Do you need a card quickly? Make these 5 easy cards today

Card making was my first crafty-love when I started making again five or so years ago. Since then I must have made hundreds so I have quite a few ideas for you to make your own quick and simple cards to wow your lucky recipients.

1) Flowers for any occasion
I made these for Mother's Day but you could customise them for birthdays, thank yous or any occasion that warrants a pretty card. You just need gorgeous papers, glue (or a Xyron sticker makerwhich is my tool of choice), sticky foam squares (optional) and an alphabet stamp (I have this one). It's as simple as cutting petal shapes out of the paper and sticking them down in a flower shape. I stamped Happy Mother's Day on scrap white card, cut out the words and then used foam squares to stick them on - you could just use normal glue. Easy peasy.

2) Punch it out
I used a heart punch, white card and foam squares for this simple Valentine's card but you could use any shape - flowers or butterflies would be cute - and add some colour too.

3) Fabricate
I use fabric a lot with my cards - I always have lots of scraps laying around so it's no bad thing to use a few up.
This one was another Valentine's card but you could do flowers, bunting or anything else that takes your fancy.

BONUS: for extra wow-ness you could use your sewing machine to add some fun freehand stitching like I did with these flowers:

4) Roll with it
(brief interlude to sing along to Oasis.)
I love quilling - it's so therapeutic rolling little strips of paper and sticking them down to make a fabulous card. It was my first craft for 52 crafts in 52 weeks and it's great for both men and women - I've made Mum in pinks (below) and Dad in blues.
It requires very few tools – just paper, glue and a quilling tool - so it's a good low-cost craft to get started with. There's a great tutorial on CRAFT to get you going.

5) Turn over a new leaf
Next time you go on a walk, gather up some interesting leaves and use them to make easy cards. Full instructions are over on 52 crafts. I think these are nice to use as notelets to send Spring letters to friends and relatives.

I hope you found this little card round-up useful - let me know in the comments if you try any of them or if you have any other easy card-making ideas.

{from the archives} make a bird mobile

As I've been writing this little blog of mine for so long I thought it would be fun to go back in the archives and find some old projects, thoughts and plans.
Today I'm turning the time machine to...

{30 August 2008}

I made this little bird mobile back in August 2008. And you can too - go take a look to get the full tutorial.

{crafty help} I have no talent...

A week or so ago I conducted a mini-twitter survey to see what crafty problems people faced. I had lots of great answers from too little time to not enough space. And I plan to cover all those issues in future posts. But this time I'm tackling another issue: I have no talent.

Well I don't believe that for a second - everyone has talent. But it's not the first time someone has said they're not talented, or creative, enough to craft. So if you think you need oodles of talent to make things, think again.

Can you fold paper?
Whilst bored in history class age 11 did you ever make a paper aeroplane and chuck it at your mate two rows in front of you? Well in that case, you can practise the art of origami.

 

All you need to make pretty folded paper things is, obviously, some paper (preferably pretty but any will do) and your hands.

With these tools you could make a load of cranes and string them up to use as decorations or pretty flowers like the one in the photo above. It's easy to get the hang of the folds after you've tried it a few times. You can make so much with just paper and your hands.

Give it a go today!

I'll have some more simple crafts to help you dip your toes in the crafty waters soon.

Have fun and be creative x

Latest 52 crafts projects...

I'm now on week 17 of 52 crafts in 52 weeks - doesn't time fly? My last two projects have featured tutorials on making jewellery and clocks.

If you want to know about my latest projects as they happen, keep an eye on my 52 crafts 52 weeks blog, follow me on Twitter or "like" my Facebook page.

Tutorial: Last minute Father's day (or any day really) card

This was so last minute, I only have iphone photos. I'll take better ones next time I make it.

This is great for using up your teeny tiny scraps of fabric you can't bear to throw away.

Iron it first if you're like me and all your scraps are scrunched up in a bag and then cut it into little triangles.

I used my Xyron sticker maker to make them sticker-like - if you haven't got one, use a little glue to stick them down in the next step.

I used a black pen to draw some string on the card and then stuck on the triangles in a jaunty bunting-like fashion.

Told you it was easy. I now have a little stack of these that I can use for any occasion.

Happy Father's Day x

Mini tutorial - pretty centrepiece

If only I'd thought of this before my hen tea party last year - it would also be perfect for country-style wedding receptions.

All you need is a cute vintage tea cup and a few pretty carnations (carnations are perfect for this project as they're all fluffy and poofy).

Chop the stems so they fit snuggly in your teacup, don't forget water, and put in as many as will fit so you get a nice dome shape.

Told you it was easy.

Just a little mini-tutorial type thing...

Well don't get too excited, this is very basic! I made this little bird mobile earlier for my study and I thought I'd share it.
Supplies: scrapbook (or any pretty) paper; cardstock; pencil; little scissors; double sided tape; cotton thread.

1. Choose a shape, I drew a bird a while back so I used this to make my template. Any other shapes would work well such as flowers, circles, squares and so on.
2. Use a piece of card (cereal packet or similar would work well) to draw your chosen shape on. Cut it out. You now have your template.
3. I folded my paper so I didn't have to draw around my template too many times! I managed to fold it into quarters and was still able to cut through it ok. Draw around your template with the pencil and cut out the shapes. I have seven birds on my finished mobile so I needed to cut out 14 shapes.
   
4. Lay out your thread. Leave enough at the top so you can hang it up when you're done. Lay your first cut out shape, right side down, underneath the thread. Put a piece of double sided tape over the thread and then match up another shape, right side up, over the top. Press it down.
5. Continue this way, spreading out the shapes evenly until you're done. Cut the thread off at the bottom and hang your new fancy mobile up wherever you fancy.

Photos are below. Any questions, let me know in the comments but I think it's pretty straightforward.

Weekly Wedding Picks- Necklaces

This is the start of a new series of weekly wedding picks- this week, jewellery.

Once you have your dress all picked out and ordered, thoughts then naturally turn to what jewellery to wear on the big day. Look no further than these perfect possibilities for your wedding day necklace…

1. sparklesisters 2. lazygiraffe 3. luxedeluxe 4. beautyuncut 5. thelondonstudio 6. luxedeluxe

Of course you could make your own wedding jewellery (an option I'm considering if I don't go for beautiful vintage). I've found these tutorials which might help you make your own necklace (and other bridal jewellery).

DIY Network :: Craft Stylish :: Craft Stylish :: beadage

Let me know if you've seen any more great DIY necklace projects.