DIY Mouse-Hole Cheese Card

Yesterday was my Grandma’s 78th birthday, and so we gathered for a family meal. For my partner’s grandparent’s, handmade gifts have always meant more than expensive presents.

Back in March, at the The Edible Garden Show, I spied a tiny wooden mouse by Bradgate Woodcraft that I thought she’d love, and I’ve been looking after the little fellow ever since.

As time was tight (plan ahead, moi?), we decided to make a simple ‘cheese’ birthday card, complete with mouse-hole, so that the little mouse could sit underneath the card.

To make, all you need is some card, a circle cutter, and ideally a mouse. I didn’t plan my circles, I just cut them willy-nilly, and this is the result. It took around 10 minutes, so easy peasy!

The eagle-eyed amongst you may notice that not all of my circles are strictly spherical. This is because, like an amateur, I broke my circle cutter part-way through. New blades, please!

Though very simple, I’ve no doubt this will be on the dresser for a few months to come. I like the fact that the present and card theme marry up, and it’s something a little different.

I popped this in one of my upcycled envelopes. What do you think?

DIY Irish Dancing Finger Puppet Card™

‘Back in the day’, my sister and I grew up watching Riverdance and Lord of the Dance on VHS, and doing our own interpretation of Irish dancing around the living room. It was energetic, I tell you.

To celebrate my sister’s birthday, I jumped at the chance to book us tickets to see Michael Flatley perform in his last ever West End performance: Lord of the Dance: Dangerous Games.

Though I was sure my sister would love the surprise, I wanted to think of a fun way to reveal it to her. After some deliberation, I settled on the Michael Flatley “Irish Dancing” Finger Puppet Card™.

For those who don’t know, Michael Flatley is a bit of a ledge, having starred in and choreographed a number of internationally renowned Irish dance shows across the globe.

To create the ‘dancing’ card, I found an image of Michael dancing online, and printed it out on card. I then cut out two finger-sized holes where his legs started (using a circle template and scalpel).

To neaten it up, I went round the edges with black pen. Once done, you can then start effortlessly manipulating Michael’s ‘legs’ with your fingers to make him dance and leap around!

Although this card is all about dancing, you could easily create something similar to reveal football tickets, or ballet tickets – using an image of a football team or ballet performance to equal effect.

Happy finger puppeting, and Happy Birthday Kayleigh!

DIY Paper-Cut Christening Card

On Sunday, Jack and I went to our first Christening for a baby girl named Lauren. This was the first time we’d met Lauren, but as we’re huge fans of her parents, we knew we’d be sold!

To mark the occasion, we decided to make a personalised paper-cut card with a scalpel and a steady hand… you have to be careful to leave all parts connected to the main frame.

In Pictures:

The finished result you see here was done by Jack – he was far more skilled with the craft knife than me! If in doubt, leave it to the experts!I’d love to know what you think?

What are your Christening creations?

‘Roger the Gnome’ Mother’s Day Card

A long time ago I randomly painted a gnome at my parents’ house, and named him Roger. He’s lived there ever since and is quite a well-known guy, often introduced to guests over dinner.

With Mother’s Day approaching, I wanted to make a personalised card but was lacking inspiration. But then I spied Roger, and an idea struck! Here’s Roger in his heyday in the garden:

To make the card, I free-handed Roger in pencil, and coloured him in with bright colouring pencils. Eventually I settled on sticking him on green card with a 3D ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ banner!

I was being a bit of a perfectionist whilst making this card, complaining to my sister that my first attempt ‘looked like a child had done it’, only for my sister to reply, ‘but you are her child!’

As mum is a bit of a grow-a-holic (tomatoes and the like), we went to The Edible Garden Show in London for Mother’s Day – ‘the ultimate grow-your-own event’. It was a really lovely day out!

If you’re reading this mum, Happy Mother’s Day! With love from Rog and me! x

#DIY Paper Cut Leaf Card

Now then, whilst this is not my proudest creation – in the spirit of sharing the crafts of a craft amateur, I wanted to blog about my latest DIY – a paper cut leaf card, made for my boyfriend’s birthday!

With the Pinterest image of SMÄM in front of me, I set to work crafting what should have been a very delicate card. In fact, the cue is probably in the name – ‘paper’ leaf card, not ‘card’ leaf card.

Despite appearances, this quirky card really is easy to make; all you need is a sheet of high quality, textured paper (don’t make my mistake of using card), and a nice sharp craft knife.

Folding your paper in half, hand-draw the outline of a leaf onto the front with a pencil (using a ruler for the straight line down the centre). Then, using a craft knife, carefully trace the outline to make a cut, before bending the leaves upwards gently towards the centre for the 3D effect.

I added coloured paper to the inside of my card (using wrapping paper from already-opened presents), to create some contrast, and to hide my message from being visible through the gaps on the front.

I would definitely make this card again (they’d make great ‘Thank You’ cards), however next time I would find a more premium paper to achieve the delicacy and simplicity of SMÄM’s original.

I love the shadows that this card produces. Not bad for a first attempt!