Flower Box Card for Thanks and Birthday

Gift cards are great - one size fits all, and they can choose what they want. But how do you personalize that ubiquitous gift card? For me, unwrapping a gift a part of the fun. Well, I guess I mean wrapping it up for someone to unwrap is THE funnest part of all! I just love seeing them gasp and ask if it's all made of paper. I love it even more when my card is the chosen one to stay on the shelf when all the others get tossed.

My nephews wanted to give their teachers an appreciation gift, so I designed a box card that also has a pocket for a gift card.

Paper Orchid Cards and Party Favor Box

Thanks so much everyone! I've been buoyed by your enthusiasm over my paper orchids. The set is finally done and listed in my Etsy store. I've enjoyed learning about the amazing colors orchids have to offer. Now that they are in my radar, I can't help but notice them in florist shops.

Since I don't have an embosser, I make my own version by cutting the Asian inspired lattice pattern out of paper, then gluing the paper on top of my card. Even my hubby was fooled and had to take a second look, wondering how I achieved the subtle pattern. It's difficult to see the white on white card, but you can see it better with the pink on pale pink card on the right.

It took a bit of time to list this in my store because I wanted to make protective boxes for the cards. This box works for both the horizontal and vertical card. When the cards are nestled inside, it reminds me of peering through the decorative windows in Asian gardens and admiring the view on the other side.

Since I use my blades until they are very dull, I end up plucking/weeding quite a bit with the lattice. So I added very tiny rounded corners to help my machine cut smoothly, making weeding easier - these are bonus files which you can choose to use if you prefer it as well.

As a child I loved attending weddings and collecting the party favors, imagining my own one day. The tapered box in this collection has little feet that raise the box up. To help guests open the lid, there is a half moon tab along the lid lip. I couldn't decide which I liked best - the straight or diagonal placement of the blossom. There are step-by-step photos to assemble every piece you see here.

Thanks for visiting!





Cecelia

Paper Orchid Birthday Card

 

My wonderful neighbor loves orchids and receives them as gifts. For his birthday, I wanted to make a paper orchid and used my own for inspiration.

I scanned and traced the petals, reducing them to 25%, then cut out with my Silhouette die cutter. Next I added color with a marker and water color paints. Using a dried out ballpoint pen, I scored the middle vein and curled the petals. After stacking and gluing the layers together, the blossom simply comes to life.

 

I poked a hole in the middle of the smallest bud and inserted the end of the floral wire, adding white glue to hold it in place. I then glued the open blossoms to the wire, ensuring my glue coated the wire thoroughly.

My favorite part is the delicate pair of curly wisps in the center of the flower. 

Then I cut two leaves and manually scored the vein with a dried up ballpoint pen. The pot is made of 3 layers of metallic copper card stock and floats a bit due to adhesive foam dots on the back. It was great having my real plant as a visual reference, because it helped me realize I should glue the items asymmetrically, not all centered. I believe it's these small subtleties that makes a piece.

I have moved my plant throughout the room, depending on my needs, and the stems would gently wave up and down, heavy with the weight of so many blossoms. I deliberately left the wire unglued to his birthday card, and as I place it on a table, it also gently waves, just like the real thing - so fun to watch! The blooms are cut from 65lb paper, so it's sturdy and gives just the right amount of weight on the wire to make it bob.

By the way, I'm often asked how I managed to have 4 new stems bloom. This is my first orchid and I feared it would remain the desolate stick with 2 leaves I often see in homes. My secret? I have a worm condo and fed my orchid the worm tea.

My orchid files are available via my Etsy store. I also include larger sizes for other greeting cards and a tapered gift box, perfect as a wedding party favor.

Printable Vintage Invitation for Birthday, Shower, or Retirement

It's no secret that I have a passion for both die cutting and quilling. What's better than finding ways to combine my two worlds? I'm being entranced by 3D quilling in the sense that the strips are not fully glued down along its edge entirely.

 

I like how the coils are left scrolling in mid air, casting soft shadows – don't they seem even lighter this way? As a quiller, I admit I have to hold myself back from finishing off the uplifted coils, but when I stand back, I really like how romantically playful they are. It might be too subtle, but I even gently rolled the edge of the ivory paper background to give even that flat surface some dimension. Somehow it reminds me of the romance between Robin Hood and Maid Marian.

 

For years, I've admired Victorian wood cut illustrations. It never ceased to amaze me how artists in those days conveyed light and shadows in line art because technology didn't allow for shades of grey. Today I can capture the shadows cast by my ribbon banner, sculpted out of matching yellow paper.

After photographing and adding text, I can now customize this piece (via my Etsy store) for anyone who would like to make a printable invitation, whether for a birthday, shower, or retirement party. Looking forward to hearing what you think!

Quilling birthday cards 3

Quilled birthday card for a guy this time.

Quilling birthday cards 2

Another quick and simple quilled birthday card.

Quilling birthday cards

I have a few birthdays coming up. Felt like doing something spring and vibrant.

3D Coffee Cake Birthday Card

This was a par-boiled idea, but I was making espresso the other day and realized the grounds are quite fine, so of course I thought of flocking. I have a birthday for a guy coming up and he loves coffee (it's not as easy for me to make cards for guys for some reason). I thought of making a coffee cake and covering my cake with grounds, then topping it with real whole coffee beans.

 

I tried using double sided tape, but the grounds (unused) wouldn't stay on. The glue holds an amazingly thick layer of grounds when I did a test. So I put down light blue vinyl on the cake where I didn't want coffee. Unfortunately the glue stayed on the vinyl too. So I had to apply the glue carefully before dousing with grounds. It's a good thing I used brown paper so any bare patches blend in.

Now that it's done, it makes me think of a chocolate mocha cake – plus it's like scratch and sniff sticker, except no scratching is needed!

DIY Flocking

I've been seeing flocking all over the stores (and some ingeniously decorated nails). It's kind of like colored, fluffy, cotton candy, but in teeny pieces. I didn't want to buy more things, so my first thought was can I make my own? Yes I can!

I borrowed the microfine shredder from the kitchen, wadded up some paper scraps from Daiso, and shredded away. In case I didn't cover everything, I used the same color yellow as a backing, covered it in glue and dipped into my paper flocking (tweezers are helpful!). Then I glued it to my daisy flower, which then decorated my 3D cakes.

3D Cake - Daisy Birthday Card

Ever get those birthday cakes topped with plastic signage? I kind of wanted to replicate that for this birthday girl's card. I stacked the words 4 times out of card stock to make my own chipboard, just like I did for the LOVE sculpture. This time I made the top layer out of a lighter green so when it's viewed from the side, it gives another dimension - just a little something different. I stuck foam squares near the top so they stick up, then glued the bottom part behind the daisies.

Her fave color is yellow and since my original cake was too short to let me go nuts on the decorating,  I made it twice as tall. I always place my elements on my card to assess the spacing before gluing permanently. Although I thought everything was well placed, it ended up being lower than I intended when I stood back. So I added the fireworks I used on my Mickey Mouse project to fill the top. I feel like I overdid that too, but ah well, I'll live.

PS, here's a teaser image for my next post, where I'll explain how I made the stamens in the middle - yes, it's paper!

Shaping Die Punch Flowers

Before buying my Silhouette SD digital die cutter, I bought die punches like these. I toyed with giving them away, but now I'm really happy I didn't.

I shudder to waste paper scraps and want to use every inch of it before tossing it out (see my post on How to Use up Scrap paper). Using these die punches was easier and faster than trying to register the exact placement needed on my Silhouette. However, I still used the Silhouette to cut my cherry blossoms (middle punch) because I wanted the cup the petals more readily.

Top left: If using a cherry blossom die punch, snip in between the petals to make them easier for cupping.

Top right: This blossom is cut from my die cutter - see the deeper gaps between petals? I used a burnisher and rubbed the petals against a mouse pad. For those who have a digital die cutter, here is the cherry blossom I made in SVG, DXF and PDF format.

Bottom left: Continue rubbing into the center to make a small bud.

Bottom right: If you want the blossom to stay open, flip it over and poke a smaller burnisher into the middle, then add dots with a felt marker to represent the stamens.

I then used them to decorate this 3D cake card.

3D Cake Card with Punched Flowers

My sister in law is always well-dressed, so put together. She is feminine without being girly. I  wanted to give her a 3D birthday cake card that expressed that (I hadn't chosen my greeting yet when I took this photo).

I had so much fun making these flowers after being inspired by Michelle's version. After stepping back I worried I had gone too far and overdid it, but I think I'm just not used to so much adornment, being a tomboy at heart.

I cut some 1/8" quilling strips in half which made them more pliable as I decorated the cake. This let me strew blossoms in a more random way. I used a white felt marker to dot some stamens in the middle of the blossoms.

I dipped the blossoms into Aleene's Tacky Glue and they held fast when applied to the cake. I didn't have to sit there and wait around. I'll be showing how I shaped the blossoms in a following post soon.

3D Cake by Michelle and Kelly

I simply love seeing my designs come to life in another person's hands. It's wonderful to see the same cut file used in different colors and texture than I imagined.

The first card is made by Michelle of Michelle My Belle Creations. It seems so obvious now that the flowers she used was such an ideal choice. I also like the bling she added using sequins in the upper parts of the swoosh.

The second card is by Krafting Kelly of Finding Time to Create. Ah, these are the times I wish I had a ready supply of scrapbook paper in my shelf. I love how she placed the initial right on top of the cake - like one of those special candles. Again - why didn't I think of that?

Thank you for playing with my files, Michelle and Kelly!

3D Cake Collection

I'm quite excited to offer these 3D paper cakes, easily customizable for a birthday, wedding, or anniversary in my store.

Here's an example of a single layer chocolate cake with white circles icing (I used white vinyl). I've seen many examples of polka dotted icing on cakes, and thought it would great to have a matching background.

Add a second layer of cake on top and some swooshes to make a classic celebratory statement. I designed a subtle backdrop pattern made of diamonds and left a blank plaque above for whatever occasion you need. 

My favorite has to be the 3-tier cake. Somehow the more tiers it has, the more fun it is. I decorated it with ribbon and matched the background using a scalloped edge. The chocolate shavings on top were made of quilling paper, but you can just as easily use any brown paper with 1/8" width.

What cake would be complete without a cake box? I used some scrap plastic left over from some packaging and glued it with Scotch Quick Dry glue. I also added some easy-open tabs so you won't have to struggle prying open a well-fitted box. All the cards are 5x7 inches.

Michelle of MichelleMyBelle Creations made an awesome purple cake with flowers, sequins, and textured backgrounds. I like how she added a bow to the stand which makes it more dimensional.

Please let me know what you think in the comments section!

Happy birthday 3D paper cake

Wishing our niece a happy birthday with a bubbly cake. She was into pink for years and now that she's on the brink of becoming a teenager, I thought I'd give one last shout-out to pinkness. Somehow the years of coloring with her made me really aware how well pink and purple go so well together.

The purple confetti and curls on top were made of quilling paper. The text is cut from vinyl. Everything else was cut with my Silhouette die cutter. I designed the 3D cake pattern months ago but got sidelined with a huge project, so I'm relieved to finally re-visit this in time to use it myself.

3D Cake Card

Here's an idea I've been toying with – a paper 3D cake. I love the feel ribbon instantly gives to cakes. The chocolate shavings screamed to be made out of quilling strips. The platter/stand is cut from metallic green card stock. I even made a cake box to protect it, since it'll get crushed in an envelope.

Each tier is made separately in case they need to be varying paper stocks representing different flavors. This 3-tier cake is obviously for a wedding, but take away the top 2 and there'll be more room for a message for birthdays or anniversaries.

Fringed Flowers for Quilling

Last year I created a letter E monogram for a dear friend. After all the positive feedback, I'm pleased to offer it on Etsy. This is a combination of my top two paper passions - quilling and die cutting, my worlds colliding.

The flowers blossom at varying stages just by the way you curve the paper petals. The colors shown here are done by hand using alcohol-based markers. The stamen, petals, and leaves are designed as one strip to allow for quick rolling / quilling.

Fringed quilling strips have traditionally been limited to 90˚ or 45˚ cuts, but with a digital die cutter, the sky is the limit. This collection of 4 flowers with rounded petals are combined with a scalloped edge heart tray to hold your bouquet. They are ideal for card making, gift wrapping, or decorating custom monograms or letters.

Quilled Mickey Mouse

This is a birthday gift for a girl who is fanatical (way beyond being a fan) of Mickey Mouse. She makes me laugh even while I’m crying, which is just one of the magical things about her.

Here’s how I started Mickey:   1) Traced and cut Mickey’s outline.   2) My sketchbook of how I imagined shooting out fireworks from his hands.   3) As I curved each strip with 80lb cover thick quilling paper (I cut my own), I’d put it aside to glue at one time.   4) Using a light table helped me see where some lines travel from outside into his body.   5) Even a small amount of error would show.   6) Had to cut the corner to trim off excess to fit.   7) Completed Mickey outline. I had left the hands undone, to allow fireworks dictate paths.   8) Side shot of outlined Mickey. I used a black felt to shade in the thin white backing that sometimes peeked out from the side.   9) Just a few scraps of paper from the “cutting room floor” as each strip was made to fit.

I had initially hoped to quill something remotely like Yulia Brodskaya’s with movement, but as I went along I realized Mickey is so definitively Mickey, and to insert lines where the artist did not draw them kind of took away from Mickey – especially his shorts, which just kept looking like striped pjs! It took an hour just to fill the left shoe with her initial “B”.

As I finished his shoes I realized how much the color along the sides glowed almost neon-like into the white backing and realized I didn’t need to fill in his face or shorts after all. I decided not to quill in them at all, and instead applied glue to each “wall” and pressed the quilling paper against the black. Since the black outline was made of thicker paper, it could withstand that much pressure – I don’t think a regular thin strip could manage so easily. I used tweezers to ensure tight corners and pre-softened my quilling paper beforehand by giving it a soft curl.

I formed his nose with a tight coil and squished in between tweezers to form the oval, flipped it upside down and gently pushed it out, then glued in place on the inside. I’ve included a close up of the red ovals in his shorts so you can see my work is far from perfect, and by then my neck said “good enough already!”

Here are some experiments with fireworks. In the end, I cut out long teardrop shapes on my Silhouette die cutter and enjoy the dimension they add when seen from the side. I used a hole puncher to cut a circle from a post-it note and inked in a center dot. This helped me visualize the center as I glued each spark in place. After much debate (my poor hubbie), I decided to have the fireworks stream up on their own accord rather than from Mickey’s hands. I simply ran out of room (I had already bought the 8×8 frame and it was the day of the birthday – gulp!).

Admittedly, Mickey kind of looks like he’s had a tattoo job, but I was really striving for a “magical” kind of outfit – ah well, next year… The fireworks paper was metallic  Stardream in a text weight.