COMMISSION# 16

Hi there! For this particular commission, I had to make three birthday cards. Come take a look.

HPJ-2014-69: Sixty

The first card is for the customer's (a former colleague) mom's sixtieth birthday. She wanted something really special. It is a milestone birthday so I understand what she needed. It has to be something other than the ordinary top fold or side fold card that could be seen in bookstores. When my mom turned 60 two years ago, I had wanted to do something awesome (like maybe make 60 ATCs that have something to do with her), but I didn't have that much time so I ended up just making her four cards.

I was informed that her mom likes shoes and bags and I automatically thought of the Graphic 45 paper pad I had from the Couture Collection. I remember seeing a sheet of various shoes and from that I built up the layout and design.

As you may recall, my previous projects involved a popup book card and a frame card. What I did on this particular card was a mash up of the two folding techniques. The front was a recessed frame while the inside was a popup. There had to be extra sheets for the messages (from what I know of my friend, she writes long messages and of course she still has her siblings to write theirs) so I added a pocket at the back that will hold the cardstock.

I love how the front turned out. I fussy cut an image of a lady from the Couture sheet as well as a bunch of roses. I adhered them onto the frame with foam tape. At the center, I placed one of the cards with a shoe on it from the paper collection and added the metallic number 60. I scattered several crystals and affixed a wooden embellishment and a couple of paper flowers. I took some stamens and added them to the frame.

I made the inside simple with only the patterned papers, fussy cut image and self-adhesive crystals. The left panel has a small pocket where they can slip a photo of their mom or a small note. The right panel has a small card which is held by a fussy cut image. They could remove this card and write on it.

I also made a matching box for the card. I didn't adhere the glue tabs since I had to ship them. That is why the white adhesive tape is showing in the photo. I put a length of lace trimming to secure the box together.

MATERIALS AND TOOLS USED: Bevania Splendorgel Ivory Board Paper 270gsm and 170 gsm, Rives Tradition Black Board Paper, Graphic 45 Couture Collection 8x8 paper pad Couture, Fashion, Lovely, Chic, Classy, Fabulous and Elegant , Graphic 45 Typography Collection 8x8 paper pad Inscribe andTypography, die cuts, paper flowers, Eno Greeting wooden embellishment, buckle, lace trimming, stamens, crystals, metal flower, Beauty Premium Pigment Ink Black, Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black, Kaisercraft Clear Stamps Botanical Odyssey and Madame Boutique, Bo Bunny Clear Stamps You're Invited, Spellbinders Nestabilities Adorning Labels Twenty-Five, Cuttlebug Machine V2

HPJ-2014-70: Eighteen

The second card is for her boyfriend's sister. She likes accessories. I still used the Couture papers for this, but I went with blue, green and black for the color palette.

It should be another special card so I used tri shutter for the base. I adjusted the size. It is taller than what I usually make (at 6 3/4").

A tri shutter card has so many panels which means that there are several elements that could be employed to decorate them. For me, more than four designs of patterned paper are needed for the background. Most of the time, it takes longer for me to figure out which papers to use and how they should be arranged before I could actually proceed with the embellishments. The background should be decided first and it should be perfect.

What I love with tri shutter cards is that I could do so many different things on the panels. I could make it a mixed media card incorporating inks, stencils, stamps, molding paste and what not into the panels and making everything coherent to the theme.

The focal point of the front of the card is the image I attached onto a patterned paper and a die cut which was then framed by a wooden embellishment. To accentuate, I added blue crystals onto the frame. It looks simple, but in actuality I had to use more than four techniques to achieve this.

The card was for an eighteenth birthday so I added elements related to it like the sentiment 'Celebrate', the number '18', the die cut 'Moments In Time' and the sticker 'Today Is Extraordinary'.

As for the center of the card, I decided it was to be the space for the message. Again, there should be enough space to write on. I made an accordion 'note' that could fit into the panel and affixed a length of organza ribbon to secure it.

MATERIALS AND TOOLS USED: Bevania Splendorgel White Board Paper, Rives Tradition Black Board Paper, Elit Cream Board Paper, Graphic 45 Couture Collection 8x8 paper pad Gorgeous, Beautiful, Classy, Accessorize, Elegant and Stunning, Graphic 45 Typography Collection 8x8 paper pad Typography , My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Two Blush and Breeze, Kaisercraft Pickled Pear Collection Sticker Sheet, epoxy stickers, clear sticker, button, self-adhesive crystals, Eno Greeting wooden embellishment, Eno Greeting Die Cut sticker, organza ribbon, Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black, Artline Drawing Line 0.4 Black, Golden Molding Paste, Kaisercraft Clear Stamps Bundle of Joy, Grahic 45 Antique Typewriter Wooden Stamp, The Crafter's Workshop Stencil Mini Art Is and Mini Brocade, Spellbinders Nestabilities A2 Card Creator Tranquil Moments, Cuttlebug Machine V2

HPJ-2014-71: Happy Birthday

The last card in the set is for the boyfriend who loves boats. I had difficulty finding a digital stamp or digital image that I could use on what I was thinking to do for this card. After getting frustrated looking through various stuff online, I decided on just making a figure of a boat with paper. Here is what I came up with.

It is a clean and simple shaker card with a crisp white board paper for the base.

 The card measures 4.5" x 5.75".

You know pretty well that I hate my cards flat. I used a lot of foam tape, a length of baker's twine and a metal charm for added dimension.

I decorated the two panels inside the card. The top one has a tag shaped patterned paper for a message or a photo while the bottom one has a band to hold two extra sheets of patterned paper for more messages. That was that for this card. I just made it simple since it was a masculine card.

The card comes with a white baronial envelope lined with a nautical designed wrapping paper.

MATERIALS AND TOOLS USED: Bevania Splendorgel White Board Paper, My Mind's Eye Six By Six Away We Go, My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Two Breeze, All About Scrapbooking It's All About Love, Echo Park 6x6 paper pad This & That, Graphic 45 Typography Collection 8x8 paper pad Typography and Dream, Carta Bella 6x6 paper pad Sew Lovely, Eno Greeting Wrapping Paper Book, baker's twine, self-adhesive crystals, metal charm, sequins, acetate, ColorBox Cat's Eye Queue Pigment Ink Pad Dune, Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black, Ladybug Clear Stamps, Martha Stewart Scoring Board, Martha Stewart Circle Cutter

I enjoyed making even the smallest details of these cards. I hope to create another one soon. Thanks for looking. Have a wonderful day!

COMMISSION# 15

Hi there! Welcome to today's post. I'm sorry I haven't updated the blog for a while. I got caught up with Christmas preparations that I wanted to take the photos of all the goodies all at the same time.

This particular post is for a friend's custom order. She needed two Christmas/birthday cards. The first one is a frame card. She wanted to showcase the recipient's photo at the front like that of a picture frame. I found a tutorial on how to make one at Malin's blog. I originally thought of making a rectangular one, but I had a hard time with the inner rectangles not matching up. So I just went with the square one. I changed the dimensions though. Instead of a 6" base, I made it a 5.5". I don't want it to be too big. I am still more comfortable with smaller square cards.

I used papers from the 6x6 paper pad of My Mind's Eye Lost & Found Portobello Road Collection for the frame as well as for the inside panel.

I coated the frame with crackle paint.

For the embellishments, I added glitters around the edges of the poinsettia I cut out from a template I found online. If you're interested, you can get it here.

I layered two of each of the three sizes of poinsettia and adhered brads on top. I then placed gold stamens here and there to add more color.

I edited the photo that my friend sent me of the recipient at befunky.com. I used Tintype 1 and chose blue for the hue. I printed the image and adhered it onto the recessed part of the frame card.

I apologize for the low quality photos. I thought I used my digicam to take the photos, but apparently not. I remember I was in a hurry and I couldn't find the camera so I used my tablet. Tsk. I didn't get photos of the inside panels as well as zoomed ones for the embellishments. Hmf.

MATERIALS AND TOOLS USED: Bevania Splendorgel White Board Paper, My Mind's Eye 6x6 paper pad Portobello Road, All About Scrapbooking brads, stamens, glitters, white glue, self-adhesive pearls and crystals, needle and thread, printed image, ColorBox Cat's Eye Queue Pigment Ink Pad Dune, Ranger Distressed Crackle Paint Rock Candy

HPJ-2014-68: Joy

The second card was to be medical-themed since it was for a med student. I looked for inspiration on Pinterest and scanned my craft magazines and decided on making something like these:

The card measures 4.5" x 5.75".

 I incorporated the ideas from the two cards above and came up with this. I drew the 'JOY' part. I haven't drawn for such a long time that the little skill that I may have had from years ago is gone. Tsk. Tsk. Anyhow, I managed to make something similar though not that pretty. Hmn.

I coated a piece of red cardstock cut into a circle with crackle paint and covered a cross with glitters. I added a small bough to complete the ornament. I left the tag at the bottom blank for the giver to write the recipient's name on.

I have decorated both of the inside panels.

I made a small envelope and adhered it on the top panel. Inside it I placed a piece of stamped cardstock for the message. The customer wanted this for the recipient's birthday and requested that a note be written saying that it shouldn't be opened until his birthday. I wrote it on a tag instead of writing it directly on the envelope. There was supposed to be a small puff sticker that would be used to seal it, but unfortunately it slipped while I was packing it. My bad.

Honestly, I don't feel good about this particular card. The front is a bit off. I could have done something better, but I didn't. It is like the front does not match the inside. The elements are not coherent. [sigh]. I guess I have to do much better on the next project. Thank you for still looking.

MATERIALS AND TOOLS USED: Bevania Splendorgel White and Ivory Board Paper, Rives Tradition Board Paper Red, Graphic 45 Couture Collection 8x8 paper pad Lovely and Accessorize, Graphic 45 Typography Collection 8x8 paper pad Create, self-adhesive lace, crystals, baker's twine, string, silk ribbon, glitters, string, Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black, Beauty Premium Pigment Ink Pad Black, Artline Drawing Pen Black 0.4, Crystal Felt Tip Pen Red, Bo Bunny Clear Stamps Botanical Odyssey, Spellbinders Nestabilities Adorning Labels Twenty-Five, Spellbinders Shapeabilities Fancy Framed Tags One, Cuttlebug Machine V2

CARD# HPJ-2014-65: Magical

I received another custom order, but I couldn't seem to work out a design or a layout in my mind when I first learned about it. The color palette is just white. I struggled a bit on this one.

What was needed was something special for a special someone with an image of a unicorn on it. I was given free reign with regards to the design. I may not have worked out a solid design yet at that time, but I already thought of making a special fold card. Tri-shutter, easel or napkin fold would not do. I looked through my collection of images, but I still couldn't decide on which to use.

The free tutorial from Splitcoaststampers for the weekly newsletter was a big help. It was for a pop up book card. I have seen some projects before using this folding technique and I have wanted to try it for myself. I guess I got too caught up with the other techniques that I only remembered it when I saw the e-mail.

What a great idea! I thought that it would really be something special if I used it. Awesome. Now that the base had been decided, I concentrated on the color palette and the layout next. I will definitely go for mixed media, but without the distressing of paper edges part. It would just be gesso, molding paste, stencils, crackle paint and ink pads. Here is what I came up with.

 The closed card measures 6" x 6". 

If you're interested to make one for yourself or if you would just like to know how the base was made, you can check Norma's step-by-step tutorial here or here. Instructions for an A2 card are also available on the page. There is a video tutorial as well.

The image I used for the front of the card is by Jen. She calls it the Free Winged Unicorn Template. You can find it on her Deviant Art Gallery jenzgu.

The other image (adhered on one of the inside panels) is from a downloadable coloring book.

This is what the leftmost panel looks like up close. I used a stencil and a couple of ink pads to create the delicious little stars and then I made a second batch of stars by applying molding paste onto the stencil.

I added several things more to the inside panels as they looked so bare before with only the stars scattered here and there. I affixed some stickers, crystals and metal charms  to make the whole inside part more interesting.

The card comes with a matching box. I no longer decorated the lid since the card itself is fully embellished. I hope the recipient likes it and that she would have a memorable birthday.

Thank you for stopping by. Have a wonderful day!

MATERIALS AND TOOLS USED: Bevania Splendorgel White Board Paper, All About Scrapbooking 12x12 patterned paper, Dream Street Papers Unique Boutique Antique Chic, lace trimming, Eno Greeting Wood Embellishments, metal charms, crystals, paper flowers, silk flowers, baker's twine, beads, printed images and sentiment, Faber-Castell Watercolor Pencils, Ranger Distressed Crackle Paint Rock Candy, Ranger Stickles, Marie's Gesso, Elmer's White Glue, white glitters, Golden Molding Paste, ColorBox Cat's Eye Queue Pignment Ink Pads Shabby Pink, Celadon, Mint, Orchid, Lilac and Plumberry, Faber-Castell Multimark 1513 permanent Black, The Crafter's Workshop Stencil Mini Punchinella, Spellbinders Nestabilities Splendid Circles and Adorning Labels Twenty-Five, Spellbinders Shapeabilities Fancy Tags One, Cheery Lynn Designs Fanciful Flourish, Cuttlebug Machine V2

CARD# HPJ-2014-49: Saengil Chukahaeyo

I guess most of the people who stumble upon my posts on Facebook or wherever think that I only make feminine cards which are mostly vintage or something that has a distressed look about them. Well, the majority of my close friends ARE girls and the orders I get are usually FOR girls so that's that. Besides I love using paper flowers and masculine cards are really a challenge.

For this particular commission, I was asked to make a birthday card. It was to be a trishutter card and vintage is a no no. It was to be blue and monster themed. The recipient, as I was told, was fun and adventurous. They wanted it to be similar to the one I made for Ayen a few years back. It was a blue dutchfold card with touches of green here and there. Here is what it looked like:

 

 The card measures 4" x 5.5" when closed.

I thought of adding other colors to it as well to make the card lively and fun. Of course I did not adhere all the papers down until I received approval to proceed.

This is what the card looks like when it is spread on the table without the embellishments. I had to take care of the background first before putting in the decorations.

This is when the embellishments were added.

Hey there little guy! Heh. It's the little monster on a die cut. I had to affix all the embellishments that needed to go on top of the die cut first before adhering the whole thing onto the front of the card.

This die has become one of my staples in papercrafting. I used the second biggest in the set. I cut out another piece from a white cardstock to strengthen the patterned paper. I made all the parts for the embellishments. The monster is made of felt. I handstitched the outline of the body. I cut out a small triangle for his party hat and adhered a pompom at the tip.

The cupcake is composed of different bits of patterned paper. The balloon is also paper, but instead of drawing a string, I used a length of baker's twine.

I used a shoutout to show the sentiment. It's Happy Birthday in Korean. I wrote the sentiment with my felt pens.

I added two other cute monsters on the inside of the card. They are made of felt as well, but I just drew the details instead of sewing them. I did not put in a pompom because the right side of the card would not be level with the other side when closed. I added another shoutout on one panel.

As I have mentioned in my other posts, trishutter is the one special fold card that my customers are fond of. I don't blame them. Almost any design on a trishutter base looks wonderful. I am still feeling great about this card that I think I would make another trishutter card in a little while for my friend Daidai's birthday. Hmn. I really think I will. Most probably I would be posting the details on my tumblog, but I would also try to post the finished card here. I won't ramble. I promise.

That being said, I say thank you for looking today. Till the next project (commission). Have a wonderful day!

PS I forgot about the Christmas goodies. I have started with the Christmas preparations and I already received an order for 15 pieces from my cousin. I wasn't able to post it earlier. I'll do it once I am done with the other samples. Thanks again!

MATERIALS AND TOOLS USED: Bevania Splendorgel White Board Paper, Graphic 45 8x8 paper Typography Collection, All About Scrapbooking 6x6 paper pad, My Mind's Eye 6x6 paper pad Lost and Found Two Spring Breeze and Six By Six Away We Go, Echo Park This & That 6x6 paper pad, felt, buttons, googly eyes, needle and thread, baker's twine, pompom, Artline Drawing Pen 0.4 Black, Crystal Pens, Dong-A FineTech 0.3 Black, M&G Ballpen Blue, Stanley Glue Gun, Spellbinders Nestabilities Labels Thirty-Five, Cuttlebug Machine V2