Meerkat Birthday Cards

These are the latest of my cards to be featured in PaperCraft Inspirations. The meerkat images are available as downloads at http://papercraftinspirations.themakingspot.com/blog/free-downloads-angela-pooles-meerkat-cards.

I used watercolour pencils to colour the meerkats, then trimmed clothing shapes from a pad of K and Co papers. One card has already been sent off for a March birthday, and the other is waiting for the right occasion!

New Baby cards

For Papercraft Inspirations, I was asked to make some cards featuring these really cute baby images. For the first time in years, I used coloured pencils, and I was really impressed by the pretty, soft colouring. Ribbons and lace were the only thing I could think of to go with babies, so I raided my boxes for pretty bits and found a Fiskars punch that created slots for ribbon in a strip of card. One blue and one pink - just right for a baby boy and girl!

Patchwork cards

For the latest 'Papercraft Inspirations' I road-tested these cute patchwork designs. They're a great way to use papers from a matching collection, either paper or digital. I decided to print off some papers from one of my favourite CDs, Funky Hand’s Funky Seasons, to get a toning selection. The heart uses Summer Fun, the baby’s snugglesuit is Spring Walk and the house is Frozen Lake.

It’s surprising easy to cut the shapes by eye, even if you need a particular angle to fill in a space – just place the paper over the gap and cut by eye. Or, you can stick a larger piece on and (carefully!) trim round with a craft knife. If you miss any bits, colour with felt pen – or, even better, start off with a patterned background so any gaps won’t be so obvious. Ideally, there shouldn’t be any overlap, as the faux stitching needs a flat surface to look realistic. I used a black pen for the heart, but as my other two pieces used softer colours I ‘stitched’ using a brown pen which I think looks better.

I created topper pieces on the computer, with a border and greeting, then added the patchwork pieces to these. With the basic layout saved, I could change the colours and sizes quickly, so these designs would be good to make in quantity. Christmas may be nearly over, but a lot of ‘Thank You’ cards will be needed afterwards! To finish off my cards, I added some tiny yellow buttons to the baby card. For the house card, I trimmed a section off to make the roof, then cut a narrow trip of card with scalloped scissors to make the gingerbread edging before re-assembling them all. I also made a fir tree shape from the same papers, and cut a shaped trunk, to go alongside the house.

Glittered parcels

This was the latest project I was asked to do for 'PaperCraft Inspirations' mag. The original project used stamps and embossing powders but I couldn't find my embossing stuff so I used glitter instead to decorate the little parcels and baubles. I love glitter!

The bauble card used a circle template and glue pen to draw lots of squiggles that were covered in glitter to make the ornament shape.

Folded triangle Christmas card

This is a very clever card from Papercraft Inspirations, which uses a single sheet to cut a triangle which is then creased and folded into an interlocking star.

Unfolded, you can see a picture and greeting inside.

Christmas angels

My latest creations for Papercraft Inspirations magazine. The stamps are by Lili of the Valley and are just adorable!

The papers are actually meant for summer birthdays, but the eight-ppinted petal shapes looked a bit like snowflakes, I thought, and I love the pretty pastel shades which went so well with the images.

The gift tag is particularly pretty, in very pale pink and blue, and would make a lovely tag for a winter wedding.

Pretty dresses

These are the latest cards I have featured in 'Papercraft Inspirations'. They're downloads from the website http://papercraftinspirations.themakingspot.com/. The pink one is decorated with flower stamps, gems, glitter, patterned paper. There's narrow ribbon and a flower at the waist.

The second one has a silvery bodice (Bazzill bling cardstock) and the skirt is covered with opalescent sequins of various sizes and shapes.The photo doesn't do it justice! The sequins were attached with Pebeo Crystal Touch in pale pink.