More Handmade Cards

I enjoy ever second I spend on making cards. It has been a great way to use my scrapbooking paper, stickers, and tools up. I love adding a little quilting into it as well. Not to mention the amount of money I have saved by using what I have.

The first card below, I made was for my mother's birthday back in October. I made a wall hanging for her, and wanted a card to match the theme and colors. The fabric in the wall hanging was floral and the theme was a vintage apron. She said she wanted an old vintage style apron, as a gift. Since I am not local and can not take measurements of my mother, I decided to add a little humor into my quilting and make a mini wall hanging of a vintage apron.

This is the cover of the card, its purple with a quilted floral diamond and gem style cover.

I used a bright colored floral paper for the inside. Using matching letters I added "Happy Birthday Mom!" I also have the press on/transfer quotes, and the one I added really went well.

The back, I used the diamond quilted paper pieces, and added my "handmade" touch.

Another card I enjoyed making was for a family friend having their very first baby (girl). I love anything baby! I enjoy making burp cloths, baby blankets, and baby pants/shorts. Anyways, I had a ton of really girly stickers and paper, so I cut a few onesies out, added a few stickers and ribbon, and of course a gem or two.

Yes I did cut those onesies out, no punch, they are not stickers, and I did not buy them.

The back of the card:

The inside, I added some very girly stickers, gems and a punch of color.

This last card was for another new mom, also having a girl. I had fun making her card, and tried my hand at a baby carriage. I also did a little tutorial on how I made it.

First thing I did was cut a circle the size I wanted the carriage to be. I need it to have a flat side, and also open like a card. I folded my paper in half, and placed my circle on the folded paper. I then slid my circle down slightly off the fold for the flat bottom of the carriage. Trace your circle and cut.

Once you have it cut, you need to measure out the opening of the carriage, or where the hood would end and the handle bars will be.

Trace and cut that window out.

I then placed my carriage on top of a white piece of scrap paper. I drew a pretty handle (you can do this as unique as you want).

Cut out two of those handles and glue one on the front and one on the back.

I then added wheels, detailed paper, and a few stickers. This is where you can have fun and add all the gems, colors, bows, ribbons, etc.

Once all the glue dried, I added a fun flower, and a few stickers.

Don't forget the inside, and that can be as simple as a little decorative paper.

Heres the back, with my handmade signature.

The finished baby quilt with the matching handmade carriage card.

If you are on a tight budget, and have a ton of stickers, or scrapbook paper available, this is a great way to use those items up, save you TONS of money, and say you care because you spent time MAKING their card!

I love when everyone says, "this card is so cute", "I love this card".... It makes it just that much more sweet, as you invested more time.

Give a Gift,
Sarah

Hand Made Cards

With our tight budget, and being on such a limited amount of spending money each month; I found I could spend almost $10 on just two cards. Seriously, when did cards turn into this extremely expensive piece of paper we give each other and then throw away? I remember buying cards that were .99 cents. I mean, where did those all go?

Well, thats when I started to think, maybe I should just MAKE the cards. That way I could personalize each card for each person. How fun would that be!? I was so excited, so I set off to do some research, check out all the unique stuff I could attempt, and began using what I had, instead of buying a bunch of cards.

I have a ton of scrapbooking product that I have slowly been using for birthday parties and small projects around the house or for family and friends. I had pretty much everything I needed in my craft room. I even had stickers for most occasions and if I didn't, I could find tons of cut outs online.

The first card I made was for my Mother, for Mother's Day (sorry Mom, I know it was horrible). The next one I made was another Mother's Day card. I had more time to make my Mother-in-laws card as I was sending her card with my Father-in laws card for Father's Day. I looked all over the internet for just anything and everything. I then tried my hand at a flower in a pot... yeah, let me just show you:

I cut out each piece and used a small gem for the center of the flower.

I then added "Happy Mother's Day" with stickers I had on hand.

For my Father-in-law and my husband they both got these adorable cards:

This card opens from the bottom. I used brads for the buttons on the collar.

My husband and Father-in law both LOVED the cards, and they both said that it was pretty cool. Like father like son right? Even my oldest son was like "cool, shirt".

My Brother-in-laws birthday is the day after mine, and my sons birthday is late June. The last few posts have been about my sons birthday party and all the items I made for it. However, I didn't show off the card or show you the card I gave to my Brother-in-law for his birthday. Check the out:

This is the card I gave to my Brother-in-law. I felt it was fun, and classic for a California guy.

The inside, I wrote "Happy Birthday", but wished I had done it with stickers.

For my son, his party was nautical themed, so I just matched the theme.

The inside, so cute.

The back, with the "hand made by: Sarah Pitcher". Feels great to make a card for someone special.

I just loved how everyone who has received their cards, has mentioned how great they are, and how personal they seem. Which is why I like making them, but hey, my wallet is liking it too. I have spent zero dollars on these cards so far. I have used stickers, paper, scissors, brads, glue and sticky tape from my scrapbooking supplies. Its just great to finally be putting it all to use.

In July my sister and my brother both have birthdays. I was so excited to do one for my family! I wanted to see what they thought of my card making skills.

My sisters card, I wanted it to be colorful, and seem fun and full of cheer for her birthday. I always hate the fact that I can't be there to celebrate with them, because were military and we rarely can be in town for those events. However, now that I can make cards more personal, I felt like maybe it will make her feel like I am giving her a hug when she opens it. Sure enough, my sister said she LOVED the card.

It says "Happy Birthday Rachel!"

The triangles are only glued at the top, so they are loose and flip up on the end, which gives them that movement, and makes them feel more alive.

This card opened from the bottom and I added a few strips of colored paper.

I added some stickers to add a little visual accent, and I wrote a personal message inside.

 My brothers card, I again used those vintage cars, and cut each one out. I then cut out banners in two different paper colors, and glued them all together. I then alternated the directions and the card really came out masculine but super cute. I could totally change the colors to pink purple and maybe a soft yellow, and find flowers or something they like; and then it would be a perfect female card as well.

The cars are from fabric I had used for a project awhile back.

The inside quote went well with the idea of riding in a car.

Like all my other cards I have been adding this too the backs.

I made two more birthday cards in August for my Mother-in-law and my Father-in-law. I am starting to get better at this card making stuff, and really wanted to do some fun bold cards. I went with a little more modern style and also went with clean lines and a simple design. I mean, how do you not like this card:

This card is a lot more pink and purple then the colors show. I believe its the lighting.

 The idea was to make a cupcake. I hope everyone can see it?

I had some birthday stickers, which I loved the cake, because it matched the colors of this card perfectly.

The back, of course, had its touch.

 This card is a light pink with sage green diamonds. However, the colors are just not that bold in the photo... use your imagination. Bad lighting, next time Ill try to get better photos.

For my Father-in-law, I went with a fun tiered cake.

I just used different paper with different themed designs on them, and cut them into a cake.

I then used a velum quote and added the brown frame around it.

I cut out 3 curved pieces of paper, stacked and glued them together, added some stickers and it all came together nicely.

Had to add the detail to the back.

I wanted to make a few cards for the future, but only got around to one. Hey, I had some sewing projects I wanted to work on more so. Anyways, with everyone graduating this summer, I thought Ill make a graduation card.

I kept it blank on the inside for now, who knows when I will use it, but I sure do love it.

The tassel on the hat is made from embroidery floss. I again, have tons of that on hand.

Well, thats all the cards for now. I have a few more birthdays, and of course some holiday cards to make; so keep an eye out for those too. If you want to see a TUTORIAL or a few HOW TO photos, feel free to leave a comment and I'll do my best to make a few.


Give Your Next Gift a Handmade Touch,
Sarah

Shadow Box Project

When I had my first son, a wonderful friend of mine made a really cute shadow box for his room. It had all sorts of cute pictures, scrap paper, stickers, and so much work had gone in to it. I cried when I opened it. It was so perfect and such a thoughtful gift. I loved it from day one and still love it.


 This is what it looks like, and still hangs in their room today.

Then a year and some change later I found out I was pregnant with our second child. I knew instantly I wanted to make another one of the shadow boxes to keep the theme going. I purchased the same exact shadow box, and collected stickers, pictures, and everything else I could find.

I busted out my old scrapbooking tools, and started working on the shadow box. I measured a hundred times, and still managed to chop some of the stickers off, but it still is super cute! I made this around my sons 9 month or 10 months, and honestly wanted just pregnancy, delivery and baby photos.

I am so thankful for such an amazing friend who put such love and thought into the gift, because it gave me a way to capture those precious moments that go by so fast.

Heres my attempt at it:

The first one is a lot better then mine, but I love them both!

Scrapbook Away,
Sarah

Baby Shower Banner #2

I showed you the first banner I made for my sisters baby shower and how simple it was. I then made a REAL storybook themed banner from a Mother Goose book. I loved reading the Mother Goose rhymes when I was a kid, and still love to read them to my kids now. This banner take a little more time, but can still be done in a day or two.

First you will need to grab the following items:
-glue
-scissors
-pencil/pen
 -old book to cut up
-ribbon (white, 3 inches)
-a Mother Goose book or other book you enjoy for the theme
-colored scrapbook paper (needs to be 12 inches or larger)
-a banner template (the triangle shape), a large one and one just ever so slightly smaller.

1. Color copy the nursery rhymes from the Mother Goose book that you want to use. Make sure you copy enough for the amount of letters and spaces you need in the banner.

2. Cut out, using the template, the large triangle/banner pieces from the colored paper.

3. Cut out, using the smaller template, the triangle/banner pieces from the colored copy pages from the book

4. Lastly cut out of the old book paper the letters you need. You can do this free hand, with a stencil, or a machine.

5. Glue the letters to the colored pages from your themed book. Then glue those triangles to the colored triangles.

6. You now should have something that looks a lot like this:

7. Now you want to get a ribbon large enough to sew or glue the banner onto. I purchased a 3 inch sized white ribbon. I then folded it in half and placed the top of each triangle piece inside the fold. I then stitched along the bottom part of the ribbon, where the paper was.

8. I placed one triangles corner right next to the next triangles corner, barely leaving any gap.

9. Once done your banner should look something like this:

and at the party:

Now Get Started,
Sarah

Storybook Table Decoration

I searched for tons of great ideas for a long skinny buffet table decorations. I wanted something long that could sit behind the food at the party, but still scream Classic Storybook Themed Baby Shower. I eventually came up with the idea of color printing a few book covers, cutting them out, and placing them on some scrapbooking paper. Bind them together and place it on the table. Little did I know this project would be a little harder then just copy, cut, glue, and bind! Don't worry though, I have a tutorial with photos, so you can follow along and make your very own! You could use this design for any party. Use photos, and place them on both sides for a center piece on a table. Or use animals, characters, or designs that are part of your party and place this decoration on a counter, party table, food table, dessert table, or even a presents table! This decoration can be made and used for almost any event!

What you will need for this project:

Take a few books that you want to use, color copy the fronts, and shrink them (or enlarge them) to the size you desire. Cut them out.

Next grab a few scrapbook paper that you like, or will match you theme or colors. I chose a few boy themed light colored scrapbook paper. I them cut them to a desired size. Which I think was something like 8 x 10 inches.

I then laid the pages out and placed the book covers on each page. I did this and changed them up and moved them around, etc. Once I decided on what I liked, I then took a photo to remember.

I then measured about a half inch on all sides, to get the book in just the right spot/center. You would have to do some measuring with your book covers and scrapbooking pages to figure out where your center is. I used a PENCIL and put a mark where I measured each corner to be. Thats a helpful guide for the next step.

I then used Tacky Glue (which you can get at any craft store), and place a drop of glue in each corner and center of the book covers and glued them in to place. Use your pencil mark guides to help you place the cover back into the correct spot.

Once all your covers are glued down and dry, you will now need a needle (large enough to place Embroidery Floss through), a safety pin, Embroidery Floss in your desired color, a pencil, and ruler.

Start by measuring out a pattern of how you want or where you want your floss to go. I wanted mine to look like Xs so I made sure I worked in groups of 4. I then placed pencil marks, using my ruler, about a half inch from the edge of the paper, and a half inch from the dot before.

Notice the small pencil dots, those are my thread holes.

I then knot one end of my floss, thread it through the needle, and push through from the back of on page at the bottom, and move upward. Skipping one hole on each side.

I then continue back down, making all the Xs as I work. I then go back and pull all the loose floss and make the Xs tight.

I then pull the floss through the last hole, and knot it onto the first floss hole I went through, as you can see below. I knotted it 3 times.

Your back should now look all pretty.

The front should look something like this, or maybe you added an extra 2 holes... which I didn't have room for.

Now move on to the next pages. I linked the two left pages together, then the two right and then placed them together with the center, that way I wasn't working with 3 or 4 pages all at once.

I made it easier on myself, and I created a template to help guide me in placing the holes in the exact same place every time.

I line up my guide with the two pages, and then push my pencil through the holes to leave a small pencil mark on the scrapbook paper.

I then push my safety pin through the holes, from front to back, this will keep the paper from ripping, or pushing upward and leaving white around the hole.

Using your floss, I would cut about 10-12 inches of thread for each.

Start from the back, pushing up through the bottom to the front. Don't forget to knot the end of your floss.

Move to the hole directly next to it, and push down to the back.

Move diagonally and push your floss up through the next hole on the right.

Jump over and up one hole or at a diagonal.  Push your floss through to the back.

Again, go diagonally to the next hole, or over and up one.

Continue this pattern up and back down.

Start pulling the thread tight.

Until you have this:

Finish it up with your knots.

Now carefully fold the pages so they don't stick out.

Then stand it up and check out your amazing work!

Use it at the party for a table decoration or anywhere else!

Get To Work,
Sarah