How to make Ketupat ribbons for Raya cards

Hello again!

It's March 2018 and I have been busy the past few weeks with lots of things. Early this year I was so obsessed with knitting, crocheting and also weaving. Most of the projects are still ongoing. Still not completed yet because I only do them during my free time, which is mostly at night while watching TV hahahah. But I think I might have to slow down or even stop my obsession for a while because I have a lot of cards to make before Ramadhan comes.

This post today is something that I have been meaning to do for years. It's a very simple tutorial and something that is very easy to do. This year, I got another request from one of my followers on Instagram. She is one of hundreds who have requested me to do it over the years, so  I made sure this year I would find the time to do it and share with everyone how I make these Ketupat ribbons.

As most of you know, I've been making them for so many years now in different sizes. Each year I would make it a point to make them for my Raya cards. In this tutorial, you'll see that I've only shown how to make the big size Ketupat ribbon. This is because it's easier for you to make the big ones compared to the small ones and it's easier for you to see and understand the process. Once you have mastered making the big ones, it would be easier for you to make them in any size you like.

Below are samples of Raya cards that I've made over the years using the Ketupat ribbons. But you can also see some really old ones that I made at the links below:

https://azlina-lin.blogspot.my/2010/08/ribbon-ketupat.html

https://azlina-lin.blogspot.my/2009/09/orange-and-yellow-ketupat-ribbon-card.html

https://azlina-lin.blogspot.my/2009/08/blue-and-brown-ketupat-ribbon.html

https://azlina-lin.blogspot.my/2009/08/pink-and-green-ketupat.html

https://azlina-lin.blogspot.my/2009/08/green-yellow-ketupat-ribbon.html


Hope you'll get inspired by them and make your own! Do check out my video below too. Thanks for watching and happy crafting! :)

Raya Card 2013 - Swing card

Raya card 2013 - Swing card

Raya card with tiny Ketupat ribbons

Raya card 2017

Salam Aidilfitri pop up card

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I started working on these pop up raya cards in early May.....I was supposed to start earlier because I received the order to make them about a month earlier if I am not mistaken but there were a lot of things that came up and my work had to be put on hold for quite a long time. One of the reasons that made it almost impossible for me to work was when we had to rewire the entire house. A fire might start if we didn't do something quick. I had to remove all my things from my studio since it was no longer safe to work in it.  All the things inside it had to be taken out and placed in another room. Since I had a LOT of stuff, it took me at least 3 days to do it!!! Yikes!! 3 days gone just like that. After that, it was hell for me because I was not able to do work comfortably in the other room. Most of the time I was working on the floor and aching all over trying to get some work done because I just cannot just sit around doing nothing. It's just not me. It also took the electricians quite some time to do the rewiring in my studio and plus I requested them to make some shelves. I really needed those shelves badly since I had a lot of things in my studio that needed a space to keep them in. But that was just my room....I had to worry about the wiring done in the other parts of the house as well. I never knew it was going to be that difficult and so time consuming. But I am glad we did it and now we feel a lot safer at home with the rewiring all completed. Alhamdulillah....I thank God that everything went well.

 

 

I was requested to make about 30 pieces of this raya card design because my customer wanted 30 small raya cards and 5 big ones. I'll blog about the big ones later. She was hoping that I could do 40 pieces of the small ones and I wished the same too but since my time was quite limited, I only managed to get done 30. I started by making the ketupat ribbon first like the ones in the photo above because they are the focal point of the card. So it was important to get them done first. Once they are settled, I proceeded with other parts of the card.

Writing the raya wishes with the calligraphy pen was nerve wrecking! The thing is, even though I knew I was not good in writing them, I still did it anyways. HAHA! It's all because I wanted it to be my own. I didn't want it to look like anyone else's. Ever since I started writing my own wishes or sentiments on cards, I never stopped. I never print anymore....I just write them myself. It's more satisfying I suppose. Plus it's a good way for me to practice writing. Nerve wrecking because I had to make sure it all look almost the same in writing. I mean I know they won't be 100% exact! But at least, they look similar.

Back in 2015, I already had the idea to make this mini pop up mosque. In fact I even uploaded a photo of it in my Instagram back then. I had already made 2 similar big pop up mosques for 2 other raya cards that year and was thinking of making the mini one for my friends and family. But I never had the chance to do so due to my other commitments. So it was postponed till this year. The minute my customer requested the raya cards, I just knew I had to use this idea for the cards no matter what.

Cutting the green and dark green foams for the ketupat ribbon was a bit of a challenge really. None of them are exactly the same on all the cards as I cut them randomly using just plain scissors. But it was great seeing how they turned out in the end. I just wanted the frills for the ketupat to be something other than ribbons because they would look a little stiff. I've done it before years ago in my earlier raya card designs. They did look kinda stiff. So by making the frills with foams, I'm able to make them sway to the left and right like as if they are blown by the wind or something like that. Making them look more flowy. I kinda like that flowy effect.

I even made my own envelopes for the raya cards. It's easy to do so with the Martha Stewart's score board. Nothing is impossible with it. It was a breeze!! Don't forget to check out the video of the card below. You'll get to see how the mini pop up mosque pops up when it opens. Thank you!!

Mini ketupat project

Made lots of mini yellow and green ketupat this year!! Woooohooo!💗💗💗 It's always exciting to make them although they are kinda challenging to make because of their tiny size! Usually I would make them for my handmade cards but for this year, is a little different.

I got a request from Elsie of @mangoliciousmango to make 50 pieces of the mini ketupat for her Raya Gift Packs. I thought it was a really fun idea and agreed to do it. Usually I would never take such requests because I prefer to make them for my handmade cards instead. But since she really needed the help, I just couldn't say no. And I am glad that I had the time to do it too when she needed them.

As you can see from the photos, Elsie makes homemade fruit jams! How cool is that!? I think it's so cool! I can't make any myself hahaha! Never tried making them before. Well, in each of her Raya Gift Pack there's 3 bottles of jams, Mango, Mango-Pineapple and Durian jam. Also included are crackers and spoons so that you can eat them with the jams. Each pack only costs RM50.00. What's wonderful is that part of the sale proceeds will be donated to Cherish Life Home to support it's animal shelter. So do visit her Instagram and check it out. Get your yummy homemade jams today and be able to be part of the charity as well 😍😍😍. 

It would be a great idea to give to your loved ones those fruit jams and spread the happiness around. Make someone happy today! 💓💓💓

Red and Yellow Roses tri shutter birthday card

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Red and yellow roses together! I don't think I've ever done that before! But I'm loving it now :). When I was requested to do this combination, I must admit I was little worried but once I found the right pattern paper to match the roses, I was able to figure out how to decorate the card with those colours.

 

These colours turned out looking really bright! I was able to tone it down just a little bit with the cream and dark green colours. This tri shutter card design is similar to the previous tri shutter card design I made before. The only difference is that I just change the colours and the sentiments. The one before was an anniversary card and I think I added less roses for that one. For this new one I figured out how to add more of it without disturbing any parts of the front design and photo frame. 

I had trouble deciding on how to add the sentiment on the front part of the card. The photo frame is big and there isn't much space to add any words without disturbing the photo frame. A decision had to be made and I decided that I would write the sentiments using the brush lettering technique coz then I'll be able to fit in those roses nicely on the photo frame. Unlike the previous design I made the sentiments by stamping the sentiments using clear stamps. They were big size fonts and would definitely not be able to fit all the words. So the brush lettering saved my day!

Here's how I wrote it using the smallest brush I had....

I'm having problems with my right hand now after a minor accident at home. It's a little bit challenging to write now as it hurts quite bad especially when writing with a brush. I definitely need to get me a better brush pen or calligraphy dip pen for writing sentiments as I love how the thin and thick lines form during the writing process. It's a little different than using a ball point pen where the lines are the same thickness. I'm a little over obsessed with the lines these days! haha! Who knew I would be? And it's all because of the brush lettering I've been doing the past few months that got me concerned about it. I think I would be for quite a long time! Haha!

Do check out the video I took of the card and see it in motion! 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! :)

Selamat Hari Lahir Mak

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Looking back, I have been making a lot of handmade card in a box for December. And this is the last card in a box design that I made for 2015. I found a lovely English roses pattern paper and instantly got an idea of using it as the background for the card, plus for the pop up.

I cut out the roses and other small flowers from the pattern paper and glued them all on a thicker paper so that they can be used as pop ups. It's a lot of work but I love the results.

The sentiments were handwritten. I find it so enjoyable and fun to be able to write the sentiments myself instead of printing them. It's a good change. At least now, everything is handmade. From the card to the wording to the decorations.....all handmade.

Do check out the video below of the card design. Thank you!

Happy Birthday Zamzure!

 

HB126

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!