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

Craft Hoarders Anonymous March Challenge and an Important Announcement

Hello Friends!

It’s the second Monday in March, and time for another great challenge over at Craft Hoarders Anonymous. This month we are doing a great color challenge based on this inspiration photo:

Oh, Spring! Green growing things and sweet baby leaves on trees and white puffy clouds in the sky! What a perfect color palette for this time of year! Yeah…I’m loving this color challenge.

I wanted to pick up on the creamy green/white tones in the color challenge and to really keep true to the spirit of Craft Hoarders, everything on this card came from my little scrap cart. I have no idea what these papers are…or where they came from. I can tell you that I made the roses with my Spellbinder Bitty Blossoms die and some pearlized cream paper. The ribbon is moss green micro ribbon and iridescent white metallic string.

I colorized the vintage black and white photo using my alcohol ink pens.

The roses were painted with bundled sage distress ink and then coated with Clear Rock Candy Distress paint. The leaves were spritzed with Biscotti Perfect Pearls Mist. I painted the gold metal roses with the Bundled Sage paint as well.

I followed a wedding or anniversary theme and added a little stamping on the inside of the card. Easy peasy!

Now for the important announcement. Sadly, this will be the last challenge over at Craft Hoarders. Gloria, our chief hoarder in charge and fearless leader has taken on some demanding design assignments that have really stressed her schedule. In order to maintain a healthy balance between family, health and work, she is having to make some hard choices and step away from some of her crafting obligations. Shutting down the challenge was not an easy decision, but it is the right decision for her….and we wish her well. You can read Gloria’s personal statement and all the details over at the Craft Hoarders Blog.

So, let’s go out with a bang! Dig deep into your crafty hoard and come up with something totally fabby for the Craft Hoarders Anonymous March Challenge. You have until midnight PT on April 12th to link your project up to the CHACB blog. We’ll be popping by to leave you some bloggy love and pick our favorites for one final time.

To everything there is a season, right?

Be sure to visit the rest of the team’s final projects…I know you will be inspired:

Amber ♥ Christy ♥ Debbie ♥ Donna ♥ Ginny ♥ Glenda ♥ Gloria (blog owner)
Pam ♥ Teresa ♥ Wendi

Now go get your craft on!