Well. January 2021 is almost over. I’m hoping I never have a month like the one I’ve just had. Despite following all the guidance, I contracted COVID from a visit to our local hospital, whose corridors, incidentally, was eerily devoid of people. But never mind, I’m one of the lucky ones… I’m still here! I’m now looking forward to the world being safe again.
I would like to share the easel-style Christmas card I made for my daughter and son-in-law. I bought some unbranded dies on the internet, cut this particular design using my Cuttlebug, then scanned the die cut into my Brother Scan n Cut, so I could size it to whatever size I wanted. This is the result:
And from the side:
Oooo! So much glitter!!! I was so pleased with the result and am rubbing my hands together as I have lots of dies I can now resize as I like to make large-sized cards !!
I recently saw a version of this card on Pinterest and had to chuckle as it reminded me so much of my nephew. I just had to make it for his birthday this year!
Using my digital scrapbooking papers, I dragged and dropped the zigzag background paper into MS Publisher. I deleted the centre of the zigzag design as I didn’t want to use more ink than necessary as it was being covered by the topper.
I chose fonts not only that I liked but the red one in particular (called “monbijoux” – free from Dafont) to represent how much fun and zany (also sensitive) my nephew is.
The following images are screenshots of my MS Publisher screens to show you the process.
Here in the UK, we use A4 size paper/card (21 x 29.7cm), so I have MS Publisher defaulted to that size. I dragged and dropped the multi-coloured zigzag paper from Harper Finch’s “Sports” free digital kit, grabbed the corner to resize on what will be the front of the card, cropped the edge so it becomes A5 sized, then deleted a section in the centre (as it will be covered by the topper). The left hand edge of the centre zigzags will be the fold-line, creating the basis of a C5 card (half A4).
In Photoshop Elements 13, I “drew” the eyebrows and smile and saved them as a .png file which can also be used in MS Publisher. I then created the wordart using the “monbijoux” font, again saving it as a .png file. The bow tie is another .png element which I have in my stash, as are the specs/glasses. Once I have all the elements, I arranged them on the second page of the MS Publisher screen. I copied and pasted the specs so I had 3 pairs which could be layered once cut to create some dimension.
The 3rd page has all the elements arranged for printing. I added a black background to the topper to help it stand out more.
Then I set to and chose a font for the insert called “Burton’s Dreams” again a free font on Dafont.
I then printed the first page on 300gsm A4 card, the third page on 210gsm A4 card and the insert on 120gsm A4 thick paper. The second page is just part of my design process and didn’t need to be printed.
I then cut the third page in half, attached the half with the specs on to a Scan n Cut mat and let the machine do it’s magic. I then cut out the topper (ignoring the zigzag edges – I don’t need them as they are on my card base), so it has a black border, then began assembling.
Fold the card base so the front has zigzag edges
Adhere the specs to the topper so they are layered
Add “googly” eyes on the card base, inside the specs. You could also adhere a ribbon bow instead of printing one if you’d prefer
Adhere the completed topper to the card base with double sided finger-lift tape, or, if you prefer, PVA glue. The topper should just cover the inside edges of the zigzags
My eldest daughter’s best friend gave birth to a lovely little girl following a mammoth 3 day labour! She is like my third daughter and calls me “Mummy number 2”- well we have known each other for 22 years! Here is the card I made for the proud parents…
I created this card using kraft card and white card, and some pretty multi-coloured paper string. I cut a sheet of A4 kraft card to size (14.85cm x 29.7cm) to create a square card when folded in half.
The topper is a piece of white card 4mm smaller than the base which I adhered to the base with double-sided tape. Using my Brother Scan n Cut DX1200, I cut the heart doily from kraft card and the baby footprints from white. I then assembled the pieces, tied a double bow from multi-coloured paper string, added self-adhesive foam squares to the back of the heart (to give dimension) and added it to the centre of the white card.
I then created a personalised insert from 120gsm paper, cut to size to fit inside the card and adhered it with double-sided tape.
Today is Father’s Day here in the UK as well as in the rest of the world, unlike Mother’s Day which we celebrate on a different Sunday to the rest of the world.
As I mentioned in previous posts, I’m very lucky to have a Brother Scan n Cut CM600. As of yesterday, I’m even luckier as my brand new Brother Scan n Cut DX1200 was delivered, and BOY it’s a beast! I was very eager to get going but fate landed me with an almighty migraine, so made my Pop his Father’s Day card this morning. I used a free svg file from Bird’s Cards (thank you!). Here it is…..
Front view
My father (now 86) was a keen bowler but has been unable to do so for the last 5 years due to his health problems. So I knew he’d appreciate the subject matter! I scanned one of my Jolly Nation decoupage sheets and created png files of the bowler, the bowls and bowling bag using Photoshop Elements 13. I added these to a digital scrapbooking paper from a digital scrapbooking kit called Destination Spring by ChunLin.
It was my friend’s birthday last week. She was in Italy when the lockdown for COVID-19 took hold, so has been there ever since (what a lovely place to be restricted to – right beside a lake too!)
Here’s the card I made for her:
I started by cutting my A4 white 300gsm cardstock to 29.7cm x 15cm. I then cut out a circle in the centre using my trusty Scan n Cut.
I found the beautiful floral wreath design on one of my stash of digital project life cards, so extracted it using Photoshop Elements, now creating a digital floral wreath jpeg file. I then exported it into Scan n Cut Canvas to create the necessary .fcm file to enable the design to be cut using my machine.
I then created a digital “happy birthday” wordart using “I Love Christmas” font, printed it off and made the banner.
The insert was made from 120gsm white paper. I started by printing my friend’s name “Gena” in the middle right hand side matching the colour to one in the floral wreath, then printed the Italian for “Happy Birthday with love from” on the reverse, making sure it was printed on the right hand side again. I then folded the paper in half and cut it to size, to fit inside the main card.
Please excuse the messy cover-up of personal greeting 😉 !
I then adhered the floral wreath to the front of the card with self-adhesive foam squares to add some dimension, ensuring the wreath fit over the circle I had previously cut out perfectly.
My poor mother fell and broke her hip last October, then whilst recovering fell again and broke her right forearm. This has meant that my lovely, independent mummy has had to rely on both me and my sister ever since. As mentioned earlier, it’s my sister and brother-in-law’s 32nd wedding anniversary in a couple of days and I suddenly realised I hadn’t bought a card on behalf of my parents. So I set to and quickly made one…. here it is…
I’m so lucky to have a Brother Scan n Cut. I cut the layered swirly heart and adhered it to the front of the card, which I’d already added the text to. I used a decorative frame for the greeting inside. Cardstock used was a white very fine glitter, the heart is a duck egg blue pearlescent on plain white. The insert is 120gsm white paper. There you have it, quite a quick anniversary card.
craftyjay 