Post Pals: Mrs Claus

I'm mainly sharing this little creation to inspire. You may have heard of a wonderful little charity called Post Pals? They send post to seriously ill children (pals) and their siblings all year round. At Christmas time, they ensure their pals get extra post, from Santa's Elves, Santa's Reindeer, and Mrs Claus herself! I couldn't resist signing up to be a Mrs Claus this year. I love the magic of Christmas, and had so many ideas to share with children!

I began by finding a free letterhead on Google, which I printed out on some lovely thick sketchbook paper, before hand writing my letter. I also found a free printable for a recipe card, which I printed out and handwrote a recipe for Gingerbread Playdough on. (The pal I was assigned to cannot eat, so I thought this would be a nice festive alternative.) I also printed out some free printable Christmas designs on to card, and put them through my Cricut to create these cute stocking decorations. I found the SVG for these free over at Fleece Fun.

I had a lot of fun decorating the envelope! The internet has lots of "elf mail" free printables which I was able to use to make the envelope seem like it had traveled all the way from the North Pole!

I sealed it with my wax seal. I'd love to grow my collection of wax and seals, but this is all I have for now and it gave that special touch. It was fun to use too, though I did cause a bit of a splatter!

And then, as happens in the North Pole, Rudolph had to add his mark. The hoof print is made with acrylic paint, and applied with lots of texture so it really seems muddy!

It may be too late to send a pal something for Christmas, but January can be a very slow time for post after the craziness of Christmas. If you could send a pal a simple card or letter, a drawing, or even a small gift, it will put a smile on a seriously ill child's face. It might be the thing that makes them smile after hours of chemotherapy or ending up in hospital again.

"Thanks a Bunch" Cards

I made these card several months ago to say thank you to a couple of people. I used these free printables from Cardmaking and Papercraft, and they came together into quick cards. I added hammered ivory card from my stash, and some interest using my favourite Liquid Pearls. I was really pleased with how pretty these turned out, especially for a quick make.

Elephant Cards

I found these cute woolly elephants as a free printable over at Papercraft Inspirations. I cut this one out quite large, and mounted him on white card, orange zig zags and orange pearlescent paper.

I also gave him a fluffy little tail using some wool from my oddments jar. (I always keep my ends when crocheting in case I can use them at some point!)

I printed this trio of elephants out too, and mounted them on some beige polka dots, deep maroon card and a white background. I also used glitter gel pens to add a little sparkle to one of the elephants :)

Balloon Birthday Card

For this Birthday card I used these free printables from Papercraft Inpsirations. I was really caught by the beautiful balloon paper, so printed it off and mounted it on some pearly paper. I cut out a second layer of the balloons and mounted them using 3D foam, and added strings with Liquid Pearls (not that I've perfected a smooth line yet!) I also cut out the "Happy Birthday" sentiment in glossy white card using my beautiful new Cricut Explore Air 2 - so useful!

I love having decorated envelopes, so cut out some more balloons to attach to the envelope, adding some strings with a silver gel pen. I think envelopes should make people smile :)

Totally Turquoise

When I was very young, I was convinced the word "turquoise" had the letter 'b' in it. Odd, I know.

Anyway. Have you ever finished several card making sessions only to realise all the cards you have made are in the same colour scheme? That was my accident last month. Not that I'm complaining, they're rather pretty! Turquoise is a lovely colour, it's soft without being overtly feminine, and it's fresh without being garishly bright.

I found that this embellishment was a great size to use with my circle punch. The great thing about printables is that you can adjust the scale when printing if it's not quite fitting right! I layered it up with some other circles, including some I cut from a silver glitter tape that I love and some small gems.

I forgot to properly photograph this card, so I'm afraid this is just a snap from my phone. I used an amazing glitter embossing powder which happened to match perfectly with my pearlised deep turquoise paper! These mini gems are great for adding extra detail to cards, and rather than mounting the stamped card on top, I punched through the turquoise to see the flower below - it's a small difference but it made a nice change for me!

Turquoise carries the neutral tones of grey, brown and cream beautifully, and this time I added some "bling" with Liquid Pearls. This is another great product for adding to cards, especially when you want a thin card to travel through the post!

I used the glitter tape again with this card. By simply sticking lengths of it to a piece of card, it becomes something you can use as a paper, for example with punches. It's so sparkly the joins aren't obvious! I love how this card plays with different scales of the same pattern.

I think most of the imagery I've used in these cards, for example the embellishments and patterned papers, were all free printables found online. I'm not sure of exactly where, but Sizzix is definitely worth checking out :)