Birthday card with a handmade paper background and a bevy of gifts in red and blue

 I wanted to make my exchange cards using fabric scraps and handmade paper.  It is so easy to stitch the scraps to the paper and I love all the texture that is created in the process of combining the two.  After stitching all the way around the gifts in blue I added two lines of red to simulate ribbon.  I added the bows after I had stitched on all the gifts but on hind sight I could have added them when I did the vertical center red stitching as I simply laid the center of the ribbon/tie over the gift and stitched in place then tied a bow.  I had not figured out how to add the bows when I was stitching the gifts.  I limited myself to red and blue but next time I will be more vibrant with my colours and mix up the ribbons as well.  This one is a little too predictable in its colour scheme which I not how birthday gifts happen in real life.  They are usually very different and more colourful.  It is a celebration after all!!  After all the stitching was done I glued this large layer to the front of a navy card which fit in a large envelope.  I will be mailing it off to my partner this week!!

Therese

Birthday card with a handmade paper background, a stitched fabric cake and some silk flower embellishments

Having really enjoyed making this card for my daughter I thought I would try combining handmade paper and fabric for my exchange cards for this month.  

I started with a large pink card which fit in a large envelope from my stash.  I tore a piece of coordinating handmade paper (which I made myself quite a while back) to fit nicely on the front.  I found some pink and green fabric and trimmed out three pieces in three different sizes to create my cake and then a little one for the candle.  I dug through my little stash of small yellow fabric scraps and trimmed out two candle flames - one large and one small.  I used light green thread in my sewing machine to stitch them in place on my handmade paper starting with my candle and then the small layer it and so on until I had created my cake.  I put yellow thread in my sewing machine and stitched my flames which I overlaid over one another.  I used brown thread to stitch the wick.  Love it!!!!!  Pink and green is my favorite colour combination.  Wanting to add yet a bit more texture I decided to add some little silk flowers which coordinated very nicely.  I added white iridescent sequins to their centers and adhered them to my cake using tiny white brads.  I adhered this large element to my card front and pressed it under weight to ensure that all handmade paper was well attached to my card.  I really like the combination of the handmade paper and the fabric.  Stitching them together went very well and everything has so much texture.  It is off to my partner this week!!            Therese