And in plenty of places (our own wee corner of British Columbia included), both versions of November are often intertwined. Autumn holding on for dear life as best it can, only to ultimately succumb to the icy power of the season that lies ahead.

Personally, as a perpetual lover of fall and someone who connects profoundly with this season, I prefer to celebrate the autumnal elements of November for as long as possible.

Knowing that winter will engulf our world fully within a matter of weeks at most, I am mindful to try and spend as much time outdoors as I possibly can during the gentle days of November.

Living in an area that marries farmland and woodland so majestically it borders on being intoxicating, much of that time is spent in the local woods – including the towering swath of birch and evergreen trees that call our backyard home.

Throughout my life, no matter if I’ve lived in close proximity to the woods or not, I have been drawn to forests and the magnificent microcosms of animal, plant, and fungi life they house.

Before the elegant earth and jewel tones of the woods of fall go to sleep under a heavy blanket of Canadian snow, I wanted to make and share a card that celebrates the joy and whimsy that forests spark in my – and many other peoples’ – heart with all of you.

Layers, fussy cutting, a shaker window, and some seriously cute woodland imagery!

Few paper crafting releases have resonated with me, my aesthetic, and even my spirituality (as a nature-focused Pagan witch) quite like P13’s gorgeous Forest Tea Party collection.

P13 is one of my absolute favourite paper crafting companies. Their products are high quality, their designs breathtakingly beautiful, and their wide selection of offerings helps to ensure a good many crafters will find something amounts P13’s various releases that appeal to them.

This post is not sponsored and I’m not on the P13 design team (a paper crafter can dream though!). I simply adore this brand and wanted to shine the spotlight on this particular release from them.

It’s rarely feasible for me to purchase all of the items in a given line (from any brand), and to be honest, I don’t usually feel like I need to do so – even when I madly adore a release.

I’ve long learned that a few products are often more than enough to craft a bevy of different paper crafting projects with – especially if you combine them with other items from your stash.

Thanks to the heart-touching kindness and generosity of a dear friend in the US who gave me a $25 gift certificate to Scrapbook.com last Christmas, I was able to pick up some of the products in P13’s Forest Tea Party Collection.

This is the second project I’ve shared here so far featuring items from Forest Tea Party. The first, as some of you may recall, was this adorable woodland themed birthday card.

As I plan to get as much use as I can out of the items from P13’s Forest Tea Party Collection that I have, chances are today’s project share won’t be the last you see here starring this whimsically wonderful collection.

Like many card makers, I try to create and keep a supply of versatile, multi-occasion suitable cards on hand throughout the year.

Understandably, I often find that as a given year winds down, my stash of such cards has diminished a good deal since January began.

Looking to replenish it, I opted for a sentiment that could be used for a wide array of possible card giving occasions. Birthdays, thinking of you, missing you, congratulations, thank you new babies, anniversaries, retirement, support – the list goes on and on.

The colours tap into fall, while also housing elements of the other three seasons as well. The classic pairing – amongst the other colours in the palette used here – of red, green, and white means one could even send this darling card as a winter holiday season greeting.

P13 and fussy cutting go together like fall and pumpkin spice lattes in my books. I did some here, both for the larger central image (with super cute woodland mouse) and for the layered foliage tucked around it.

A shaker element that houses a mix of woodland-themed wood veneer pieces coupled with sequins and tiny gem embellishments shares center stage with the fussy cut images.

True to form for most of my makes, a number of layers coupled with various embellishments round out this sweet woodland critter-themed card.

Products used to make this adorable woodland critter shaker card

-Red and green cardstock

-Brown wooden floorboard print paper and light grey leaf/branch print paper – Farmhouse 12 x 12 inch paper pad from Craftsmart (Michael’s)

-Green script print paper – The Green Witch 6 x 6 inch paper pad from Recollections (Michael’s)

-Cut out woodland images – Forest Tea Party 07 – from P13

-Large cut out piece (with mouse) – Forest Tea Party – 06 from P13

-Clear acetate (for shaker window)

-Scallop edge circle die

-Elegant scrolling edge style die

-Eyelet trim border punch – Doily Lace Boarder Punch from Martha Stewart

-Corner punch – Corner Punch from Martha Stewart

-“What a Wonderful World” sentiment sticker – Lost & Found 3 Ruby Sticker Accessory Sheet from My Mind’s Eye

-Shaker mix – Cactus Sparkletz Embellishments from Buttons Galore & More

-Small red faceted flatback embellishments/cabochons – from AliExpress

-Small green faceted flatback embellishments/cabochons – from AliExpress

-Small green flatback pearl embellishments – from AliExpress

-Woodland themed wood veneer shapes – from Dollarama

-Mini premade bows – Green-Gold-White Piped Nylon Bow Stickers from Martha Stewart

-Grey crochet trim – Arty-Licious Kohl Splendid Ribbon from Chatter Box

-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 shabby chic P13 Forest Tea Party Shaker Card

Begin by making a card base from green cardstock. Next use the Martha Stewart Doily Lace border punch to create a strip of red border punched paper the same length as the bottom of the green card base. Attach this strip to the bottom of the card base.

Cut a piece of grey tone-on-tone leaf/branch print paper slightly narrower on the right and left side than your card base and slightly taller on the top than the card base. Use the same Martha Stewart Doily Lace border punch to punch the top and bottom edges of this piece of paper. Attach grey paper piece to card base.

Cut a piece of grey crochet trim ever-so-slightly shorter than the width of the grey paper. Adhere just above the bottom scallop portion of the grey paper.

Trim a piece of brown wooden floorboard paper a little smaller than the grey print paper. Using the Martha Stewart photo corner punch, punch out four photo corner pieces from red cardstock. Attach one red photo corner to each corner of the brown floorboard print paper, then attach that piece of paper to the card base layers.

Die cut a scalloped edge circle from green cardstock. Back with a circle of acetate to create your clear shaker window.

Cut (by hand or with a suitable sized circle die) a circle of green text print paper to back your shaker window with.

Fill the acetate portion of the shaker window with wood veneer woodland creature pieces and Cactus Sparkletz Embellishments shaker mix.

Use foam tape, foam dots, or another suitable raised material on the back of the green cardstock circle to create a gap-free border for your shaker window.

Remove backing from foam and attach the shaker window t the green text print piece of paper. Once your shaker is assembled, attach it to the card base layers.

Die cut an elegant flourish shape piece from red cardstock. Adhere it across the centre of the card, overlapping, as you do so, part of the shaker window.

From the two different P13 Woodland Tea Party papers, fussy cut the center (mouse) panel and various foliage elements to tuck around the center image. Adhere all of these pieces to the card base as shown.

Back the “What a Wonderful World” sentiment sticker with a narrow mat of green cardstock followed by an equally narrow mat of red cardstock. Attach sentiment over part of the central image.

Adhere heart shaped embellishments taken from the Cactus Sparkletz Embellishments shaker mix to each of the four red photo corners.

Adhere an alternating pattern of green faceted flatback embellishments and green pearl flatback embellishments around the visible areas of the green scallop edge border of the shaker window.

Tuck and adhere a small smattering of red faceted flat back embellishments around the various fussy cut elements.

Attach four Martha Stewart premade white coloured mini bows vertically across your card front. Adhere a heart shaped embellishment from the Cactus Sparkletz Embellishments shaker mix to each of the bows.

And voila, your cuter-than-cute woodland tea party-themed shaker window card is complete. Ready to send out or give in person to a special someone whose day will surely be brightened by this darling handmade greeting.

What a wonderful world

Let’s be frank, life hasn’t been a bed of roses for many of over the past couple of years. Both globally and often personally as well, these have been times that exemplify words such as challenging, stressful, uncertain, difficult, and, perhaps above all else, unforeseen.

Yet amongst the profound struggles and worries, life marches forward on this planet. Seasons come and seasons go. Days meld into weeks that build months and ultimately etch new years into the history books of time.

Simple acts of kindness and thoughtfulness take on greater meaning than ever, the blessing of rising to greet a new morning holds deeper importance to many of us. And as we continue to navigate the waters of a new normal that isn’t quite so new anymore, we hold onto hope and faith – however we may personally choose to interpret those concepts.

Life is rarely perfect. Sometimes it is brutal or boring or scary or terrible. But it can also be glorious, peaceful, comforting, happy, and marvellous. Naturally, it can be many things in between as well.

It would be pollyannaish to say that things are always hunky dory. Goodness knows they are not for me, nor are they for most folks out there.

However, when the going gets tough or a major curveball comes our way, I try to remind myself of what a truly wonderful world it is that we humans are blessed to live in.

At few points in the year is that message more evident to me than during fall, when even in the face of challenges, stress or any other less-than-ideal element, my heart cannot help but purr like a contented kitty. As for a few brief, magnificent weeks, the landscape is once again alive with the fading warmth and exquisite colours of the harvest season.

And if you ask me, that – much like P13’s gorgeous Forest Tea Party Collection itself – is well worth smiling about and finding no shortage of inspiring joy in.

The post Cute Shabby Chic P13 Forest Tea Party Shaker Card appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

There’s just something about the return of my own birthday month, however, that makes me want to churn out twelve months worth of b-day cards for friends, relatives, neighbours, complete strangers – you name it! – in the span of just a few weeks.

Does that actually happen? No, not so far, but the spirit is there all the same!

Earlier this month my own birthday transpired on July 10^th. However, even with the candles having been blown out for another year, I’m still in a celebratory + birthday card making frame of mind.

This is bolstered all the more by the fact that less than a month after my birthday, Tony’s returns in early August (we’re both summer babies, which is such a fun point to share in common).

That I’m often in full-on birthday card making mode during the summer is both enjoyable unto itself and wonderfully pragmatic at the same time.

Several friends and family members have fall time birthdays (including three in the middle of October alone), so being able to create some of those cards in advance is really handy.

Especially since I’m often enmeshed in a glorious haze of fall, Thanksgiving (Canadian and US alike), Halloween, and Pagan autumn sabbat paper crafting during fall time itself.

To say nothing of Yule, Christmas, and New Year’s cards as well!

This particular greeting will be zipping off to an immensely dear long-time friend of mine in the States, whose birthday falls in the final weeks of the year.

We both adore animals, especially cute woodland creatures, so I knew that a handmade card starring a darling bunny surrounded by plenty of beautiful foliage and toadstools – not to mention the whimsical little teacup and blueberries – would be a lovely fit for her own special day.

An adorable woodland themed Happy Birthday card with lots of layers and fussy cutting

This birthday card looks like it might be a bit complex or require a slew of products. In reality though, it is relatively straightforward and calls for just a handful of different items.

Fussy cutting is the MVP when it coms to making this lovely birthday card.

Cue up a good movie, YouTube video, podcast, or music playlist, grab a pair of comfortable fine-tipped scissors (or craft knife and suitable cutting surface, such as a self-healing mat) and settle in for a fussy cutting session.

I really enjoy fussy cutting and find it is both relaxing and a marvelous way to stretch one’s paper crafting supply stash.

Sure, you can often purchase various types of premade die cut paper and chipboard pieces, and I certainly enjoy working with those types of products, too.

However, fussy cutting opens up an even broader range of images that we can use in the same types of ways as these premade products.

On top of the versatility of fussy cutting, there is often a fair bit of cost saving involved as well, as most patterned paper sheets cost less than premade die cuts.

And, of course, sometimes it is oodles of fun to mix premade die cuts and fussy cut images together.

In the case of this sweet woodland rabbit themed birthday card, I opted solely for fussy cut shapes – including a fussy cut panel for the central image.

For the sentiment, I stamped a cute little “Happy Birthday” greeting in which the letter A is replaced by a heart in both words onto a fussy cut banner piece from P13’s Forest Tea Party 07 sheet of paper.

This same piece of paper is where all of the fussy cut pieces, save for the central bunny image, hailed from as well.

The darling little rabbit image is from the same P13 Forest Tea Party line, hailing specifically from the Forest Tea Party 06 sheet of paper.

Beyond the fussy cutting, this card is a speedy breeze to put together.

A few layers of a cardstock and printed paper (some with inked edges), a couple of die cut decorative edge rectangle shapes, two earthy hued wood veneer butterflies, and a barely-visible-but-definitely-there piece of light blue seam binding, as well as a length of cream eyelet trim are all it takes to put this enchanting birthday greeting together.

Products used to make this layered and fussy cut woodland critter birthday card

-Medium or dark brown cardstock

-Navy or midnight blue cardstock

-Rose gold metallic cardstock – Rose Gold Cardstock from Recollections

-Foliage, mushroom, and banner print paper – Forest Tea Party 07 from P13

-Bunny image print paper – Forest Tea Party 06 from P13

-Elegant blue and light brown print paper – Vintage Summer Basics 1915 from Maja Design

-Two different decorative edge rectangular shaped dies

-Dark brown ink – Dewdrop Rich Cocoa Ink from Memento

-Happy birthday sentiment stamp

-Brown wood veneer filigree style butterflies – Wooden Butterflies from Recollections

-Light blue seam binding

-Cream (or ivory or white) cotton eyelet trim

-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 cute woodland themed birthday card

To make this sweet woodland bunny birthday card, begin by making a card base from brown cardstock.

Cut a piece of rose gold metallic cardstock (you could use aged gold or copper coloured metallic cardstock here instead, and I suspect that classic white or cream vellum would look terrific as well) slightly smaller than the size of your card base. Attach to card base.

Cut a piece of navy blue cardstock ever-so-slightly smaller than the piece of rose gold cardstock. Attach to rose gold cardstock.

Follow this up by cutting a piece of Vintage Summer Basics 1915 blue and brown print paper from Maja Design slightly smaller than the navy blue cardstock. Ink the edges of this paper layer with dark brown ink, then attach to the navy blue cardstock.

Adhere a length of light blue seam binding or ribbon horizontally across your card front, a touch below the middle point of the card.

Die cut two different elegant/decorative edge rectangles. One from navy blue cardstock, the other from the same brown cardstock that you used for the card base here.

Layer and arrange in a similar fashion to those shown here. Optionally popping the upper layer of die cut cardstock up with foam doats or a similar raised adhesive for an added sense of dimension.

Cut a piece of cream eyelet trim and adhere it so it overlaps with part of the bottom of the navy blue die cut cardstock.

Fussy cut the central bunny (with teacup and blueberries) image from the P13 Forest Tea Party 06 paper. Attach to the die cut brown cardstock central panel.

Next, from the same sheet of P13 paper (Forest Tea Party 06) fussy cut an assortment of different leaf and toadstool shapes.

Arrange and adhere as desired around the central panel of the card.

Fussy cut a scrolling banner shape from the same P13 (Forest Tea Party 06) paper.

Using the same brown ink that inked the edges of the Maja Design paper with, stamp a happy birthday sentiment onto the banner (if you have one, I suggest using a stamping platform for this so as to help ensure precise placement of the sentiment on this fussy cut shape).

Adhere the “Happy Birthday” banner in the center of the cream eyelet trim layer with pop dots or another dimensional adhesive.

For the final touch on this cute woodland themed birthday card, tuck two wood veneer butterflies between some of the fussy cut leaves, as shown.

And there you have it! A card that looks complicated, but really isn’t, and which is sure to delight the lucky recipient that you send or present it in person to is now all ready to go.

Let the seasons be your paper crafting muse

This card was created with a friend’s birthday in mind, but you could easily swap out the sentiment or forgo including one all together.

Instead of making this into a birthday card, why not turn it into a Mother’s Day, Grandparent’s Day, thinking of you, missing you “just because”, get well, or congratulations card?

It would also make for a fantastic seasonal greeting card, be it from any point (in the Western Hemisphere) between spring and mid-autumn.

And for my fellow witches and Pagans, I think this design would be fantastic as a Beltane, Litha, Lammas, or Mabon greeting. And, given the rabbit imagery, it would not be out of place for Imbolc or Ostara either.

This card embodies a good deal of my personal style, not only in terms of card making, but in regard to my overall paasion for Mother Nature.

I am a nature/green witch through and through, and spend as much time as possible outdoors the whole year through.

I have long joked that I’m one tent purchase away from simply moving into the backyard during all but the coldest months.

As much as both Annie (our dog) and I would surely enjoy that, I haven’t quite taken my passion for being outside to that extreme yet. Especially since it would a bit tricky to cram a craft room’s worth of paper crafting supplies into a small tent…

I draw a great deal of inspiration from nature – just as many others around the world have done since time immemorial – and apply that inspiration to countless areas of my life. Paper crafting 100% included.

This summer (or winter, if you are south of the equator), I encourage you to look at nature through the lens of inspiration. Take photos or make written notes of natural elements or scenes that speak to you, detailing them for potential future inspiration in some of your own wonderful crafting projects.

No other season is quite as alive or rich with natural abundance as summer. From flittering dragonflies to sprawling seas of wildflowers, sun-kissed beaches to gorgeous green leaves rustling in warm breezes, feel, connect with, and translate nature into your crafting.

Then rinse and repeat, so to speak, with each of the other seasons – as well as what I like to call the “micro seasons”. These are the brief periods of, on average, 1- 3 weeks, as one season gently melds into the next.

The sights and colour palette of summer into fall are represented on this card, making it especially well suited for a late summer or autumn time birthday like that of my cherished friend.

Do you delight in letting nature influence your paper crafting as well? What are your favourite seasons to draw creative inspiration from?

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