Wednesday, January 4, 2017

Custom Cards

One of the awesome things about making cards is the ability to customize a card for a very specific person. This can be as simple as making a card using the recipient's favorite colors or a favorite image, or much more involved, like today's card.

In L. M. Montgomery's brilliant Anne of Green Gables, Anne Shirley describes Diana Barry as her "bosom friend," indicating a particularly special depth of friendship. Well, I have been blessed by several bosom friends over the years, and one of them is a wonderful person named Tina. When I saw the inspiration photo for today's card, I immediately thought of her and wanted to make a fully custom card just for her.

Here's what resulted.


The layout was entirely inspired by an article by Sarah Donawerth from the current issue of Somerset Life. Here's the accompanying photo for the article:

Somerset Life, Jan/Feb/Mar 2017, page 24
This issue is particularly inspiring; my copy has
numerous post-it notes flagging pages!

These three embellished test-tube bud vases hanging on a wall are sublimely pretty and oh so feminine, just like Tina. But Tina is also bold and colorful, so instead of the soft, romantic neutrals of the inspiration photo, I went full color on my card.



To get everything lined up perfectly, I used a quilting ruler and marked four small pencil dots on the card. Then, it was easy to stamp the stem twice (slightly offset and in two shades of each color) so that they all lined up perfectly. Finally, I placed each punched circle over the pencil dots. Easy peasy, as they say.

Tina received the card in the mail and immediately texted me that it made her day!

I love our hobby so much! Why don't you consider customizing a card for a bosom friend in your life? Create it, mail it, and make their day!

Mercy, grace, peace, and love,
Susan

Supplies
stamps: Papertrey Peaceful Garden, Simple Alphabet
ink: various dye inks
paper: papertrey white
accessories: circle punch, glue pen

11 comments:

  1. adore how this turned out. it's awesome!!

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  2. Great customization, Susan. Thanks for sharing your inspiration. I love customizing cards for my friends and family.

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  3. Just found this on Pinterest and wondered how I missed it. Looks like I didn't, since it's brand new. Absolutely love this - the colours, the stamp and the personalization!

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  4. I love how you were inspired Susan. What a sweet way to personalize. It reminds me of the little alphabet beads.

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    1. I hadn't even thought of those beads but you're absolutely right! Thanks, Lisa!

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  5. This is charming! I read you every morning on my bus ride to work but never click through from the email -- my New Years resolution is to comment more on your blog! But what is a quilting ruler?

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    1. http://www.joann.com/omnigrip-neon-ruler-8-1-2inx8-1-2in/7563406.html#sz=90&start=1

      Quilting rulers are clear grid rulers that I use for papercrafting with a craft/X-acto knife. My favorite size is 6" x 6" but I have several larger ones as well.

      Hope that helps!

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  6. Very sweet card ... I might need to CASE it! Your tiny letter circles look great on the flower stems. Peaceful Garden is one of my favorite stamp sets.

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  7. love this, was trying to pin it so that I can use again as inspiration but cant pin it for some reason - so will have to remember this on brain power only !!!

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Thank you so much for taking time to comment!