Soft purple and grey pop up hearts box card

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When I first got this request, I thought to myself....hmmm have I ever done this colour combination before?? I thought I had never done it before.....then I remembered I had done it years ago. It was of course a totally different type of card though, but there sure was purple and silver involved!!

The only difference though is that, for this one, the purple has to be a soft pastel purple and I was a bit worried about that. I kept thinking if I could actually make it work! I didn't have a lot of soft purple pattern papers in my collection. So the choices were pretty limited. Same goes for silver or grey colour. Although with the limited choices that I had, I was determined to make it work! :)

There is a really easy trick to match certain pattern paper that does not match with the colours from the other pattern papers if you plan on using more than one type of paper for the card. All I did was simply add those sparkly plastic rhinestones to it or matching ribbons! Immediately it will give the paper something in common with the other. So now they match! Haha! 

At the back of each box card that I made will have a small area for you to write down your personal wishes. I made it simple with just straight lines all the way from the top to the bottom.

Brush lettering the sentiments again for this card and at this point I already started to feel tired of using the brush. It could be because my right hand still hurts. I think I spent at least an hour trying to write this sentiment and ruined so many pieces of paper in the process. I haven't bought a dip pen yet but will probably do so soon for the sake of my aching hand. Still haven't made up my mind on which type of dip pen I should get. Arrrgghh....decisions, decisions!

While I busy myself making up my mind, why don't you check out my video below of the box card I made. Have fun watching it! Thank you!

Pop up balloons birthday card

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This birthday boy card was indeed a rush to make. I didn't get much time to do it as I was given such a limited time to get it done. Usually I take such a long time to get a card done. I can be pretty meticulous and find it hard to make a decision. In short, I'm super slow. So I really shocked myself when I did get it done in the end. Haha!

 

I'm 100% sure that part of the reason is because I was give 100% freedom to design it anyway I like it. I was only told that the colour of choice is blue, so there must be blue colours on the card and the boy's age and name must be added on it too. That's about it!

 

It had to be simple because of the time constraint. That was the only way I could get it done on time. I was lucky enough to have the type of pattern paper that was suitable for the occasion and everything just went well after that. I was relieved! I really love the balloons pattern paper. Finally I get to use it for this card. It's super cute for boys that age. And from there I got the idea to make pop up balloons. I drew and cut the balloons one by one by hand. No die cuts ok!! Haha! Just a simple pattern to draw and cut. Easy!

I also wrote the sentiments myself using a small brush and ink. Gosh I'm so glad that I could do it myself, because then I never have to worry about printing them again. Or stamping for that matter! Just write it! As simple as that! I do have to get me more ink colours though. The ones I have now are quite limited and only suitable for limited colours of cards. Do check out the video below! Thank you!! :).

Pink and green pop up anniversary card

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March must be a month that I concentrated a lot on making "card in a box" cards. This pink and green anniversary card is one of them and there's plenty more coming soon! I have always loved combining colours of pink, green and white. And so when I got a request to do a card with these colours I got really excited!

I have used that checkered pink and green pattern paper before for a tri-shutter card this year and I used it again for this card because the pattern looks good for the box. I had fun decorating the card with lots of green, pink rhinestones and pearls too. So the box looks so fancy with those little precious gems on it. It enhances the look of the card and makes it look a little fancier than usual. Just simple add ons can make a lot of difference to a simple design.

Brush lettering was simply something I can't seem to run away from lately as I am so in love with it these days. I just had to write the sentiments with that technique. Furthermore if I didn't practice writing with the brush every other day, I might lose the skill. So, why not just do it right? 

Arranging those craft punch heart shapes that pop ups from the box one by one was a little challenging because I have to make it look balanced. Not too many of the big ones and not too many of the small ones either. The quantity has to be balanced out.  

Hope there will be more pink and green combo handmade cards coming in future with a different twist to them. I just love exploring new ideas with it! Do check out the video I made with the card and see how it pops up when I open it! Thank you! :)

Happy Birthday Zamzure!

 

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Hello everyone! Although it's a bit late uploading this card design here, since the card was done way before December 24th, I still am excited to share about it with you. I think I've done in the past a handmade card that has a combination of gold, bronze and black but never for a handmade card in a box.

I wanted to do a different combination of colours in the beginning according to the preference of colours my customer's boss was into but I just had to go with my instincts on this design and choose the gold, bronze and black instead. One thing do I love about this combination is how fancy it would look once it's done because of those rich colours.

Decorating a handmade card for a guy is never a simple task for me. I am better with designing cards for women. And as usual, the only reason why I accepted the task was because my customer gave me 100% freedom to design it anyway I like it as long as it looks good. It's easier for me to design when there are no restrictions.

I love using stripes as part of the design. I've done that for my other two card in a box designs before. Somehow they seemed right. And since it's a design for a guy, it's even more perfect for the design. The bronze coloured frames are probably my favourite part of the card. I made the frames myself. When I first made the frames, they were never intended for this card. I was thinking of some other use for it for a different type of card but since I needed something bronze in colour as decorations, these bronze frames came in handy at the right time.

As you can see, I wrote the sentiments myself, and I even wrote the wishes on the back of the card for my customer so that she didn't have to write them out herself. She wanted the writing to look good, as this card was made for her boss. I hope I did good on that. I'm still learning about calligraphy and how to write with different types of medium. Hopefully I'll get better at it, so that I can use this technique on all of my handmade cards. That would be awesome!

Do check out my video of the handmade card in a box below. Thank you!

My first easel card

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Gosh.....I am way behind schedule when it comes to updating my blog lately. I have so many cards waiting in line to be uploaded and blogged about. Things have been really chaotic around here so much so that I'm forgetting a lot of things including not taking a video of my first easel card! I totally forgot! Arrrggghh! I hate it when things like this happens. OH WHAT TO DO! The card has been sent out last month and the occasion is all over. If only I could turn back time.

Yes, it was my first easel card. I took a risk doing it, with permission from my customer, as he only wanted a simple anniversary card for his wife but me being someone who likes challenges, I opted to do something different from the original design that I've done before. He wanted this card HERE, just click on it and you will see what it looks like. It's similar to the quilling birds that I did for this easel card. The old design was done in 2012. So long ago and I've learned so much since then, so I wanted to apply new techniques on this new design. I just don't see myself doing certain techniques anymore. Hence the new look. :)

I'm just glad that my customer let me do whatever I wanted. He's happy, I'm happy. That's all that matters! I get to try and do something new and I loved it. I never thought that I would like making the easel card but I did. Sometimes, there are certain designs that would look better using this type of card fold. So I'm glad that I decided to do it. 

I also had fun sewing beads on the card. I sew them all around the card to make it look like a frame. At first I thought of just sewing the green thread all around but since I wanted to do something different, I thought it would be nice to add those seed beads. I love experimenting and trying out new things. It just makes the experience a little more fun than usual :).

Mother's day pop up heart card

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I know I'm a bit late in uploading photos and blogging about my Mother's day card. I guess I got carried away with the Eid cards recently that I completely ignored this one for a few days. You know how it is when we are in the "zone". We just can't get out of the zone until we are over and done with it. Only then can we see or do other things. Like seriously, it happens to me all the time. Hahaha!

This card is actually quite simple to make. The only thing that was complicated was the pop up heart inside the card. This is of course the first time for me to pop up a heart using this mechanism. Another new one for me. Another challenge. But I love a good challenge :). I especially like the little hearts dangling at the bottom of the heart. I love seeing them swing! 

The sentiments were written by hand by yours truly. I had a hard time writing it with my shaky hands. It gets harder each day. But I'm being positive about it and really hope that I can still do more with these hands. In shaa Allah...... :).

I think I probably over "blinged" the card with all the pink and green stones. I got a little carried away there but luckily my Mom didn't mind it. Over glittered it as well! LOL! But all is good because the recipient loved it. Phew!

Do check out the video below of the pop up heart card.....then you'll get it why I was so enthusiastic about making it in the first place :).

5 January 1984

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5th of January 1984.....it's a special date for my dear customer's husband :). Alhamdulillah I managed to get this card order done on time and also a paper beaded bookmark as well for my dear customer. I wasn't so sure I was able to make them at first. I haven't been in the best of health lately. 

Pretty excited about designing this card for my customer who requested this birthday card for her dear husband. She wanted something simple and elegant looking, nothing too crowded. White background with some colours of my choice to be added. Sometimes doing a simple design can be complicated for my brain to handle hahaha. I over think the design sometimes and cannot decide how to make it simple. In the end I decided to play with ribbons and some bling bling. ;)

I guess this is the first time for me to use the glitter foam on my card. First time for me as well to draw a number, a big number on the glitter foam and cut it out by hand. It was an interesting experience to do that. I've only use glitter foams to make heart shapes before but never something like this.

This is the first time for me as well to make a cover for the birthday card. This was a request from my customer who wanted something similar to this. I didn't know how to do it at first. I just did what I thought was right and although I didn't have a pretty nice lacey type of paper to use for this purpose, I designed one myself using a bit thinner paper, pearly white metallic paper.....and decorated it with the same type of paper in shapes of hearts.The hearts were cut using a craft punch. Two sizes...one small one, one big one. All scattered around the front and I added some silver glitter dots on it too. Lastly I added a shiny ribbon to wrap up the card with. The envelope is made from a shiny silver paper. Love it! :)

Inside the card there is a pop up of a photo of her husband and his mother, plus some wordings she asked me to add in the card. I am not allowed to upload the photo here so, I'm sorry I couldn't share it with everyone that part of the card. I have to respect her privacy :). 

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Ok! Here's the bookmark! My customer was interested in my paper beaded bookmarks that has names engraved on it. So I was asked to engrave her husband's name....and since the card is black and white in colour, I decided to make the bookmark in the same colour combination. 

She also requested that I added her name on the bookmark. I just didn't know how or where on the bookmark that I can add her name. Didn't want to put her name behind the bookmark....didn't think it would look nice that way. Luckily I thought of the alphabet beads I have available in my collection and added the words, "LOVE" and "RIFFA" to the ribbons. So when you look at the bookmark, it will look like "Eswar love Riffa" or "Riffa love Eswar". Love it! :) Happy that my customer liked the idea too. So problem is solved! Yay!! :)