Fun kids card

 I'm sharing a fun themed Super Mario birthday card that I made a my friend's little boy 

Trying to think of something different every year can be a challenge when you make cards but I came across some free download pages on Pinterest for children's parties that I thought I could use to create this card.

I have seen other variations of a card like this online and think it's a fun idea for a pop up kids card.

I printed a sentiment onto card to attach to my main character, which will then go in the pocket on the front.

I decoupaged the question mark on the pocket to add some dimension  and added some faux copper brads.

For the background I used a cloudy sky backing paper that was a free digital download from one of the Tattered Lace collections.

I carried some of the features over to the inside of my card and added  some studded letters for the birthday boys name.

I'm finishing off with a few pictures from the mischief makers from my garden.

The squirrel eats his share of the monkey nuts that I leave out and then buries the Jay's share in my garden, if its not quick enough to pick them up.

.....sometimes they get forgotten and start to grow in my pots!

I've left this 'monkey nut' to grow next to my Rosemary 

We've noticed a pair of Jays with a youngling in the garden  this year which is promising for this normally shy bird.

And this is Kiera, she loves to visit my garden and sit behind my pond, watching all those birds that she'd love to catch.... when she's not trying to eat their bird food.

Have a great rest of the week, whatever you have planned for yourself.

Happy Crafting

Challenges:

Dragonfly Dreams - Birthday

Krafty Chicks - Masculine 

A Place to start - circles

Lets Craft and Create - Layers

Dragon themed pop up card

My final dragon themed project this week is a simple pop up birthday card made using The Dragon Within Breathing Courage & Creativity Collage & Mixed Media Mystical Dragons digital download Kit from Opulence by Design Crafts.

It has 40 pages of backing papers (10 x 8 PDF)  - including textured prints, beautiful prints and panels for your projects, toppers and embellishments, mystical affirmations and dragon inspired greetings, quotes and sayings.

For my card I have used printed two of the same dragon prints and only scaled the size down a little, along with the gorgeous golden dragon scales print paper for the background. I'm using the tags to embellish with one of the birthday sentiments.

I'm also using one of Debbi Moore's Pop Up Mania dies for my card. I find this little set really handy but for this card I only need one die.

Two sides of the dies are flat for the scoring to create the pop up. The can be done by hand without dies but this works for me and it was a really good price when I bought it too!

I would normally recommend that you cover your card before cutting your pop out.

I also cut another piece of  my paper the same size  to cover the front and back of my card.

Inside my card, I used the second topper which I trimmed down and added henna mica flakes to the edges, also to the corners of the card. 

I also added one of the dragon figures from the collection clinging onto the tag with the birthday sentiment. I've traced around the outline of the dragon with my go to Sakura stardust glitter pen in gold for a hint of shimmer.

I've used a generous amount of glossy accent on the dragon's eye and a hint of shimmer down his scaly neck.

There are so many elements in this kit that it is also great for your cardmaking too, especially those ages that you find challenging to craft for.

I've really enjoyed creating with this gorgeous collection and these textured papers would also look amazing on candles too. Pentart do a medium specifically for candles which allows you to burn them too instead of just using them for decoration, I think that is worth looking into.

This will also go in to my dragon box along with my dragon journal that I also made this week.

If you want more inspiration and demos from Opulence by Design, follow the links below. Amanda is a very talented designer and has a wide selection of kits and crafting sheets that can be mixed and matched with your own crafty stash.

 opulencebydesign - YouTube

or Instagram Opulence ByDesigns

Have a great day, whatever you have planned for yourself.

Happy Crafting

Pop up male birthday card

Sharing my DT card for the challenge over on Let's Craft and Create blog this month with the theme  "add some extra layers" using a pop up football birthday card.

I used a template to make the card shape, which fits onto an A4 piece of card.  Then using a selection of papers from my stash with some mirri card, I created the layered panels for the card

I also added my card verse to the back panel  Using the Tattered Lace Pop up Celebrations 2 football dies from the collection I randomly glued them to the panels inside.

 I have used the matching charisma papers with the dies for this make but they look just as good using your own cardstock as with all Tattered Lace dies, they are easy to paper piece to achieve the look you want.

The good thing about these shaped cards is that they fold relatively flat to go in the post. Obviously the more you add to it the chunkier it will be. For lots of dimension, for example, when adding lots of flowers, it would be better to make a gift box.

Have a look at the inspiration provided by the rest of the design team on Let's Craft and Create Blog this month and the entries for this months challenge.  There is a prize for the winning entry.

Happy Crafting