’s the look you’re going for. But what could bring this skill back for the masses is if quilling took an updated turn – whether being added to mixed media, or moving beyond the common bouquet of flowers you see all over. Anyway, Sweet Spot Card Shop really nailed blending the art form and making it appealing to today’s buyers. Who wouldn’t be thrilled to get a card (or calendar!) like these?

 

Light Up Valentines + Free Printable PDF

Published February 9, 2013 Chloe , Crafts & Sewing , Free Downloads , graphic design , handmade , holiday , tutorials 1 Comment
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Chloe worked on her Valentine cards right after breakfast this morning. I had designed these cards a few weeks back, knowing I had a stash of tiny finger flashlights for her to give away. These super bright LED Finger Flashlights are about 20¢ each when you buy a set on Amazon. Keeping their size in mind, I made a similar-sized flashlight with a heart and then included the phrase “You Light Up My Life Valentine.” Interestingly, this is the first time I felt like typefaces failed me. None of them looked quite right, so I ended up handwriting it and then scanning it in. Much better!

Here’s what the cards look like freshly printed:

This is what the packages of finger flashlights look like:

If you decide to add a finger light onto a card, use an x-acto knife to cut a small tab near the middle of the printed flashlight, like shown. Then slide the elastic loop onto the tab. Like this:

Continue reading ‘Light Up Valentines + Free Printable PDF’

Stitched Fabric Heart Cards

Published September 5, 2012 Crafts & Sewing , handmade 1 Comment
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The other day at Ikea I finally convinced my husband to let me purchase a batch of Ribba frames. I’ve been wanting to build a display wall of photographs in our hallway, but David isn’t really a family-photo-display-wall kind of guy. However, this time he was into it and I jumped at the chance. I’ve been spending time today looking through my Flickr account, trying to decide on the photos I’d like to use. That is when I came across these fabric heart cards I made from two years ago. Wow. You mean I actually had time back then (with only one child) to do fun projects like this?

Anyway, you can see they are very simple. I had a batch of blank white patterned cards, cut out a silhouette from the center, backed it with another piece of white card stock and sewed up the edges to secure it. The stitching also added a nice little frame on the heart and tree versions. On the flowered version I cut out some fabric flowers, pasted them on and stitched a line down the center. Not sure what happened to these, but I’m thinking I might have given them as part of a gift. It sure what fun to see them again!

 

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Published February 14, 2012 Chloe , Crafts & Sewing , handmade , holiday Closed
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Hi! I hope you are having a wonderful Valentine’s Day! I am happy to report that we got our valentine cards out in time this year (well… all but one. Sorry Great Grandma Vera, yours got stuck in the pile of extra envelopes and I didn’t see it until last night). We kept it simple and used foam and sparkle stickers on white card stock. I learned that Chloe finds 3-dimensional stickers on sheets to be easier to peel than stickers that are pre-punched out. I did a lot of pre-peeling just to keep things moving. Also, we worked on cards over several sittings, the length of each determined by Chloe’s attention span and interest.

This morning, David surprised me with a lovely card and a box of truffle-filled dark chocolate hearts. For him, I designed a card cover, and inside I included this pop-up pixelated heart in red. I think he really liked it. To surprise the kids, I picked up some helium foil valentine balloons from the dollar store while Chloe was in preschool.

One extra special something I got for Chloe is a hand-carved stamp with her name. She already recognizes and says the letters, but hasn’t learned to write it yet, though she tries. If only I had waited one more day before mailing her cards this would have come in handy! The artist kindly agreed to customize it with a little heart, which I love. Now I’m thinking Leo will need one too. 🙂

Want a stamp of your own? Lauren of Doodlebug Design  is offering a 10% discount to Paperseed readers. Just use code Doodlebug10 at checkout.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Birth Announcement Entries

Published July 3, 2011 Design 2 Comments
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(I wrote this before Leo was born, but didn’t get a chance to post it.)

One of the things I regret not doing for Chloe was sending out a birth announcement. There were several factors involved in that decision – like the pressure (as a professional designer) to design my own, the cost of printing and postage, and the time it takes to stuff, address, and stamp each envelope. As a first time mom, I was just too exhausted and overwhelmed to tackle that project, and so I let it go. By the time I felt like I had a handle on things, it seemed a little too late to send a newborn announcement.

Wanting to do things differently this time, David and I talked about looking into an online service. I was perusing Minted and noticed they were holding a “Summer is Born” Birth Announcement Design Challenge (they provided the photos). So I thought, what the heck? Maybe I’ll submit a few.

Here are the three I submitted – all minimalist, mostly letting the photo speak for itself. Maybe one of these will be the birth announcement style we use for Leo…

Updated Tutorial & Printables List

Published August 30, 2010 Crafts & Sewing , Design , Free Downloads , handmade , holiday , Home , Pretty Things , Things to Make , tutorials 4 Comments
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I updated my Downloads + Tutorials page (see link under the header bar) with all the project tutorials and printable pdfs I’ve included on this blog. Hopefully they’ll be easier to find and use all in one place. Here are some:

1. DIY iPhone 4 Bumper Idea_2b.jpg, 2. Paper-Wrapped Jewelry Organizer, 3. bird magnets1.jpg, 4. Free Printable Valentine Flower card, 5. Chocolate Gift Jar Oreos.jpg, 6. Baby bib, 7. Halloween “Cauldron Bubbles” Treat, 8. IMG_7332.JPG, 9. “Dad” Father’s Day Card, 10. Cute Baby Hair Clips, 11. Holiday Gift tags, 12. Printable Holiday Gift Wrap, 13. Printable Holiday Cheer game board, 14. Felt photo album cover, 15. Vinyl Record Bowl, 16. Modern Happy Holidays Card

Gratitude

Published February 24, 2010 Crafts & Sewing 6 Comments
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I am happy to find myself with a number of reasons to be thankful for my friends lately. To express my gratitude, I made more thank you cards using my trusty butterfly punch and pieces of Chloe’s finger paintings. Just one more way to spread the baby artwork love (even on the inside – see bottom photo).

It is hard to see, but the Fastenator staple on the card in the second photo says thank you. The first photo uses a rub-on, which worked pretty well considering the cardstock has a little bit of texture. I haven’t used a rub-on transfer since I was a kid, but it was a nice option when working with dark paper.

Postscript: I just read a great idea on Twig & Thistle that an easy way to sharpen your punches is to use the punch on some aluminum foil. Sweet! See the post here.

Child Care

Published February 16, 2010 baby , Design 3 Comments
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I did it. I dropped Chloe off at day care this morning. For and hour. For the First Time. I’ve never left her anywhere before, except for brief periods with her grandparents. It feels really weird. Exciting and a bit wrong. Sort of like leaving the house with only one shoe on. You know it is missing and it doesn’t feel right. But you can still run errands with only one shoe. And know that the other one is doing just fine without you, right where you left it.

A friend of mine started up a child-care co-op that I have yet to try. She printed coupon cards (that I got to design!) for AM and PM (see above), that you give to the sitter, so she can then use one when she needs child care. I want to take my husband with me to go see AVATAR again, and use one of my coupons, but it hasn’t worked out for us yet. Three+ hours seems like an awful long time. I’m hoping this will help me work up to it. You know, baby steps, and all that.

Felt Flower Hair Clip Giveaway!

Published March 22, 2009 baby , Crafts & Sewing , Etsy , handmade 13 Comments
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I finally found some time to make some new hair clips! These are just so fun. I can’t wait until Chloe has enough hair. Meanwhile it gives me plenty of time to build up my stash, since I’ve been giving most away as little gifts. I also decided to add a few to my sorely neglected etsy shop, and included a couple with matching cards:


Would you like to win the white felt flower hair clip in the top photo? Leave a comment below on this post and I’ll announce a random winner next weekend. Good Luck!

Modern Birth Announcements

Published March 5, 2009 baby 6 Comments
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Recently Patti left a comment asking what we did for birth announcements. I was embarrassed to admit that although we took the time to design our own, we never took the time to got them printed. Sad. Instead, we copped out and included a photo of our new family in our Christmas cards.

Etiquette experts generally say that sending a birth announcement up to 3 months afterward is fine, but I feel kind of weird doing it now. But if I did, and didn’t go with my own design, I’d love to use one of these online birth announcement sites:

Tiny Prints
They’ve gotten a lot of press lately, but they sure have some cute designs. I’ve seen several printed examples, including a holiday card, this birth announcement and my own baby shower invite (thanks Greta!), which all looked really nice. The branches with pink blossoms design below was the inspiration for the painting that Grandma Sandy painted on the wall in Chloe’s nursery.

Minted
I first learned about Minted via the Project Nursery Blog. Back when Chloe was born they were running a 10% off special, except there weren’t any designs that David and I could agree on. They have gorgeous letterpressed wedding invites and even offer professional calligraphy.

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Metro Baby Cards
I would say their tagline “Modern. Funky. Unique.” is pretty apt. I love that they offer coordinating return address labels. Their personalized baby Thank You cards are worth a look, and they also have birthday, baptism, holiday and shower cards.

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Updated 12/05/2009 to add: Paperculture

Cute Fabric Art Cards

Published October 22, 2008 baby , Crafts & Sewing , handmade 6 Comments
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I made this set of little notecards today as part of a swap package. They were inspired by all the cool fabric art and cute graphics I’ve come across lately. I cut the shapes out of scraps of flannel and craft felt and glued them in place. The other part of the swap package will consist of a softie, which I’ve never made before. I’m not sure if my sewing skills are up to something like that, but I guess I will be finding out soon!

Butterfly Craft Punch

Published October 14, 2008 baby , Crafts & Sewing , handmade , Things to Make 7 Comments
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It has taken me a while to write and send out thank you cards for the shower gifts we’ve received. To me, writing a thank you card is serious business. I really want each one to be heart felt, and to let the giver know how meaningful their gift truly is to me. Each card has unique thoughts, and because of this I usually only complete 2 or 3 once I finally sit down to write.

Originally, I bought baby specific cards, but they’re almost all gone. Plus, it is more interesting for me to use different cards, instead of the same ones each time (even though I know they are going out to different people). That is where my new Martha Stewart butterfly craft punch comes in (on sale at Michaels a few weeks ago). We’ve had these cheap, generic thank you cards hanging around for a while. All it took was a few pieces of scrap paper and voila! a new look to otherwise plain cards. I’ve done both glued and sewn versions, as shown above. Also, if you haven’t already seen them, butterfly collages are a really fun way to use this punch, too.

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