While I didn’t track the time involved to the minute, I’d estimate that no less than 70 hours went into sourcing + verifying the accuracy of the words, creating the more than 100 different graphics involved, and writing the post itself.

I adored every minute and hope to put together a second edition one day. However, as I worked for long hours across several consecutive days on that post, it did leave me a touch drained energy and productivity wise.

I contemplated taking a brief “spring break” sort of breather from blogging this week to recharge my batteries, yet ultimately decided against it.

My energy was bouncing back and, moreover, I wanted to share my most recent paper crafting make here with all of you.

You Make My Heart Smile Elephant Themed Birthday Card

Spring officially begins in the Western Hemisphere on, or around, the 20^th of March. And while I readily and happily embrace the Spring Equinox/Ostara, for the whole of my life, a second event has also marked the changing of the seasonal guards in my books: my mom’s birthday.

Beginning life under the sign of Aries, my mother’s special day has always held a very meaningful place in my heart (after all, if she hadn’t been born, neither myself nor my siblings would be here either).

I cherish my mom. We’re blessed to have a very close bond and love each other dearly.

Not being able to visit and see one another whenever we please (we live about an hour’s drive apart) during the pandemic has been tremendously difficult. Just, of course, as being unable to do the same with their own families has been for countless others around the world, too.

This year was the second birthday running that I was not able to celebrate in person with my mom, so I wanted to make sure the card that I sent her way was extra special (just like her!).

My mom has numerous interests and enjoys a wide range of things, however she is not one of those folks that you automatically associate with a certain hobby, passion, sport, or so forth.

Save for a small array of beautiful angel figurines, she doesn’t really collect much, so there too, you didn’t think of my mom and have “x, y, or z” type of collection instantly spring to mind.

Without any of these things in place, it can sometimes be a bit tricky to come up a birthday card that I feel is highly tailored to my mom herself.

Luckily though, I’m not without a few helpful jumping off points.

For example, my mom loves the colour purple, adores flowers, and her favourite animal is the elephant.

I am also a big fan of elephants. However, as I discovered recently, I currently have next to no elephant-themed products in my post-fire paper crafting stash.

Surely, I figured, there’d be a stamp set or pack of stickers to the rescue. Nope, no dice. What about ephemera or patterned paper? Again, it was crickets all around.

Hope was not lost though, as I did have one charming elephant themed die in my collection. Phew!!!

And not only an elephant die, but one in which the sweet pachyderm pictured is composed from flowers, leaves, and vines.

Now we’re talking!

I went into this card with a rather different end result in mind. I had initially thought that I would made a shaker card and even created a shaker component for it.

However, as more layers and elements began to be added, I really wasn’t digging the overall design and decided to save that shaker element for a different project.

Holding fast to the cute little elephant, I pretty much started from square one again, and am considerably happier with how the final result turned out.

Not only does this card feature an elephant, but there’s plenty of blooms and hearts (to convey love and to reinforce the “You Make My Heart Smile” sentiment), along with touches of purple as well. Not to mention a balloon, which works perfectly for a birthday card.

I haven’t made too many elephant themed projects over the years. Given how much my mom adores this beautiful animal and how fun a subject matter they make, I’ll definitely be looking to grow the number of elephant products in my craft room.

I am happy to report that my mom loved this card and that while her b-day wasn’t observed as it would have been had the pandemic not still be going strong, she was able to have an enjoyable day all the same.

Products used to make this cute, shabby chic elephant birthday card

-White cardstock (pale grey would work fabulously here, too)

-Navy or midnight blue cardstock

-Light blue cardstock

-Pink cardstock

-Pinky-red metallic cardstock – Opera Red Mirror Card from Tonic Studios

-Silver metallic cardstock

-Nested circle die set with at least three different sizes of circle dies

-Blue tone-on-tone floral print paper

-Elephant floral filigree die – Ali Express (bought 2 – 3 years ago; still available, at the time of writing, from various sellers, such as this one)

-Happy birthday word dies (or letter dies, stickers, stamps, etc to spell the same sentiment)

-Filigree (or other style of) leaf die

-Flower, butterfly, and “You Make My Heart Smile” sentiment die cuts – Poetic Rose Ephemera from Prima

-Small pearlescent white plastic heart embellishments

-Heart design border punch – Hearts border punch from Fiskars

-Either an adhesive with a very fine, precise tip or double sided sheets of adhesive used to use on the elephant and word die cuts (not having any of the latter, I employed a light-handed amount of Ranger Glossy Accents in the mini squeeze bottle size to adhere these components)

-Dimensional foam, pop dots, or similar to elevate some of your layers

-Adhesive, such as a tape runner, of your choice (I often use my Scotch Tape Glider)

How to make a beautiful elephant birthday card

Begin by making a card base from white cardstock. Next, cut a piece of pink cardstock slightly smaller than your card base and adhere it to your base.

Cut a piece of blue tone-on-tone floral print paper a little smaller than the pink cardstock. Use the Fiskars Hearts border punch on the top and bottom of this piece of paper. Adhere the blue floral print paper to the pink card base.

Using a ruler and scissors (or small suitable punch or die, if you have one) cut four equal sized mini photo corner shapes from Opera Red Mirror Cardstock. Adhere one corner piece to each corner of the blue patterned paper.

Next, die cut three different sizes of nestled circles, one each from silver, pink, and navy blue cardstock. Layer and adhere the three circles to one another, then adhere this “stack” to your card base.

Die cut the filigree elephant from silver metallic cardstock. Adhere it to the centre (or thereabouts) of the navy blue circle. Repeat process with the words “happy birthday”, using Opera Red Mirror Cardstock.

Die cut two pairs of filigree leaves from light blue cardstock and two pairs from Opera Red Mirror Cardstock.

Arrange Prima Poetic Rose ephemera flower die cuts, along with the die cut leaves you created, around the top and bottom of the largest nested circle die cut, as shown.

When you’re happy with the placement of the leaves and flowers, adhere them down, then place a few small white heart shaped embellishments throughout the leaves and blooms.

This elephant die cut includes a heart shape balloon component, top that heart shape with the “You Make My Heart Smile” sentiment from the Prima Poetic Rose ephemera pack.

Lastly, arrange two butterflies from the same Poetic Rose ephemera pack on the largest-sized nested circle die cut. You may wish (as I did here) to gently fold the wings of the butterflies upward to give them a greater sense of dimension.

And voila! Your adorable handmade elephant birthday card is complete.

Cards take on even more importance when you are not there in person

I have touched on this subject here and there across various posts in the last thirteen months and counting, but I feel that it deserves revisiting now that we are squarely into year two of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The longer this pandemic carries on, the more important it becomes to find ways to safely connect with our loved ones.

Thankfully, many of us are fortunate to have access to things like emails, text messages, DMs, Zoom meetups, and good, old-fashioned phone calls.

Each of these can enable us to stay in touch with those we cherish, and it’s safe to say they’ve been godsends for a lot of people during these highly challenging times.

Yet, with safe in-person face-to-face interactions still being rare (or impossible) for a lot of us, the act of sending and receiving a physical item – be it a letter, card, gift, or all the above – takes on even greater meaning.

It is a small part of ourselves that we have selected, or created, with a specific person in mind, sent with love and care, and which can travel from our home to theirs.

If you have the ability to make (or purchase) and send cards to your loved ones, I highly encourage you to do so.

You need to not wait until a major event such as a birthday, Mother’s Day, or Christmas rolls around.

“Thinking of you”, “miss you”, and “just because” cards can be every much as meaningful and special as those for big events.

Perhaps, it could be argued, even more so in some ways, as they’re often wonderful surprises that (unlike special occasions) we didn’t see coming.

If you can tailor your card to your recipient, all the better. But doing so isn’t necessary. Had, for example, a deer, bird, fox, or dolphin appeared on this card, I doubt my mom would have enjoyed or appreciated it any less.

In card making and giving, it is the thought behind the card that often matter more than the actual subject matter depicted.

Sending or giving a card shows not only that you care, but that – in what must surely be an act approved by elephants everywhere – you have not (and likely could not possibly have) forgotten about that person.

PS: Fun birthday related fact: today marks exactly three months until mine returns.

The post You Make My Heart Smile Elephant Themed Birthday Card appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

Like many of us, I’m drawn to the sweet, tender shades of the current season when paper crafting during the spring months (which I got the ball rolling on a few weeks ago with my Be Amazing Springtime Bird’s Nest Card).

With that very palette in mind, as my paternal grandma’s birthday rounds the bend next month, I recently set to work creating a card for her special day.

Shabby chic springtime happy birthday card

My grandma is a lovely woman who has had a lifelong passion for crafting (particularly knitting, sewing, and fabric doll making) and beautiful home décor.

Years before the term “shabby chic” entered mainstream vernacular, she had peppered her home with elements that would now fit squarely under that banner – along with ones that were rustic country and American primitive.

I learned about Victoria magazine, how to make a sublime English trifle, the best way to hang laundry on an outdoor line, and when a raspberry is perfectly ripe for the picking all from my grandma.

I attribute several of my own lifelong interests and passions to her as well – not the least of which is my unending love of, and interest in, the 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

Growing up, my grandma’s house was full of soft, sweet, thoroughly feminine touches. There was white wicker furniture on the covered deck, cabbage rose print bedding, a pale blue bathroom, crisply pressed table linens in Easter worthy shades, and much more.

My grandparents moved from that house over twenty years ago now. Some of those same elements went with them to the home they relocated to after retiring. Naturally though, a fair number changed with their new abode, downsizing, and shifting interests.

Still, when I think of my grandparent’s home as it looked in my early youth, the colours that I used in this birthday card are amongst those that jump out at me first. As such, I was eager to incorporate them in my grandma’s birthday greeting this year.

As much as I would have loved to go for an even more dimensional card, Canada Post has a rather irksome letter mail height limit of just 2cm (not inches, centimetres!) under which letter-sized mail must fit. If it goes over that thickness, you’re looking at parcel rates, which even at a national level are nothing short of comically steep in this country.

Therefore, if I know a card that I make is going to be mailed off (be it within Canada or abroad), I try to keep it on the flatter side.

This doesn’t automatically mean that I can’t still involve multiple layers, embellishments and plenty of engaging details. Thankfully that remains possible for many different types of cards.

Putting this feminine spring birthday card together

Funnily enough, I had originally taken some of the elements used on this card out to make a different birthday card that day. As soon as this design started to take shape, however, I knew that it was destined for my grandma.

I began with a sheet of lightly textured pale pink cardstock for my card base. This was then topped with a beautiful piece of white on cream lace print paper.

Another layer of the same light pink cardstock, pale blue printed paper that I embossed (though the embossing ended by being so obscured here, I won’t even mention the folder in the product list), and  various ornate die cut frames and border pieces were the next to be added.

I then fussy cut the large piece of floral print paper from a gorgeous sheet of Prima paper and positioned it to intentionally overhang a wee bit off the left-hand side of the card.

Next, I dug around in my stash for a vintage-y looking piece that tied into the theme of birthdays and found it in the lovely Webster’s Pages mini calendar page that I tucked behind the flowers (and banner).

After that, it was on to the banner. A few die cut banner pieces created from pale sage green and the same light pink cardstock used before, each of which I added faux stitching to with a white Uniball pen.

I topped each banner flag with a round pink and white Jenni Bowlin alphabet sticker to spell the word “happy” and strung them on a length of rustic braided garden twine that I attached to my card with mini clothes pegs.

If you don’t have banner flag/pennant dies, you can cut as many matching shaped and sized strips of paper or cardstock as you need by hand instead (I’ve done this many times for various projects over the years).

I wanted a bit more texture on this card, so I included a springtime perfect piece of classic daisy chain style white trim. To complement this trim and to help the fussy cut floral panel stand out a bit more, I die cut some leaves with trailing vines from basic white cardstock.

Next, I die cut the banner outline from pale brown cardstock and the decorative label shaped piece from light sage green cardstock. I stamped my classic sentiment of “happy birthday” in dark green ink and added some faux stitching around it with a white Uniball pen.

A few soft pink Prima gems nestled here and there, a flourish of pink pearls atop the fussy cut flower panel, and some strategically placed Glossy Accents on various parts of that panel finished off this pastel hued birthday greeting that I suspect many shabby chic lovers would enjoy receiving.

Card making tips and ideas from this project

-Obvious though this may sound, card bases do not have to be white, kraft, or black. They can be any colour that works for your project and are a great way to help set the tone for the rest of the palette that you’ll build on top of it.

-Look for trims that match or complement your die cuts and vice versa. Here, the white fabric trim goes awesomely with the border on the rectangular die cut piece that I used behind my sentiment.

-If you’re working with a large area of patterned paper (in this case, the fussy cut floral panel), try to match/harmonize as many of the other elements used on your card to that panel. This is what I did with my choice of light pink, blue, and green cardstocks.

–Hand drawn stitching works fabulously for small pieces and fiddly shapes that might be tricky to machine stitch on without potentially damaging (or if you don’t have – or don’t want to use – a sewing machine).

If you don’t already have a good quality white gel pen, I suggest investing in one if possible. They’re hugely useful for drawing stitches by hand on a huge range of different cardstocks and papers.

-I used rustic garden twine here for the string that the banner flags hang from, but you could easily swap in baker’s twine, hemp cord (natural or dyed), yarn or wool, a skinny piece of ribbon, beading chain, or a strip of paper or cardstock instead.

-Mini clothes pegs/pins are one of my favourite embellishments (they last appeared here in my Only Love Lets Us See scrapbook layout). They’re tons of fun, can be found from various online and offline sources (from eBay to Etsy to some dollar stores and craft stores), and add heaps of charm to any most any project.

-Let a little bit of your card base show. A design this full and eye-catching isn’t exactly overflowing with empty space. To help the eye rest and the design stops short of being too busy, I often like to ensure that a wee bit of the card base is visible in at least two areas of my design. In this case, that occurs at the top and bottom of the card.

Repeating the same pale pink colour of cardstock in the center panel of the card also helps to give a sense of open or white space, as it tricks, so to speak, the eye into thinking that it’s part of the largest area of the card (the base), when in fact it’s one of the last layers.

Products used to make this pastel floral birthday card

-White, light pink, light blue, light sage (or similar toned) green, and light brown or kraft coloured cardstocks

-Floral print paper – Rose Avenue Suite Collection Paper from Kaisercraft (the white + cream lace print paper that I also used here is the pattern on the back of this sheet)

-Happy birthday sentiment stamp

-Dark green ink pad – Ranger Archival Ink in Library Green

-Various decorative frame metal dies (or border punched pieces)

-Elegant border die (or punch or premade fancy border strip)

-Mini calendar page – Mini Calendar Cards from Webster’s Pages

-Mini alphabet stickers – Butterfly Pink Stickers from Jenni Bowlin

–Mini wooden clothes pins

-Natural braided twine (see tips above for alternative product ideas that you can use here, too)

-Pink pearl embellishment flourish (this one is from Zva Creative – Prima and Recollections have released similar ones over the years as well)

-Light pink faceted adhesive gems – Midnight Garden Say It In Crystals from Prima

-White floral design trim – Vicki B. Wraps from Bo Bunny

–Ranger Glossy Accents (optional)

–Signo Uniball white ink pen

-Dimensional foam, pop dots, or similar to elevate some of your layers

-Adhesive, such as a tape runner, of your choice (I often use my Scotch Tape Glider)

Keep your recipients in mind when creating cards

While it’s definitely useful to have some general purpose cards on hand for birthdays and various other occasions that work well for a wide range of recipients, whenever possible, I truly love tailoring my projects to the person (or people – say a couple or family) who is going to be receiving it.

That’s exactly what I did with this cheerful, confectionary hued birthday card for my dear Grandma.

The past couple of years have not been the easiest for my grandparents, including on the health front, and I really wanted to convey my wishes for a positive b-day celebration and year ahead (which is why I purposefully used the word “happy” here two times).

I sincerely hope that my grandma’s birthday abounds with happiness – just as trips to her house did for me when I was growing up – and that this pastel floral card helps to make her special day all the more so.

Project share

Pin the image below – or any other in this post – to Pinterest, pop it into your Instagram Stories, post in on Twitter or Facebook, or share it anywhere else you wish to help yourself find it again and to inspire others at the same time.

If you make a project based on or inspired by this card – or want to share any of your other handmade crafts with me – please use the hashtags #WitchcraftedLife and #WitchcraftedLifeMakes on social media so that I see can your beautiful creations.

The post Elegant springtime happy birthday card appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.