52 Weeks of Crafting

My friend Paloma and I love macaroons. One year she got me a cooking class voucher to learn to make them, another year we went to tea at Laduree for a celebratory meal; they are a constant in our friendship. 

So these cards are totally different but I made them at the same time and decided it would be fun to blog about them both at the same time.

The Hamilton card is for a colleague (and friend) turning 30 who - like me - is obsessed with the musical. We listen at work, discuss the characters, compare London and Broadway cast members...we're totally nuts for it. I decided too get out the scalpel and do a bit of paper cutting for the figure on top, then added the star die beneath. The background is blended using Distress Oxides as I wanted the same aged effect as the famous poster.


This congrats card is completely different! I used a great pattern paper and die cut a small square. I created a ring out of glitter stock using two different circle dies and added my mega bling on top. That is actually a rhinestone from a necklace that broke so it looks a bit rough in person but I liked the effect. The congrats sticker is from a big pack I got at Hema.

I had so much fun making them and as they're both for personal friends I'm sure they'll be thrilled with them as well.

I decided to play along with some challenges this weekend to make a Bridal Shower card for one of my best friends. She's Beatle-mad and I thought this All You Need is Love sentiment + die set would be perfect - I just needed to make a card around it.

So the combination of colors at The Paper Players and the layout at CAS(E) This Sketch were a perfect combo as she loves pink and orange:



I made an umbrella out of pink and orange papers to go with the 'Shower' theme (it is tradition after all) and I used a heart stencil to add some raining hearts to the background paper. I die cut the 'love' sentiment in yellow and orange for texture. I added a lime green border of heart scallops to add the fourth colour.

So while it's a wedding card it is super summery and cheerful - not the usual white-on-white. I think she'll like it and it was a fun way to get some inspiration this weekend.

My friend gave me a brief for a birthday card that included brunch, fried chicken, crime and detective shows, weight lifting and boxing, and the closer 'basically all millenial things.' Awesome.

I decided a collage card would help me cover all the crazy stuff in this brief. I paper cut the different components. I am particularly pleased with the representation of the mystery show. I try to only add drawn accents if it's needed but I think I got the balance right. Once I had laid it out I die cut the sentiment so it would fit with the rest. I got my friend to consult on backgrounds as I was feeling indecisive and she chose the pink chevrons which was the one I was least convinced by but it works. At the last minute we decided to add the pineapple, which totally makes it.

I absolutely love it. I hope she does too! 

My buddy Dave at work always asks me to make him funny cards for his family. He asked me to make his girlfriend a fox card and his dad a train card.

For absolutely no reason, I decided to make the fox card a shaker. I just thought, why not? I haven't made a shaker in a while, this will be fun! And then I saw that CAS-UAL Fridays was hosting a shaker challenge so that confirmed my commitment.

Plus, while it looks simple, there are about 6 uses of dies on this card (the background square with circle removed, the acetate circle, the scallop with the ring cut out, the foam ring) so I'm entering the CAS On Sunday challenge of 'Use a Die'.

I colored a Unity Co stamp directly on the card blank and then die cut a piece of paper around it. I die cut a foam ring in red to hold the sequins and then layered on top a scalloped circle with a die cut out as a frame. I added a hand drawn border and a little printed tag that Claire had given me as a sentiment. Really pleased with it as I struggle with shakers and I was patient enough to wait for all the glue to dry on the foam and the lid before shaking it so I didn't get the sequins stuck around the edges like usual!




Now for the train. I tried my hand a paper cutting one from sight and it came out a bit sloppy and un-train-like. So I cheated a bit, printed out a train image, glued it to a black card and then cut it out as a stencil and then flipped it over. Still, I had to do it by hand so I think it's ok! The paper is an ancient one from my stash (I think it's Recollections a few years ago). I cut the tag and used Distress Inks to blend over it to give it the vintage leather feel. The stamp is a really new one from Paper Source (I indulged when I went to the US recently!) and I think it may be it's inaugural use. I added some black bling and a gold glitter dot for the train's light.

Really happy with both of them and can't wait to give them to my colleague.

A colleague remembered her 5 year anniversary a bit late in the day - specifically it was 6:15 on a Wednesday for her anniversary on Thursday!

She was in a fast-paced brainstorm, listing things about their relationship and dates and we were trying to come up with gift ideas. She mentioned their first date was surfing and involved tequila shots on the beach and I thought: that would make a great card.

I started by paper cutting a surfer and surf board in black paper, then cut out my shot glasses and limes. I added glitter glue to represent the tequila and added white gel pen to the limes. I watercolored using Distress Inks to get the sunset and beach motif. The sentiment is die cut using white stock and I split it over the background and kraft card blank.

My colleague was really tickled by it so I'm pleased it worked out.

I got asked to print photos to contribute to a friend's bachelorette party/hen do book and it occurred to me that I have so few printed photos this was going to be really hard! I scanned all of my social media accounts and decided there was only one good recent photo of us but, as a friend of 12 years, I couldn't go with just one little image so I decided to supplement the only way I know how: with crafting!

I made my dies do most of the heavy lifting, and added detailing in enamel accents to the dart board and the college crest (that's our Oxford college where we met). She lives in Hong Kong (thus the dragon) and lived in Italy (thus the flag) and loves to travel. The bottle is more symbolic of how we pass our time - lots of casual drinking!


And this is the one image I did decide to print, which I jazzed up with some stickers from Tim Holtz's Ranger range. I was pretty happy with the result, it definitely stands out amid all the other photos!

A close colleague is having a baby and I wanted to make him something special for his wife to welcome their baby girl. Another colleague also commissioned a card for them so I thought I'd feature them both here.

The headline card is the one I'm giving them - I used a stencil Claire gave me and used Victorian Velvet Distress ink to get the subtle pink clouds. I punched a bunch of balloons using a Stampin' Up punch and stamped a 'Welcome Baby' sentiment on the biggest of them. I added some stamped strings, I kind of wish I had used real string but I like the bow.


This card is really funny. Our colleague's wife is Czech and they have this cartoon called Little Mole so I was commissioned to make a Little Mole card for her to give. I don't love the banner - I will keep trying it though. The top sentiment is die cut using an XCut die and the Little Mole is paper cut by hand.

Both really fun and different baby cards, I'm going to remember the balloon treatment for the future as I think that could have legs.

Two special cards today commissioned for Mother's Day. The headline is a card that a colleague asked me to make featuring freesia (preferably purple freesia), a butterfly and a meerkat. Yes a meerkat. She had sent me a photo reference for the freesia that was really nice and, since I lacked a freesia stamp, I decided to try my hand at colored pencil drawing. Not too shabby I think! I die cut a butterfly and then added a little cut out meerkat. He's probably the weakest link here but, then again, it's not a strong narrative to have a meerkat is it!? After I fussy cut the flowers I arranged it and realized I needed a sentiment so I went to my trusty dies. I'm really pleased with it, even if it is totally random!


This one was too funny - a designer told me he wanted a card for his gran, who was a painter in her youth and from Wales. She liked painting birds and landscapes so I decided to do a little mini watercolour of a Welsh coastline scene in honour of her. I made a little watercolour box and a mini brush and easel out of paper. It was a bit fiddly but I am really pleased with it! Then I found a nice artsy backing paper that has texture but doesn't detract from the scene. I die cut a greeting but liked it better without it - I can always add it back in if my colleague wants it included.

Totally random and different but so pleasing to make!

A good friend asked me to make a wedding card for a couple he has been friends with since high school. They have been together since they were teenagers and decided to get married to make things easier as they buy houses, move countries and generally change their lifestyle by the year!

He gave me a brief of things that would mean something to them - they travel a lot as a group of friends and so he requested a number of things to represent their adventures. Plus booze and food that feature regularly - it's something I can certainly relate to!

I started cutting out everything from plain card stock, I didn't want to have to draw too much (mainly because I'm terrible at drawing) and paper cutting always looks a bit different. People tend to be more forgiving as well!

The bicycle is a stamp that I die cut out (and then cut out a few pieces more), and the ham, beer stein, cheese and lime slice feature some pen detailing. The little grapes on the cheese board (hard to see) and the tulips are a punch (I colored the leaves green to avoid pink stems and leaves). The gin and tonic and champagne glasses are filled with glitter glue to look like liquid (I was pleased with that detail, I'm doing that again). Finally I made a Malta flag to represent her heritage and a destination they often return to.

It's in the post to go to my friend now, I think he'll like it and more importantly I think the couple will like it!

This final set post is for a girl on the team about to leave so I'm showing her leaving card as well.

I kept things super simple here. Her little dog is a friend of my little dog (friend is a strong word, more like pint-sized bully) and like me she lives for that dog. She's Finnish, and has a great Scandi style, so I wanted it to be clean and simple in execution. I decided to simply stamp 4 paw prints, use different powders and heat emboss them. I'm featuring the gold and turquoise here but I also did silver and red glitter (which I stamped upside down. Oops. It kind of works though so I left it).


Her leaving card is also really simple, featuring a paper cut silhouette of her, the dog, a glass of wine and a little speech bubble with the brand mark of her client for the past 3 years. I debated a 'longing for you' message but decided against it, the simplicity is really nice and I think it suits her as well. I'll miss her so much and I am gutted to see her go. Hopefully there will be future visits from her and we can see the little dog again in the future!

I regularly mention how weird my colleague card commissions are. I mean, I've had some extraordinary ones in my day including Shaun the Sheep and Pingu, a traditional Cossak dancing, and a Minion Valentine all come to mind......When one of my favourite designers asked me to make a Playmobile pirate Christmas card for her nephew of course I said yes!

I looked up a number of Playmobile images and then did a shameless copy after printing a few out. To make my life a bit easier I actually made a paper doll first in roughly the size of an A6 card and made all of the corresponding elements to fit that doll though ultimately I abandoned it when sticking down and just layered everything up on the card without it.

The shirt beneath the jacket is patterned DoCrafts Cranberry paper from their Christmas set and the sword is silver paper but everything else is just plain cardstock. I used a punch to get the eyes and smile (an eye cut in half!) and the feather in the hat is actually a little die I have but the rest is cut by hand with my trusty Fiskars finger blade. I drew the white hat details on with a gel pen. I added a few bling buttons and a candy cane with the peel off greeting and left the background empty. I didn't want to detract from my lovely pirate! I can't wait to give it to her, this was too much fun (despite the hour+ time to create)!

A friend in the office is having a baby and one of my other colleagues and I conspired to make him the most personal, random baby card. The friend having the baby loves chilli and hot sauce and everything spicy so we decided that had to play a central role.

I created a mobile from paper scraps and some string and then cut out little chillies from scraps on my desk. I glitter glued the red ones and then used enamel accents for the green. I raised them with little foam squares so they would have a 3D effect.

It looked too stark against white so I used kraft card. I'll be honest and say I think the black is too dark and should have used grey or white. Oh well. Never mind. Still the craziest baby card I've ever made!

My colleague asked me to make a wedding card for her friends that was Absolutely Fabulous themed. I was delighted by the brief and then almost immediately panicked because I didn't know how far to go!

I liked the layout at CAS(E) this Sketch and wanted to find a way to make it work:


I started with a champagne glass - I figured I could make it work if I had a champagne glass. I cut the first out of card to use as a template and then cut two more out of vellum. I chose one with tiny flowers and another with tiny lines (courtesy of Claire) as I thought they looked like bubbles. I stuck down the vellum but I hate the glue mark you get - I was trying to make them stand up with foam tape but that looked even stranger.

I layered this over the brilliantly sparkly magenta kiss paper I have been saving 'for best' from my first ever Recollections pad - Femme Fatale - that my sister bought me when I first started crafting.

I printed the sentiment (my colleague asked for it specifically) and kept half above the paper, half below so that it would mimic the sketch.  I tried an alternative with more muted colors/papers and a blended background but it really wasn't working for me. By that point I'd had a chat with a friend over Skype and a cocktail and my brain was disconnected from proper crafting.

Hopefully my friend (and her friends) will like it as much as I enjoyed making it.

My friend asked me to make a card with a lot of fun little details. She asked me to have someone doing yoga and then asked me to do something to hint at how she is about to be a grandmother.

I researched different yoga poses and found Ego Eradicator, an energy pose that felt perfect. I cut it by hand as a silhouette. I put four hearts, as she has four kids, and inside is a smaller heart growing inside.

I die cut the sentiment in purple and layered it over the same teal paper.

No bling, no sequins, just simple paper shapes. I love it and think it fits the brief really well.

This week we're looking for projects inpsired by dancing! I'll be honest, I wasn't quite sure where to go with this one but I had a good dig through my stamps and decided to go for this 50s rock and roll piece.

The girl is sort of based on a stamp I had but as I cut her out I made her skirt fuller, gave her a ponytail and gave her flat saddle shoes instead of heels. Turned her from a domestic goddess housewife into a 50s poodle skirt girl.

The juke box is colored with ProMarkers in Poppy, Oasis and Yellow and I cut it out to give it more prominence. The greeting is also colored and die cut and layered over a yellow circle which I thought made it a bit retro.

I added some lovely little plastic dots that Claire made me for my birthday this year. All in all I was happy with the challenge and can't wait to see what others do as well!