Of course, most of us are wild for a sizable array of techniques and products and it would likely not be feasible to include all of them in just one make.

Sometimes though, a project is able to house quite a few of your favourites and the end result is a card (or layout, mini album, tag, etc) that you not only love, but which has an innate ability to feel perfectly in line with your present crafting style.

The cheery and charming springtime card featured in this post is precisely one of those projects for me.

Ample layers and embellishments? Check!

A shaker element? Check!

Distress, inking, and general shabby chicness? Check!

Flower and leaves? Check!

Seam binding? Check!

And so on and so forth.

In short, this card is jam-packed with many of my favourite paper crafting materials and supplies (not to mention colours), and is a project that I’m truly delighted with in terms of how it turned out.

I created this shabby chic card as a general springtime thinking of you greeting, but it could just as easily work (with or without a relevant sentiment added) for everything from Ostara to Easter, Beltane to Mother’s Day, birthdays to anniversaries, get well cards to a baby shower greeting.

Items used to this beautiful spring flower card

-White cardstock

-Green cardstock

-Pearlized (or plain) dark berry red cardstock – Cranberry Zing cardstock from My Colors Cardstock

-Double sided houndstooth and floral print paper – Vintage Autumn Basics No. III from Maja Design

-Floral postage stamp print paper – Bloom Collection Petal Postage from Graphic 45

-Clear acetate

-Ornate frame die with coordinating corner dies (in this case, I used the A2 Filigree Delight Die from Spellbinders)

-Small leaf or vine die

-Dark purply-burgundy coloured ink – Gothic Purple Ink from StazOn

-Plum coloured sequins – from Pretty Pink Posh (product not specially named on its packaging)

-Earthy green coloured sequins

-Plummy-pink sequins

-Pink metallic flakes – from Craft Décor (found at various dollar stores; product not specifically named)

-Small burgundy and white or cream paper roses

-White seam binding

-White cotton eyelet lace (or other white lace/trim of your choosing)

-Stamp edge decorative edge scissors – Paper Edgers Stamp Scissors from Fiskars

-Green embroidery thread

-Purple heart shaped buttons, pale purple rhinestones, and aged brass metal heart charm piece all from the Gorjuss Charm Pack from the brand Santoro London

-Glue gun and glue sticks (optional but handy for attaching embellishments)

-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 layered and detailed shabby chic springtime card

Begin by making a card base from plain white cardstock (earthy shades of green, taupe/very light brown, cream, plum, and whisper soft pink tones would all be lovely choices as well).

Cut a piece of pearlized berry coloured cardstock slightly smaller than your card base and lightly distress the edges of this piece.

Cut a piece of houndstooth patterned paper slightly smaller than the berry cardstock and likewise distress its edges. Adhere that paper to the berry cardstock and attach to your card base.

Next, cut a piece of green cardstock a touch smaller than the houndstooth print paper. Ink the edges of the green cardstock with dark purply-burgundy StazOn ink.

Use postage stamp edged decorative edge scissors to cut out a piece of floral print paper that’s a little smaller than the green cardstock.

Ink the edges of the floral print paper with the same StazOn ink, then adhere it to the green cardstock piece and adhere that to the houndstooth print paper.

To make the shaker element, die cut your ornate frame from pearlized berry colour cardstock. Cut a piece of the houndstooth print paper to the same size as the frame. This piece will be the background of your shaker element.

Cut out the word “Bloom” from the Graphic 45 Bloom Collection Petal Postage paper and adhere it to the houndstooth print paper, as shown.

Cut a piece of clear acetate so that it fully covers the oval portion of the frame (there is no need for it to extend beyond that portion of the frame) and adhere to said frame.

Create a barrier with foam tape or foam pads around the oval window portion of the frame. Fill with sequins.

Remove foam tape backing and adhere the houndstooth print paper background piece to the shaker frame (bring the background to the frame, not the other way around, so as to not have your sequins mix fall out and potentially go everywhere).

Attach the shaker piece to the floral print paper layer using foam tape or dots, for an added hit of height and dimension.

Create two small rectangles of green cardstock, ink the edges of each piece, and top both with the same floral print paper. Place one at an angle towards the top of your card and one at an angle below the shaker element, as shown in the pictures throughout the post.

Attach a piece of white eyelet lace just below the shaker layer.

Next, fussy cut several floral postage stamp pieces from Graphic 45 Bloom Collection Petal Postage paper, as well as a strip of four continuous stamp images from the same paper.

Attach that strip immediately below the shaker element, allowing it to overlap somewhat with the white eyelet lace.

Arrange the fussy cut stamp images at lovely angles around both the left and the right side of the shaker element.

Once attached, intersperse small cream and burgundy coloured paper roses, two purple heart buttons (one on each side) laced with green embroidery thread, two pale purple rhinestone hearts, and some leaves/vines die cut from green cardstock amongst and/or behind the postage stamp pieces.

From the same stamp print paper, fussy cut two small butterflies, gently bending their wings upwards for an added sense of dimension. Attach one butterfly on each side of the shaker frame.

Die cut two ornate photo corner pieces from the berry coloured cardstock and attack them behind the layers on the front of your card, roughly at the halfway point of the overall design.

Lastly, make a multi-loop bow from white seam binding (I pre-crinkled mine before starting this project; it is not imperative that your seam binding me crinkled to work here).

Attach this bow to the middle of the card, just below the shaker frame. Top with an aged brass-coloured metal heart charm (or another embellishment of your choosing).

And just like that, your shabby chic springtime floral greeting card is complete.

Spring has officially bloomed on our end!

After a long, cold Canadian winter that began in mid-October and saw our final snowfall of the season on April 10^th, spring was the most welcome of returning visitors this year!

As much as I do favour the colder half of the year in many ways, I love spring and summer for a multitude of reasons as well.

There is something to be said for not risking frostbite when you step outside, daylight that lingers well past the dinner hour, and the vibrancy and optimism inherent to the warmer months.

This card was created to celebrate all those points – very much including the abundance of new blooms that are once again returning around these parts.

Another of my paper crafting favourites has long been the well-known brand Graphic 45, and their elegant cut-apart floral postage stamp print paper was a delightful way to inject even more floral charm into this shabby chic springtime project.

Spring is typically very short-lived in our area. Chances are we’ll likely experience summertime weather before May has wrapped up (it is not without good reason that the Victoria Day long weekend is often referred to as the unofficial start of summer here in Canada).

All the more cause to make and send springtime greetings while the sun is shining, birds are chirping, gardens are coming alive, and the joyful energy of this all too brief season is still going strong.

I hope that spring (or autumn, for my lovely readers south of the equator) has likewise sprung on your end at this point and that you have a safe, beautiful May – complete with blooms aplenty, be they the real deal or of the paper crafting variety.

The post Layered and Detailed Shabby Chic Springtime “Bloom” Card appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

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.

I admire these folks greatly. Marvel at how they seem to have found the secret to cramming a hundred hours more into each day (lol!), and accept that I’m unlikely to ever belong to their ranks.

My projects and posts happen if and when they can, and I see no issue with continuing to share holiday-themed makes in January. Or at any other point in the year, for that matter.

It can be fantastic to focus on topical content during a given season or holiday, and I am certainly in favour of doing so when possible.

However, that doesn’t mean that one has to hold rigidly to only posting Christmas content, for example, before the ball drops on New Year’s Eve.

As most of our holiday décor is still up at this early stage in January (I adore festive decorations and tend to let them linger well after a particular holiday or sabbat has officially transpired), I feel even more at peace with sharing the lovely handmade card in today’s post.

The colour palette that has called to me most this holiday season – red, green, and black – was at its festive zenith in the card highlighted here, which we gave to my mom as her Christmas greeting from us this year.

Elegant snow frosted pine branch Christmas card

I could easily and happily work with this dark, sophisticated, and subtly yesteryear-esque colour scheme not only come each winter holiday season, but the whole year through as well.

Swap the green for grey and you have three of my most frequently worn colours as well. (I adore wearing certain shades of green, especially those on the darker end of the spectrum, but don’t own a lot of clothing in such hues at the moment.)

Then turn to the red to burgundy, swirl some dusty rose and aged metallics into the equation, and you have the main colours in our current home décor.

I knew that I wanted to lean heavily on red, green, and black for my mom’s Christmas card. Yet, at the same time, didn’t want it to run the risk of having it read as dreary or overly sombre.

To that end, I made sure to include plenty of splashes of red, as well as some white, and to use a classic pattern (holly leaves and berries) on the sole printed paper that appears on this card.

While there are various snow texture products on the market (such as Aleene’s Glitter Snow and True Snow, respectively, and Snow-Tex from DecoArt), I don’t have any in my stash at present.

Instead, I created the look of white snow adorned pine branches by turning to a bottle of trusty, inexpensive white acrylic craft paint.

In my opinion, white paint is one of the most versatile, handy, and helpful products any paper crafter can have in their arsenal.

I reach for white acrylic paint all through the year and after frosting these faux pine branches, might need to add a new bottle of it to my crafting shopping list for 2021.

Thankfully, this product doesn’t break the bank and can be found everywhere from dollar stores to Michael’s, Walmart to art supply shops here in Canada. (I usually opt for Plaid brand white acrylic paint, which currently retails for less than $4.00 at Walmart.)

The dark green little plastic pine branches are likewise usually not very tricky to find. If your local craft, hobby, dollar, or big box stores don’t sell them, check out spots such as eBay, AliExpress, and Etsy, where you should be able to find similar products.

Alternatively, if you have some festive décor that might be on its last legs but which contains usable faux pine/evergreen, you could pluck off said branches and put them to work on holiday season papercrafts.

I love this card. It’s one of my favourite makes of any kind from 2020, and was, come to think of it, my last project of that year.

As is often the case when I create a card (or tag, etc) that is destined for someone else, but which I utterly adore, I did debate keeping this festive make to use in our seasonal décor.

However, that thought was short-lived, as I had created this card from my sweet mama and was adamant that it zip off to her house.

After all, as I like to tell myself, I could always make something similar looking for our holiday décor. Especially since I highly doubt my passion for the pairing of red, green, and black is going to wane anytime soon.

Putting this elegant shabby chic Christmas card together

A good sized card base of basic black cardstock got the ball rolling here. It was topped with small triangular pieces of red metallic cardstock in each of the four corners, a piece of holly leaf and berry print paper (which I lightly distressed the edges of and gave punched photo corners made from textured white cardstock to as well), and two die cut pieces of cardstock. One black, the other metallic red. 

My sentiment greeting was next up to bat, landing in the middle of this design. I purposely went with die cut layers below it that echoed the notched corners included in this festive illustration.

Sandwiched between some of the layers of paper and cardstock, I put a black die cut lattice design piece, as well as a piece of vibrant red satin ribbon.

That same Christmas season perfect red ribbon then appeared in the form of a bow (to mirror that in the sentiment illustration itself) near the top of the card.

As well, right below the sentiment, I place a piece of black eyelash trim lace and also ran a strip of white tulle rose trim for a subtle pop of white between the layers of this design

Next, I arranged some springs of red foam faux berries, red fabric roses, and green plastic pine branches. Using a cotton bud (a small paintbrush would work well, too), I lightly applied white acrylic craft paint to the edges of the pine branches.

I debated topping the roses and berries with “snow” as well, but decided I preferred the look of leaving them au naturel.

As the last and final touch on this project, I placed four small white pearlescent star flatback embellishments near each of the four red roses. Opting for this particular embellishment because of the stars present in the illustration of the sentiment.

(You may have guessed this by now, but I love to include repeating motifs, colours, designs, etc in plenty of my papercrafting projects.)

Cardmaking tips and ideas from this project

-Let a little (or a lot!) of the elements on your card extend past the edges of the card base itself. This is amongst my favourite card making techniques, as I find it helps to elevate a project and create more visual interest.

In this case, the distressed piece of printed paper, as well as the snow dusted pine branches, inch slightly over the edges.

–Don’t hesitate to double (or triple, etc) up on photo corners or other corner elements. Here, white photo corners sit happily atop triangles of metallic red cardstock, each belonging to a separate layer of this design.

-If you do not have premade red roses (be they fabric, paper, foam, etc), you could crate some from punched or die cut red paper or cardstock. Conversely, you could sub in a different flower or type of embellishment entirely.

Small bow, bell (including jingle bells), other types of greenery, or even (representations of) birds such as cardinals, owls, or partridges, for example, would all be at home on a festive project like this.

-While the “snow” is a charming and wonderfully eye-catching addition here, it isn’t strictly required. You could easily skip it or, alternatively, adorn the branches with glitter or flocking instead.

Or, make cardstock branches and emboss them with white, cream, or pale silver coloured embossing powder to get a similar snowy effect.

-Look to the illustrated/patterned elements – including premade sentiments – of your card when deciding on the elements to use for a given project.

The charming sentiment piece – taken from a cut-apart sheet of paper – here inspired no less than four components of this design. The notched corner die cut layers, the red bow, the arrangement of the pine branches, and the sweet little pearlescent white star embellishments.  

Products used to make this festive red, black, and green Christmas card

-Notched corner nesting die set

-Lattice border strip die (or similar style of border punch)

-Photo corner punch – Photo Corner punch from Martha Stewart Crafts

-Black and white cardstock

-Metallic red cardstock

-Holly leaf and berry print paper – Here Come Santa Claus Holly Berries paper from Echo Park

-Sentiment paper – My Favourite Christmas – Christmas Squares paper from Echo Park

-Black eyelash fringe lace

-Red satin ribbon (you could use organza, twill, seam binding, etc here as well)

-White tulle rose trim

-Red fabric roses

-White pearlescent plastic star embellishments

-White acrylic craft paint – 2894 White Wicker Multi-Surface Satin Acrylic Paint from Plaid’s Folk Art line

-Glue gun and glue sticks, or another type of sturdy adhesive to hold the larger embellishments in place

-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)

A huge thank you!

Before wrapping up today’s entry, I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to everyone who wished Witchcrafted Life a happy 1^st birthday on my previous blog post, as well as via email and DM.

Your support of my wee corner of the web, the work that I share here, and the inclusive community that I strive to create around this space means an immeasurable amount to me.

I am grateful to my core for each of you. Your kindness and encouragement all through WCL’s first year of life and now as we embrace its second is like rocket fuel for my blogging soul, powering me onward with vim and vigour, and helping me to reach new creative heights along the way.

I have one more Christmas 2020 card project to share here in the not-too-distant future (it’s another of my fave makes from last year, which wound its way to a treasured friend in the US), a more broadly themed winter project or two, and hopefully, at least one Valentine’s Day project.

If it is able to appear here in February itself, that’s great, but if it ends up being posted closer to the Ostara/Easter season, you know what? That’s a-okay, too.

After all, the “freely share a project after a given event has transpired” approach is not limited to winter holiday season makes by any means.

What’s on the crafting agenda for you as we embrace the start of 2021? Do you strive to post all of your makes for a given holiday before/right the big day or are you happy to share them anytime you please?

Project share

Pin the image below – or any other in this post – to Pinterest, pop it into your Instagram Stories, post it 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 Snow Frosted Pine Branch Christmas Card appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

At this realitivaly early stage in the eighth month of the year, the temperature and landscape are still decisively summery. The heat is keeping a marathon runner’s steady pace, scarcely letting up for the inky black hours of nightime.

Yet, beneath the patio umbrellas, sandal-clad feet, and lush peach trees, the earth is shifting into autumnal gear.

I adore – and I mean, really adore – the colour palette of late summer and early fall.

Straight up autumn time’s intense jewel tones and earthy shades win out as my favourite seasonal palette, but that of the later days of summer is close on its heels.

It was to this palette that I turned when creating the French Inspired “Happiness Café” shabby chic card featured in this post.

While these particular colours are not overtly summery in the way, say, that neons, tropical fruit hues, or a nautical palette might be, at their heart they remind me of the flaxen tones that nature often takes on as summer winds down.

The immediacy of the season’s beginning is behind us once more, and with it has gone some of the piercing verdant vibrancy.

Now nature is, in certain respects, mellowing a tad, as fields of green morph into seas of harvest time gold and brown.

French Inspired “Happiness Café” Shabby Chic Card

The French component of this card comes primarily by way of the gorgeous Bo Bunny Boulevard Collection items used here.

To extend the French theme, the overall style of the card has a certain romantic, distinctly yesteryear charm.

I might not go quite so far as to call it straight up Rococo, Victorian or Art Nouveau, though to my mind, subtle elements of each of these periods are woven into this card’s design.

As is frequently the case when my paper crafting makes, this card is both shabby chic and generously layered + embellished.

Yet, for all the intricate die cut pieces, paper layers, seam binding, and bejewelled embellishments, this card is not actually that thick.

I’m hoping that, given the itty-bitty 2 cm letter mail height limit on all outgoing mail here in Canada, I may still be able to send it as a letter, not a parcel (which, I kid you not, would add $8 – $15+ in additional shipping costs, depending on the destination).

As I created this elegant greeting for a dear friend who lives outside of Canada (I don’t want to say more, lest they’re reading this and the surprise of this card is ruined), I’m really hoping letter mail will be possible.

This card was a spontaneous creation, which, all things considered, came together quite quickly. Moreover, its design flowed like water and I had a fantastic time creating it.

Once the palette (which, as per usual, the less-than-stellar lighting in our house didn’t do the best job of capturing) had been established, I stuck by it closely.

Navy blue (which reads more as black here – my apologies!), muted golds, honey tones, and taupes; earthy blues, sage green, and crisp grey are the stars of the show.

As a collective whole, these colours also channel a certain French feel to me – both of the aged, exquisite architecture of Paris, and at the same time, of the rolling hills and pastoral lands of the French countryside.

Another hit of France comes by way of the fleur de lis used on this project.

I’ve adored this classic shape since childhood and, as this project reminded me, they’re something that I need to use it more often in my paper crafting – especially since doing so feels like a lovely odd to my French ancestry.

While there is a lot going on in the design of this card, there are not actually too many 3D elements.

The single creamy-white paper rose near the bottom and the two gorgeous metal and rhinestone swan flatback charms are the main 3D elements here.

These chic metal swan charms have a fair bit of heft to them. While they can be used for a wide range of purposes and projects, they were sold as jewelry making components and it’s easy to see why! How stunning would they look on a necklace, brooch or cuff bracelet?

Because the pair of swans, coupled with the multiple layers of paper on this card front did add up in weight, the finished card was quick to fall forward on itself.

To counterbalance this, I added some layers of paper inside (in the greeting area), which balanced the weight out and eliminated that concern.

This lovely greeting will zip off to its recipient as a thinking of you card. However, it could easily work as a thank you, “just because”, birthday, anniversary, Mother’s Day, congratulations, retirement, or (in some instances) get well card, too.

Card making tips and tricks from this project

–Don’t feel you have to stick to the boundaries of your card base. As you may have noticed from many of my previous card shares here, I love extending some of the elements of my card designs over the sides.

Sometimes, it may be just a subtle reach beyond the card base. At others, I let this design approach run wild and free. It’s safe to say, this shabby chic card falls into the latter camp!

If you need to keep your card to within a certain size limit for mailing or other reasons, then naturally, you may be limited to a degree by how much you can go over the borders of your base. Even then, though, you can usually still have something peeking over at least one side.

By working beyond the size of the card base, you extend the canvas, so to speak, of your card, add awesome visual interest, and can design a greeting that stands out all the more from the pack.

-Put your Stickles to use! I adore Stickles and have at least a dozen colours of this handy-dandy glitter glue in my craft stash.

Anytime I go to town with the Stickles, I cannot help but think of one of my favourite crafters (and a huge inspiration on my own paper crafting style), Lisa M. Pace, whose paper crafting how-to books are chock-a-block with Stickle filled projects.

Stickles add instant sparkle, elegance and fun to your projects (with little bulk – win-win!). Plus, when you edge a given design element with a border of Stickles, it almost looks like a separate layer unto itself.

-Mirror doilies with similar looking die cut shapes (and vice versa). An actual white paper doily appears here, as do intricate die cut shapes that have much the same look.

The pairing is appealing and sophisticated, as well as vintage looking. It could also read as rustic, festive, or many other things, too, just depending on the overall design of your project.

-Raid your jewelry making stash (or jewelry box) for embellishments. There is little in the way of strict dividing lines between crafting camps in my supply stash. I often reach for beading or needle work material for my paper crafts, and encourage fellow crafters to do the same.

If you don’t bead/make jewelry, you can still pick up some supplies for this craft to use on your cards, tags, scrapbook pages, etc. Thrift shops, discount and dollar stores, yard sales, flea markets and eBay can all good places to source reasonably priced jewelry making supplies.

In addition, if a piece of your costume jewelry has broken or you don’t wear it anymore, consider repurposing it into one or more of your papercrafts.

You might just be surprised by how many projects a single beaded necklace, for example, can help to embellish. Plus, by recycling, you’re helping to keep the earth that much happier and healthier in the process.

-Add a tag with ribbons, seam binding, and/or twine to your project. In this case, the tag is stationary, but you could design it to be removed from the greeting itself. I love this eye-catching technique and the way it helps to instantly elevate the charm of any project all the more.

How to Make this layered, embellished shabby chic card

To begin with, I created a card base out of medium grey cardstock (white cardstock would also look fab here), followed by a piece of solid navy blue cardstock just a touch smaller in size than the card base itself.

After that, I layered a piece of pale hued lacy damask print paper from Kaisercraft, which I edged with stickles and allowed to dry before proceeding with the rest of my design. Ditto for the central “Parfumerie” piece.

While the Stickles were drying, I cut out the intricate die cut shapes, selected the rest of my ephemera die cut pieces and assorted embellishments, cut the seam binding for the tag piece, and added some Stickles to the white cardstock die cut pieces.

Once all of the Stickles had dried on each respective element that included them, I set to work layering and composing this card.

I should mention that the central “Café Happiness” sentiment is actually two different die cut shapes layered on top of each other. The larger banner shaped base topped with the “Café Happiness” piece.

After I had arranged and adhered all the layers, including the white doily, I added the adhesive pearl fleur de lis pieces and the metal + rhinestone swan charms.

Lastly, I tied the seam binding to the tag, and with that, this intricate, yet fairly easy to make card was complete.

Products used to make this elegant thinking of you card

-White, grey, and navy blue cardstock

-Lace damask print paper – Rose Avenue Collection “Suite” paper from Kaisercraft

-Sage green paper – Boulevard 6×6 inch paper pad from Bo Bunny

-One or more ornate filigree/doily shaped metal die(s)

-Assorted ephemera pieces – Boulevard Noteworthy Notable Die Cuts from Bo Bunny

-White paper doily (premade or die cut, as desired)

-Silvery-gold coloured glitter glue – Platinum Ice Stickles from Ranger

-Light gold and taupe seam binding (the gold is the shade “Trophy Gold” from Snug Hug, the taupe reached me unlabeled)

-Fleur-de-lis adhesive pearl embellishments – Say It In Pearls Strip (in) Cream from Prima

-White paper 3D rose – Garden Blooms from Blue Fern Studios

-Metal, enamel and rhinestone swan flat back charm embellishments (purchased a while back on AliExpress.com)

-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)

Utilize monthly colour palettes in your paper crafting projects

In some parts of the world all twelve months are blessed with their own distinct colours that are part of the bigger seasonal picture of each chapter of the year.

I encourage you tap into the inspiration and premade colour schemes that each month of the year brings (no matter if your own area is awash with said colours or not).

Not only will you have a built-in colour palette at any point in the year, but this approach can help your projects to feel that much more on theme and imbued with festive cheer.

August is the last full month of summer. The current season extends until the third week of September, but by that time, in many corners of the globe, the gentle shades of the early harvest season have given way to the rich, intense hues that we immediately associated with fall time.

I love working with those colours, just as I do the softer (or conversely, brighter and more sun-baked) hues of August. Both bring me joy – just, as I wholeheartedly hope they do for the people that I create handmade cards for.

What if your favourite month or season from a colour palette perspective?

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 French Inspired “Happiness Café” Shabby Chic Card appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

Falling on July 1^st, Canada Day kicks off the seventh month of the year and is a beautiful, fun-filled and highly meaningful day of cheery national pride from coast-to-coast.

While handmade Canada Day cards are certainly not unknown (indeed, I have a Pinterest board dedicated just to Canada Day Cards), I find myself surprised at times that there aren’t considerably more cards for July 1^st shared online.

One new card might not raise the ranks there too much, but it certainly does its own wee part. To that end, today I’m sharing an elegant shabby chic Canada Day card that I recently created.

This card is my favourite Canada Day paper crafting project that I’ve made to date. Now I just need to decide who I’m going to give it to!

That said though, I love it so much that I’m half tempted to hold onto it and use this festive July 1^st card as part of our annual Canada Day home décor.

Enjoy the Moment Shabby Chic Canada Day Card

Various companies, such as Wild Whisper Designs and Photoplay, have released Canadian themed paper crafting products over the years, though not too many brands have focused specifically on Canada Day itself.

Save for the chipboard pieces (including the chipboard Canadian flag), I didn’t turn to any of these Canadiana type lines for this particular project.

I went into making this Canada Day card by knowing that I wanted to use a classic red and white palette, as those are the two colours that comprise the Canadian flag.

You could certainly stop there and have a fabulously festive make on your hands. I’m rarely one to make an understated paper crafting project though, so I injected some sophisticated hits of cream and gold, as well as an earthy shade of brown, into the mix.

I felt the brown both complimented the other colours and was a great nod to the abundance of outdoor activities – from camping trips to fireworks shows watched while sitting on the beach – that this colour calls to mind.

Initially, I’d envisioned even more dimensional elements – such as paper flowers or rhinestones – but when all was said and done, this handmade Canada Day card felt like it had enough going on as it was, so I refrained from adding more to it.

The sentiment hails from a lovely little package of ephemera pieces from Anna Griffin. I’m a massive fan of her work and product line, though find it almost as tricky to track down unicorns and mermaids here on Canadian soil as it is to source her products in this country.

Scrapbook.com carries a small selection these days, as do various other US scrapbook supply websites – and of course, there’s always Anna Griffin’s official online store (as well as her TSC and QVC lines), plus community marketplace sites such as eBay and Etsy.

Still, for those of us on a tight budget and/or who prefer to purchase our paper crafting supplies locally, it can be tough at times to find Anna Griffin products on this side of the 49^th.

However, that just makes me treasure the tiny handful of them that I do presently have in my stash all the more.

Maple leaves are as emblematic a symbol of Canada as they come, so on top of the chipboard Canadian flag itself, I included some die cut maple leaves here in a mix of brown and metallic gold cardstock.

If you don’t have gold cardstock or mirri (mirror) card, you could always use gold glitter paper instead (or emboss your die cut maple leaves with gold embossing power).

As with most of my projects, there’s an air of femininity and yesteryear style to this design, coupled with a dose of classic shabby chic charm.

One could easily scale back on certain elements – such as the crochet trim and heart flatback pearls – if you wanted to make a more masculine design.

Indeed, this card could easily, come to think of it, work splendidly – right down to the “Enjoy the Moment” sentiment – as a birthday greeting for any gender.

Cardmaking tips and tricks from this project

-While just about all reds can look elegant in the right context, true and blue based reds tend to have a certain ingrained sophistication to them that can help a card or other project look all the more formal.

-If you’re working with a paper pad, pack or loose sheets and have two or more papers with the same (or similar) prints in different colours – such as the red and grey doily print papers here – combining them on the same project is a great way to add instant cohesiveness to your design.

-Embossing and die cutting (or vice versa, though delicate parts of various die cut shapes may hold up better if you emboss your paper or cardstock first and then die cut it) the same paper or cardstock is a great way to get an even more eye-catching and detailed element for your project.

In this case, I ran my brown cardstock through my die cutting machine inside of the Birch Texture Fade embossing folder by Tim Holtz for Sizzix, then die cut it using a tree frame die. I didn’t ink or otherwise jazz up my die cut frame further, but one certainly could if so desired.

–Ornate frames and other intricate shaped pieces die cut in metallic cardstock always look stunning and are a fantastic way to glam up most any paper crafting project.

-If you don’t have crochet trim on hand, lace, multiple layers of twine or string, raffia, burlap, thin cork, die cut boarder strips, or even a rub-on design could be used here instead.

-Inking the edges of your cardstock base (in this case, the cream cardstock base) is a terrific way to inject additional colour, visual depth, and interest without adding further weight to a card design.

It’s also an ideal approach when you want a given colour (or colours) to appear again in your design for a greater sense of cohesiveness or, conversely, to contrast and really standout.

In this case, I used an aged yellow coloured ink mini ink cube from Pink & Main to ink the edges of my cream card base, and then used the same ink on the edges of the red and grey doily patterned papers.

How to make this elegant Canadian flag themed Canada Day card

I started with a base of cream cardstock to which I added a large piece of dark red cardstock, followed by various patterned papers (inking the edges of the cream cardstock and the doily print papers, as mentioned above).

Then I die cut my ornate frame from gold cardstock, the tree frame from brown cardstock, and leaves from a mixture of brown and gold cardstock.

Next I wrapped a piece of cream crochet trim around some of my base layers and another piece of the same trim around my secondary base layer (with foam squares between the two base layers), selected some ephemera pieces to tuck behind some of my design elements, and settled on the final arrangement for this Canada Day card.

Having done that, I assembled the various elements, added the Canadian flag and scrolling decorative corner chipboard pieces, and finished off by adorning this festive card with two cute little gold-toned plastic flatback pearl heart embellishments.

That’s all there was to it. Easy as maple pie! )

Products used to make this festive Canada Day card

-Brown, red, and cream cardstock

-Gold metallic cardstock – Special Gold Bright Metallic Paper from Kodamaa

-Various printed papers – Farmhouse 8×8 inch paper pad from October Afternoon

-Yellow ink pad – Street Light Surface Ink from Pink & Main

-Fancy decorative boarder die

-Tree frame die

-Leaf vine and maple leaf dies

-Woodgrain embossing folder – Birch Texture Fade by Tim Holtz from Sizzix

-Canadian flag and decorative flourish corner chipboard pieces – Explore Canada Chipboard Pieces from Scrapbook Customs

-Assorted ephemera pieces – Jolie Collection Titles, Tags and Quotes – from Anna Griffin

-Gold toned plastic heart shaped flatback pearls (I sourced these from AliExpress a while back)

-Cream crochet 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)

Celebrate Canada Day with your own cards, scrapbook pages and other projects!

Not Canadian? No worries! What about a scrapbook page that pertains to Canada, such as a holiday you’ve taken here, five things that make you think of Canada, your favourite Canadian entertainer, author or musician; or the Canadian animal you adore the most?

If that’s not your (Saskatoon berry) jam, why not use this design as a jumping-off point for a card or other paper crafting project that celebrates your own country’s birthday/founding date or another event that is significant to your respective nation instead?

Whether you live in the country of your birth or an adopted homeland, there’s often much to celebrate and adore about the nation that one currently calls their own.

Our paper crafting makes can be a stellar way to let our feelings (positive, negative, and everything in between) about our country shine out today and, in the process, potentially be documented for future generations as well.

Or, in the case of cards, which may not always be passed down to the same degree as scrapbook pages, as a terrific way to share in some national pride and celebratory spirit with your loved ones near and far.

Tempting though it may be to squirrel this card away and use it as part of our Canada Day decorations, I do think I’ll take my own advice there and share it with a fellow Canadian who is close to my heart, eh!

Do you enjoy making cards for your country’s birthday? Have you ever made a Canada Day card before?

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 Enjoy the Moment Shabby Chic Canada Day 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.

Winter is still holding on for dear life here in our woodland corner of British Columbia, but even with the lingering mountains of snow and nights that dip below freezing, it is nearly impossible not to sense spring’s return and to beam like the very sun itself over that fact.

The first two months of 2020 were heavy ones for our household and family. So much so, that in some respects, it feels like we’ve lived two years since the ball dropped on New Year’s Eve and the first year of the new decade sprang into being.

Amongst the thorns and uncertainties, challenges and obstacles of life, there have been numerous positives too, however, and I am wholeheartedly grateful for each of them.

Spring began to gently stir back around Imbolc and while it has yet to awake fully yet here, I know that we’re not too far away from that point.

As much as I adore the darker half of the year that houses fall and winter, I’m quick to usher in springtime all the same – even if it often feels as though it only lasts for about 5.74 seconds here in Canada.

This year, I’m getting a head start on my seasonal paper crafting projects and am delighted to share the first one of 2020 here with you today.

Shabby chic Be Amazing Springtime bird’s nest card

In for a penny, in for a pound, I’m keen on saying and that motto often applies with my seasonal paper crafting projects.

Once the creative springtime ball got rolling, there was no stopping me with this card. Flowers, leaves, whimsical little toadstools, butterfly ephemera pieces, soft hues paired with earthy kraft brown, tiny birds, and the piece de resistance (to my mind at least), the die cut bird’s nest.

I had the upcoming sabbat of Ostara in mind as I was creating this card, but did not include direct mention of either it or Easter, as I wanted this to be a card that I could send to a wide number of possible recipients (not all of whom observe one or both of those special days).

Yet by the same token, this design is 100% suitable for either occasion and the sentiment I stamp or write inside can easily be tailored to suit Ostara or Easter.

There’s nothing to say this card couldn’t be used for Beltane, too – especially if you live in a part of the world where spring doesn’t tend to appear in full force until around the start of May.

Or, perhaps with a different sentiment on the front, for Mother’s Day as well. (Adjust the colours if needed to reflect your mom or grandma’s personal favourites.)

Stop and smell the roses while you craft

Fun fact, like most of the cards I make, this one took several hours to complete. I am a methodical crafter and will often spread the creation of a single project out over the course of multiple days (especially since it isn’t always feasible for me to craft for extended periods of time in one go).

I delight in the process. In mixing and matching possible products to include, in how I arrange the end results, in seeing something tangible materialize before my eyes.

This card was no exception and while it was completed in a single day (a rarity, I assure you!), the journey from bringing my (plastic) bone folder down on the kraft cardstock base to the very last embellishment was a soothing, wonderful pleasure.

There is no right or wrong speed to craft at, of course. Some people seem to have an almost superhuman ability to create multiple detailed projects in a single day, others, like myself, work at a slower pace and may spread their work out across multiple crafting sessions. Plenty fall squarely in the middle.

Whatever speed or pace you tend to craft at, I encourage you to actively remember to savour the act of creating. Try to ensure that crafting continues to feel like you’re making artwork (which you are!), not simply working at breakneck speed on one project before plowing straight on to the next without taking time to delight in the creative process and the end result that you’ve spun into being with your own hands.

With spring’s return looming in the Western Hemisphere, now seems like an especially apt time to stop and smell the roses as we delve into a new season of crafting and enjoying the fabulous passion that is paper crafting.

Putting this beautiful springtime card together

A base of classic kraft cardstock – a perineal favourite of many a paper crafter the world over – kicked things off for this card.

Next, I layered a piece of cream/ivory cardstock slightly smaller than the size of the kraft base atop the base itself. This was followed by, once again, a slightly smaller layer. In this instance, a piece of cheerful green and cream polka dot print paper.

I then cut three equal-sized elongated rectangles of the same kraft cardstock that I used for my base (note that the third rectangle is largely obscured by the embellishment on the left-hand side of this card), each of which I topped with equal-sized rectangles of a sweet, springtime perfect floral print paper. The edges of both layers were lightly inked to help them stand out all the more.

Next, I cut another (longer) strip of kraft cardstock, which I inked the edges of and topped with a piece of the same green and cream polka dot paper that I used before. Before attaching this strip, I dug through my stash for some pretty pink trim, which I tucked beneath this horizontal strip.

With what I like to call my “base components” in place, I set to work die cutting up a storm, selecting premade die cut ephemera pieces, choosing embellishments, and arranging the layout of my final design.

The nest/wreath was cut from the same cream cardstock that I used for the second base layer and is comprised of two layers of the same die cut, to give greater depth to the bare branches that comprise its classic shape.

While similar in tone, I did not repeat the same kraft cardstock again the branches or leaves, opting instead for a very pale milk chocolate tone coupled with some branches cut from a dark brown woodgrain print paper.

For the die cut leaves and some of the vines, I used both a medium green cardstock that teeters on olive and a tone-on-tone green print paper.

As soon as I settled on the use of a wreath meets nest component for this card, I knew that birds were going to be involved. Two cute little avian friends appear here, both die cut from the same kraft cardstock and lightly inked just on the edges to add subtle depth and to make them stand out a bit more from their surroundings.

In the center of the nest/wreath area, I placed a simple die cut circle of the same floral print paper that I used on the three background strips.

I then placed these components on a piece of woodgrain paper (the same one that I used for some of the die cut branches) that I die cut a mini hole circle from.

After all of my manual die cutting was complete, I created a bow from olive green seam binding, selected the pre-made die cut shapes I’d be using, plucked some lovely little white dimensional flowers from my stash, determined what I’d be using for my sentiment here, added some super cute teal and white faux toadstools along with some pale pink faceted bling, and that was that!

While this card may, at first glance, look a bit fiddly or difficult to make, IMO, it really isn’t. Plus, so much of the fun of designs like lies in building up the layers and playing around with the arrangement of your design elements until you hit on a winning composition.

Card making tips and ideas from this project

-Layer or otherwise combined two (or more) of the same die cut shape in both a light and a darker tone to help give a greater sense of dimension as well as a potential sense of shadows.

-Base your cardstock colour choices off of the colours in the patterned papers that you plan to use (or vice versa) for added cohesiveness throughout your finished project.

-Use dies that are intended to be wreathes to make nests and vice versa. This die was designed to be a wreath, but it works like a charm as a nest, too (you could also cut more layers and curve them upwards on the edges to add to the sense of the dimensional quality of most real life nests).

–Not everything has to match perfectly, just stick with similar tonal ranges and colour families, striving for a general sense of harmony throughout each of the colours used on your projects.

-While I was fortunate to have some olive green seam binding to hand, it’s worth keeping in mind that seam binding, twill tape, and certain other kinds of trims and ribbons can often be dyed with various mediums such as spray inks or ink pads to match or coordinate with the colours of your projects. Just make sure they’re dry as a bone before using them on your makes.

-Going “off card”, especially with foliage related elements, is a stellar way to not only increase the overall size of your project, but to help create a more dynamic and visually appealing design.

-As upbeat and springtime-y as many of the colours that I used here are, we’re currently in the early throes of the season and so I wanted to ground a more Ostara/Easter appropriate palette with earth tones. This was chiefly accomplished via the cream, olive green, and browns.

If this was a summertime card, I might have opted for brighter or starker colours, such as white, aqua, yellow, or larger swaths of upbeat shades of blue.

Come fall time, this same design could be gorgeous with rusty oranges, dusty peach or rose, teal blue or forest green, and a dark brown cardstock base.

And for winter, shades of icy blue, white, grey and silver would no doubt turn heads!

-If you didn’t want to use birds here, you could make opt for any number of other critters instead from bunnies (perfect for both Ostara and Easter) to ladybugs – or simply forego animals/insects altogether.

–Use dies to create shapes or designs other than what they’re intended for. Here a wreath die helps to create a nest, but that is just one of an endless number of examples of when a die could do double (or triple, etc) duty in terms of the shapes and images it may be able to help you create.

-Blend nature themed and vintage inspired pieces together. The pair is a winning combo that has strong visual appeal and which helps each of these different components to highlight and enhance the presence of the other.

–Opt for uneven numbers of embellishments for greater visual interest. In this instance, I used five white flowers, three teal mushrooms, and two kraft birds partnered with a single nest. These elements themselves then become an uneven number of three groups of standout embellishments.

-Don’t be afraid to arrange your design elements – including your sentiment – at an angle. Doing so is often eye-catching, engaging, and one of those awesome paper crafting tricks that can help take your makes to the next level.

Products to help you recreate this Be Amazing Springtime bird’s nest card

-Kraft, cream, green, and light brown cardstock

-White and blue floral print paper and green + cream polka dot print paper  – both are from the Garden Party 12×12 inch pad from Pebbles (6×6 inch version available here)

-Dark brown wood print paper and green tone-on-tone patterned paper – both are from the Cider Woods 6×6 inch Mat Stack from DCWV

-Various small leaf and branch dies (included in the ones I used here are the Tim Holtz Alterations Small Tattered Florals Thinlits Dies from Sizzix)

-Circle die or punch

-Teal and brown ink – Tsukineko Memento Dew Drop Ink in Peanut Brittle and Teal Zeal

-Assorted vintage style ephemera die cuts – Simple Vintage Botanical Die Cut Ephemera from Simple Stories

-Small white paper or cream paper flowers (premade or store-bought; foam flowers can be used as well)

-Teal or other coloured miniature toadstools (check hobby shops, eBay, Etsy, craft stores, and shops that specialize in dollhouse supplies to find these kinds of tiny ‘shrooms)

-Pink trim – Lost and Found Christmas trims from My Mind’s Eye

-Olive green seam binding – Lost and Found Christmas trims from My Mind’s Eye

-Springtime sentiment sticker – Spring Fling Element Stickers from Echo Park

-Light pink stick-on gem embellishments – Pretty Pale Say It In Crystals from Prima

-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)

Here’s to an amazing spring!

As rocky and curveball filled as the first couple months of this year have been on certain fronts, I’m sincerely grateful for each moment they housed and am really looking forward to everything that I sense spring holds in store for us.

I generally celebrate Ostara on the Spring Equinox (which, for those north of the equator, falls on March 19th this year,) with the season of this sabbat extending for multiple days on both sides of that beautiful date.

Gradually, much like the returning season itself, elements of Ostara are weaving their way into my life, my witchy workings, and my paper crafting alike, so be sure to stay tuned here for more festive springtime makes between now and the Summer Solstice.

With all my heart, I hope that spring is a time of warmth, renewal, abundance, optimism, positive happenings, fresh starts and beloved longstanding favourites alike for each of us.

And, may it bring all of my fellow paper crafters and creative folks of kinds ample time to create a garden’s worth of exciting new projects!

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 Be Amazing Springtime Bird’s Nest Card appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.

By far one of the best things about birthdays is the cards – and all the more so if they’re handmade!

For the inaugural paper crafting project here on Witchcrafted Life, I wanted to share a card that I created recently that encapsulates so much about my personal crafting style, favourite colours, and a time period that positively adore.

Cherish, Live, Dream Victorian-inspired shabby elegant card

This was the first card that I made after the fire happened that I truly loved (yes, for those doing that math, that was more than three years later).

In fact, it’s one of my favourite cards I’ve ever made at any point in my life. I’d even go so far as to say it’s in my top five favourite cards to date.

I tend to favour fairly good-sized cards and this one is no exception. It measures 6 inches/14.2 cm tall x about 6.4 inches/16.2 cm wide.

As a lifelong fan of the Victorian era (a passion that was inspired in part by my paternal grandma’s own love of that timeframe), I was in the mood to create a card that captured a sense of some of the artistic and aestetic styles of that fascinating segment in time.

While the term shabby chic is open to personal interpretation, I feel that this card stops shy of full-on shabby (though it certainly contains some elements of this style), and instead falls under the header of shabby elegant.

Victorian-inspired elements on this card

The majority of the products used on this card were selected because they channel the opulence and elegance that is often associated with the Victorian era.

This includes the text print paper, which called to mind the flowing, beautiful handwriting possessed by many in the 19^th century; the ornate metal dies that I used to create many of the layered pieces, and the detailed white applique trim.

As well as a faux pearl and rhinestone flat back embellishment, the focal sentiment paper (with its own sophisticated yesteryear inspired border design), the paper roses, the dimensional butterfly, and the colour palette of white, grey, and deep red (all of which were used in everything from home décor to fashion, including in the case of white and grey, some forms of mourning attire, during the Victorian years).

Putting this layered card together

After creating my card base in light grey cardstock, the colour of which reminds me of a mix between chalk dust and chimney smoke on a cool fall evening, I die cut out various detailed border frames.

I then layered these along with a central piece of Kaisercraft Rose Avenue Collection Silver Notes text print paper (which was also used for one of the frame layers).

I absolutely adore this gorgeous paper. Unfortunately, I only have one (now partially used) sheet of it and as Kaisercraft is no longer producing this paper, I can’t easily stock up on more.

I’ll definitely be keeping an eye out for a similar cursive script paper with metallic silver detailing like this beauty.

Though it is subtle to the point of almost being imperceivable in these photos, I applied medium to dark grey ink lightly to some of the edges of my papers and cardstocks.

As with a lot of the cards (and layouts, tags, etc) that I create, I love to raise some of my layers up with foam squares (or tape), pop dots, pieces of craft foam, or other methods that give a project a greater sense of depth and dimension.

I did that here with two of my layers, including the sentiment panel.

Once the layers were in place, I played around with various trim and embellishment ideas. I knew that I wanted an ornate lace and some flowers, and spent a good while digging through my stash until I hit upon the combo that you see here.

The card was coming together nicely at that point, but I felt that it needed more (story of my paper crafting life, let me tell you! ).

I added in some white coloured chunky ball ended floral spray pieces, the sophisticated faux pearl flatback, and a single good-sized butterfly embellishment.

To tie into the metallic silver in the Kaisercraft script print paper and for added eye-catching charm, I applied some Ranger Stickles in Silver to the edges of the petals on the red paper roses.

And, voilà, my card front was ready to go (when, as in the case of this make, I create a card that is not yet indented for a specific person and/or event, I tend to leave the inside very simple or unadorned entirely until I’m ready to prepare the card for its recipient).

Card making tips and ideas from this project

–Centre your project around three main colours, at least one of which is a neutral. In this case, both white and grey are neutrals (as are the small supporting hits of black in elements such as the body of the butterfly and in the text on the sentiment). I prefer if the colours work in harmony, but it is entirely up to you if you want your trio to coordinate.

–Vary the proportions of each colour that use you, allowing one or two to dominate and the other(s) to play more of a supporting role.

–Use a cut-apart from a piece of 12×12 (or another size of) paper, a journaling card, a pocket album/Project Life card, or other pre-printed paper for your sentiment.

Stamping, embossing, letter stickers, rub-ons and other options are great as well, but few can compete with the ease and professional-looking text involved with commercially printed papers.

–Jazz up handmade or premade flowers with things such as Stickles, sparkles, embossing powder, markers (Copics or Spectrum Noir, for example), Liquid Pearls, Nuvo Drops, texture paste, microbeads, small sequins, inks, paint, and other projects that give your faux blooms further eye-catching appeal.

–Frame your sentiment with embellishment clusters on either side (generally left and right, or top and bottom, but you could opt for left and bottom as well, for example).

–Use uneven numbers of products. It’s a well-known design principle that uneven numbers of elements are often very appealing and visually engaging to the viewer.

Here the three main focal embellishments are the two red roses and the single red and black butterfly. There are enhanced by the two pairs of white floral sprays and the single faux pearl flatback (for a total of five additional embellishments on top of the main three components).

–Make a dark coloured sentiment pop by matting (framing) it on lighter coloured paper or cardstock – and vice versa if your sentiment Is light coloured.

Another good option for helping a sentiment cut-apart to stand out is to layer it atop vellum, glitter paper, or metallic cardstock.

–Balance patterned papers with solid coloured papers or cardstock. While designs that rely solely on either can be fab, it can sometimes be easier on the eyes to have the “break” that a mix of both offers up.

Here, the dark red paper is subtly printed (in a moulted type of pattern), as is the Kaisercraft text print paper, which I used for two different layers.

–Don’t be afraid to extend some of your design elements beyond the edges of your card. I do this ALL THE TIME with my projects.

It adds height and/or width, often makes a card look fancier or more elaborate, and can help to further the sense of a dimension on a given make.

–Layer on top of trims and lace. These types of materials can be awesome on their own, but sometimes they sing all the more when you top them with a little something-something!

I’m partial to pearls, rhinestones, flatback, buttons, wood veneer pieces, charms, die cut shapes, flowers and leaves, enamel dots, sequins, and other (often narrower widths of) trim, lace, twine, and the like.

–If you don’t have a die cutting machine or access to one, create ornately edged layers and other design components with decorative border punches, decorative edge scissors, pre-made die cut shapes and trims, pinking sheers, or freehand paper tearing for an extra distressed or shabby chic look.

Products to help you recreate this Victorian-inspired layered card

-Two different shade of grey cardstock or paper

-Dark red, burgundy or maroon coloured paper – I used Elegant Autumn #4 from Ella & Viv

-Sentiment from a sheet of cut apart paper – I used Angelic from Kaisercraft’s Rosabella Collection

-Fancy script text print paper – I used Silver Notes from Kaisercraft’s Rose Avenue Collection

-Various sizes and styles of elegant metal layering dies (see note above about alternatives, if you do not have a die cutting machine)

-Medium to dark grey ink – I used Tsukineko Memento Ink in Grey Flannel

-White applique lace trim

-Generously sized flatback faux pearl

-Paper roses

-Ball end floral sprays/stems (dollar stores, craft stores, and baking supply stores are good sources for these)

-Dimensional butterfly embellishment (the one used here is from Dollarama)

–Silver Stickles or other silver glitter glue, glitter paste, or loose glitter and suitable adhesive

-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)

What occasion would this card be well suited for?

Given the lovely sentiment that this layered grey and red card features, you could give it to someone for a multitude of different occasions. Naturally, if you’re making a similar looking card, yourself, chances are you’ll be using an alternative sentiment.

Between the serene, almost somber colours and the touching sentiment, I feel this card would be well suited to everything from offering support and encouragement to a retirement, anniversaries to birthdays.

If the sentiment was changed (or perhaps even as it stands now, depending on the recipient) this card could also be a good fit for times of sympathy and loss, thanks to its colour palette, flowers and butterfly (the latter a symbol of hope and comfort).

I really do adore this card and the spirit of the Victorian era that it captures and can easily see myself “scraplifting” this general design again (and again!) for future card projects as well.

Are you inspired by certain historical eras or style with your paper crafting makes as well?

What sort of occasion do you see this card working especially well for?

Show me your paper crafting makes!

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 your beautiful creations.

Quick notes about my paper crafting posts in general

As a side note to this project itself, I wanted to mention the following points as today’s post is my first project share on this blog.

-We live in a small house with some, but not a ton, of natural light and, honestly, not that much artificial lighting either. I’m shooting with an iPhone 7 and it’s currently wintertime, so I’m definitely experimenting with available lighting (just as I am with how I style and photograph my completed paper crafting makes).

As such, things may vary a bit on this front, especially throughout my initial project share posts, until I hit on a lighting + backdrop (and/or styling) combo that I’m currently happy with.

-I readily welcome you to share, pin, and repost my photos, I simply ask that you please credit them to me, Autumn Zenith at WitchcraftedLife.com

-Unless clearly stated, none of the materials used or products featured on my blog are sponsored, endorsed, or received gratis from companies, websites or physical stores.

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.

The post Victorian-inspired layered die cut card appeared first on Witchcrafted Life.