Experiment 3 - Congratulations Card for the New Mama-To-Be

We have all been sick here for the past couple of weeks, passing around the same cold that came from BabyT's daycare.  It came back for me with a vengeance yesterday and I'm only just awake enough to string a couple of words together for a post.  If it's totally incomprehensible, that's the Nyquil talking.

I've got a running list of folks for whom I need to make New Baby cards and it's growing.  I love having specific people to make cards for - it helps me narrow the design options down and tailor it just for them. 

This one was for my friend N, who is about to have her 4th child (a boy).   I got her a Starbucks card, remembering her love of coffee when we worked together, and figuring that she probably had enough stuff for the baby by now.  Sometimes the mama needs a present too!  I got inspiration from a 2010 Cards magazine example that had a pocket for a coffee card. I selected the patterned paper first, to guide the color palette for the rest of the card.



MATERIALS

• Blank blue A2 card base and envelope


• Making Memories Just Chillin' Specialty Paper 8x8 - 1 sheet of lovely ombre gingham


• Jo-Ann white cursive letter rub on transfers


• Flower jewels


• K & Co Adhesive Rhinestones


• Prima cork flower embellishment


• Scrap olive green cardstock


• Sassafrass Lass chipboard stickers - numbers


• Tsukineko Brilliance Ink Pad, Coffee Bean


• Martha Stewart Adhesive / Art and Craft Glue


• Copic Atyou Spica Glitter Pen Set

TOOLS

• K-I Memories Congratulations clear acrylic stamp


• Apple Pie Memories Stamp Blocks


• Fiskars paper trimmer


• Scotch ATG714 Adhesive Applicator for 1/4-Inch Tape

METHOD

1. Using the paper trimmer, I trimmed the gingham paper just smaller than the card base.   I used the trimmed piece to create a pocket for the gift card - cut to slightly smaller than the width of the card.  I stamped the pocket with the 'congratulations' stamp inked lightly with the Tsukineko ink and put aside to dry.


2. I used the individual rub on letters to spell 'mama' on a circle cut from the olive cardstock then added the chipboard '4' sticker to the circle.


3. Now it was time to glue - yippee!  I used my Scotch tape runner to tape the gingham piece to the front of the card. I ran the tape on the sides and bottom of the smaller piece and taped it to the inside of the card, to make a pocket for the gift card.


4. I glued the 'mama' circle to the front of the card, slightly off center, and added a cork flower with an adhesive rhinestone to the edge. With the craft glue, I added four flower jewels to the bottom of the card in a random pattern.


5. I wrote my message with my wonderful glitter pens (they deserve their own post later!), put the Starbucks gift card in the pocket, wrote 'handmade by anandi' on the back, then left the card to dry for 24 hours.

SUMMARY

I was pretty happy with how this turned out, given that I had limited time to complete it.  I like that cards can be quick projects and once I decide on the basic color scheme, I just have to find a few embellishments to dress it up.   My fabulous husband suggested making the card in portrait orientation rather than landscape, when I found that it looked a little empty in landscape.  So hooray for getting a second set of eyes on it before gluing the bits together.

Cutting out the individual rub-on letters was a good idea, to get the right positioning.   I definitely did well by not gluing anything until I was happy with the placement.  Paperclips might be helpful to try out different layout ideas and not lose little pieces.

I stayed up too late working on this the first night, so I left it without gluing anything.  Coming back to it the second day was easier - I had some new ideas about placement and felt a little more inspired.  So taking a break can be a good thing, even with a deadline looming.  In my case, the "deadline" was lunch with N the next day.  At a certain point, one has to declare the project "done" - I could have messed with it longer, with only incremental improvements.  Cards are good for this too, since eventually you have to give it away to your recipient. 

Your thoughts?