Category Archives: Penny’s Paper Doll Family

Graphic 45 Penny’s Paper Doll Family Photo Birthday Card

Hello, Friends! I’m kind of excited about today’s post, because I think a LOT of you are going to have loads of fun with this quick and easy idea. Today I’m going to share a Graphic 45 Penny’s Paper Doll Family Photo Birthday Card with y’all. When my dear sister-in-law celebrated a “landmark” birthday, my husband and I wanted to give her a really personal and special gift. I was digging through old black and white family photos and found this great picture of Dale and Becky. Then I found the perfect paper collection and sentiment to go with it. Take a look!

Dale and Becky have always been best buddies. When I found this “Forever Friends” Tag from PPDF Tags and Pockets, I knew I was on the right track! I really love the way this adorable photo taken in 1956 pops against the vibrant colors and patterns found in Penny’s Paper Doll Family. This 5” x 7” easel style card will look great on a shelf, mantel or side table. It’s great when a card can double as a gift, isn’t it?

Penny’s Paper Doll Family Photo Birthday Card: Tips for Working with Old Family Photos

TIP: Scan old photos into your computer and print out on photo paper, or take it to a photo developing booth to make a copy. This way, you preserve the original.

TIP: Amateur photography can be challenging to work with. The subjects of this photo were not framed well, making the composition a little unbalanced. To fix this, I adhered the buckle from PPDF Tags and Pockets on the right hand side of the image, added a Staples Metal Key and a burlap string bow. This fixed the photo problem, and added an interesting element to the card design at the same time.

TIP: Easel style cards are a great design choice for cards that feature a cherished family photo because they can stand upright for display.

Penny’s Paper Doll Family Photo Birthday Card: Make it easy on yourself!

Tags and pockets are a quick and easy way to add a designer touch to a card. They are also very easy to modify.

TIP: Don’t be afraid to alter, fold or cut pockets, tags and ephemera cards to make them work with your design. It was easy to cut this pocket right along the pre-scored fold line. Then I was able to use the other half on the inside of my card.

TIP: When choosing embellishments like flowers and ribbons, let the color palette of the paper guide you. I chose buttery yellow and faded blue flowers for this card based on the colors in the chipboard frame. I knew all these colors would work well together, because they look great on the papers I used.

TIP: Create a “stopper” or a “brake” to keep your easel card standing upright. I did this by adding a layer of waste chipboard to the green striped paper layer. Then I topped it with this pretty chipboard wreath from the collection.

Penny’s Paper Doll Family Photo Birthday Card: A Peek Inside

TIP: You can extra color and design to the inside of your easel card by covering the top half with complementary papers. Just be sure not to adhere papers over the fold line, or the easel mechanism won’t work. And don’t forget to create a space where you can write in your own personal greeting. This journaling ephemera card works perfectly for that assignment!

And where did the other half of that pocket end up? Inside the card! I backed the edges with small foam tabs, punched a little thumb hole, then turned it on its side to be used as a chocolate pocket.

I hope I’ve shared some tips, tricks and ideas that you can use in your own crafty adventures! If so, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section below.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

Penny’s Paper Doll Family 12” x 12” Paper Collection
- Penny’s Paper Doll Family
- Sweet Sister
- Garden Path
- Mothers and Daughters
- Forever Friends
- Ephemera Cards
- Tags and Pockets
- Penny’s Decorative Stickers
- Penny’s Paper Doll Family Chipboard
Graphic 45 Staples Ornate Metal Keys
Navy/Burgundy Cardstock
Yellow and Blue Flowers, Yellow Satin Ribbon
Tiny Black Buttons from my stash

Graphic 45 Fun With Penny’s Paper Doll Family

Fun with Penny’s Paper Doll Family from Graphic 45

Hello, G45er’s! When I was a little girl, I loved to play with paper dolls. I spent hours stuck in bed due to childhood illnesses. Playing with paper dolls helped to fill many a long day. So when Graphic 45 released their gorgeous Penny’s Paper Doll Family collection this summer, it was love at first sight for me.

While creating with this beautiful vintage collection, I found I had not lost my childhood love for paper dolls. There’s just something magical about fussy cutting these handsome paper dolls and their matching outfits and accouterments! So today I have 2 fun cards made with Penny’s Paper Doll Family to share with you.

Flowers from the Same Garden: Penny’s Paper Doll Family card with Pockets

Card makers will just fall in love with this amazing collection because it is loaded with gorgeous patterns, beautiful images and sentiment panels that are perfect for family cards. This 5″ x 7″ top fold card was so much fun to make. The patterns remind me of the wallpaper in my childhood bedroom.

I love the sentiment panels in Graphic 45’s Penny’s Paper Doll Family. Not only do they look like vintage embroidery panels, they also make for very quick and easy card design! Add a border strip, die cut doilies, a large banner layer, vintage buttons and flowers and you have a charming vintage style greeting card in no time!

Tips

To add depth and dimension to this simple card design, I double matted each card layer. This keeps the layers from getting muddled. It also gives the focal image on the card the appearance of having been framed.
Cut doilies in half to get more mileage out of them. I tucked half a doily above and below the focal image.
Create a custom doily by adding designer paper to the solid center. To do this, I lay my doily on top of the paper, traced around the inner edge of the doily, then cut the circle out with scissors.

Supply List for Flowers from the Same Garden Card

Penny’s Paper Doll Family Collection

Penny’s Paper Doll Family
Beyond Borders
Sweet Sister
Garden Path

Other Supplies:

Kraft and Brick Red Cardstock
Petaloo Briar Roses
Burlap String, Red Taffeta Ribbon
Vintage Buttons from my Stash
Die cut doilies

Happy Family Bendi Card

Penny’s Paper Doll Family is the perfect collection to use in a fun Bendi Card design. This card design can double as table decor at a birthday party, baby shower, tea party or housewarming. You can learn how to make a Bendi card HERE. The collection I used is different, but the steps and measurements are the same.

TIPS

When it comes to fussy cutting, there are several little tips that can make the job easier:
1. First, make sure you have a really sharp pair of small scissors. I like to use Tim Holtz’s Tonic mini snips.
2. Don’t try to cut a small image from a huge piece of paper. Instead , remove the image by cutting well around it. Then do your fussy cutting. Having less bulk around the image makes it much easier to get a clean cut.
3. When cutting an image that has small parts, like the stems of flowers or hands and feet, I cut the small parts last. This way, I’m less likely to accidentally snip them off.
4. Don’t make chopping motions with your scissors. Hold the blades steady and glide them against the paper. You can practice this skill on magazine images.
To create extra dimension in this Bendi card, I backed the paper doll family with cardboard from packing boxes. I find that Priority Mail boxes are about the right thickness. The cardboard also strengthens the images and helps prevent tearing.

Happy Family Bendi Card Supply List

Penny’s Paper Doll Family Collection

Penny’s Paper Doll Family
Sweet Sister
Mothers and Daughters
Color Your World
Garden Path
Beyond Borders

Other Supplies:

Brick Red Cardstock
Scoring Tool, Ruler, Craft Knife
Petaloo Flowers
Burlap String
Fussy Cutting Scissors, Hot Glue Gun

I hope this post has brought back some of your happy childhood memories and inspired you to break out your Graphic 45 paper pretties and get your craft on.

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

Home Decor: Sweet Sisters Altered Mirror

Sweet Sisters Altered Mirror For RRR Anything Goes with Ribbon or Trim Challenge

Hello, Ribbon Lovers! Today I have a Sweet Sisters Altered Mirror to share with you. My baby sis celebrated her birthday in August, and I wanted to give her a really meaningful gift. What could be more special than a gift made with your own hands? The finished product turned out so well that I decided to share it in the new “anything goes with ribbon or trim” challenge over on the Really Reasonable Ribbon Blog.

Look how cute we were in January 1964! I’m on the left hand side of the photos, and my Sis is on the right. You can tell we are sisters because we both have bad bangs. My grandmother threatened to hide my mother’s scissors more than once! It seems we always sported really crooked, super short bangs. Oh, the memories this photo brings back to me!

Sweet Sisters Altered Mirror…Different Flowers from the Same Garden

I have been cleaning out closets again. Treasures always seem to reveal themselves whenever I undertake this task. This time, I found this IKEA Malma mirror tucked away in a dark corner of the studio closet. And just like that, I had the perfect plan for Sue’s birthday present!

Graphic 45 teammate Sandy Trefger recently created a gorgeous layout using this same quote. It made such an impression on me, that I decided to use it on Sue’s altered mirror.

My sis loves red, so I used a lot of it in the design. To tone down the red a little, I used black Graphic 45 washi tape, black chipboard clocks, and flowers with black centers. Black is a great color to use in design, as it helps to anchor a project. Black ribbon fit perfectly into the design plan.

Have you found this fabulous Black Bold Check Ribbon yet? It’s part of the September Ribbon Club Assortment, and I am crazy for it! Here, it was the perfect foil for all the red tones in this altered mirror, so I tucked some into my floral clusters along with a loopy ivory burlap string bow.

Now it’s YOUR turn!

You’re cordially invited to play along in this fun challenge! The details can be found HERE on the Really Reasonable Ribbon blog.

I can’t wait to see what you make!

Thanks for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

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Graphic 45 Paper Doll Family Easel Card

Graphic 45 Paper Doll Family Easel Card with Penny’s Paper Doll Family Collection

Hello G45’ers! You know how life takes some interesting twists and turns sometimes? I was supposed to post this project last Friday…but I was in an airplane when G45 notified me to share. Then my vacation got extended when bad weather grounded all the planes in the Northeast. I got home very late last night, and am finally getting a chance to share this really cute Graphic 45 Paper Doll Family Easel Card with you. Better late than never, right?

Sweet Childhood Memories

I had such fun making this Graphic 45 Paper Doll Family Easel card. Paper dolls were one of my favorite childhood toys, and I spent hours and hours cutting them out. Perhaps that is where my love for fussy cutting paper was born, who knows?

Does anyone else remember cutting out the Betsy McCall paper dolls from McCall’s magazine? My sister and I anxiously awaited each new issue so we could add new outfits to our collection. These darling paper doll costumes took me right back to the excitement of those times.

Graphic 45 Paper Doll Family Easel Card: Tips and Tricks

This is a 6″ x 6″ square easel card. Here are a few tips and tricks that I used to make it.

The focal images on this card are a little smaller than what I typically use. Matting focal images really helps them to stand out on the page. Since these images are all the same size, you can make the job easier by measuring and cutting the mats all at the same time. Measure each layer just slightly larger than the next, then assemble.
A die cut doily makes the perfect centerpiece for this sweet card. To make the fussy cut kitty cat stand out, I die cut a circle from designer paper for the doily center. Once again, I used foam tabs to elevate the image.
Crocheted lace adds vintage charm and texture to the card design. I used ⅛” Scor-Tape to layer the crocheted lace over Antique Gold Silky Crushed Ribbon.
Use border stamps to create the “stopper” for your easel card. First I cut the row of stamps out with shaped scissors. Then I backed them with cardboard packaging to lift them up off the card base.

Since I made this card for display at a summer trade show, I kept the interior fairly simple. But this gives you a peek at more of the lovely patterns and sweet images from the collection.

Graphic 45 Paper Doll Easel Card Supply List and Product Links

Penny’s Paper Doll Family 12×12 paper collection (Available for Pre-Order from The Funkie Junkie Boutique)
Brick Red, Navy, Kraft Cardstock
1.5″ crocheted lace
Antique Gold Silky Crush Ribbon
Micro brown gingham ribbon
Petaloo Flowers and Blueberry Picks
Die Cut Doily
Denim button from my stash
Scallop Paper Punch

Thanks so much for joining me today! I hope I’ve shared some tips and tricks that you can use in your own crafty adventures. If so, I’d love to hear from you in the comment section below.

Kathy by Design

Custom Paper Art for All Occasions

Category Archives: Penny’s Paper Doll Family

Graphic 45 Penny’s Paper Doll Family Photo Birthday Card

Graphic 45 Penny’s Paper Doll Family Photo Birthday Card

Penny’s Paper Doll Family Photo Birthday Card: Tips for Working with Old Family Photos

Penny’s Paper Doll Family Photo Birthday Card: Make it easy on yourself!

Penny’s Paper Doll Family Photo Birthday Card: A Peek Inside

Cheerio,

kathy

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