Children's Handmade Birthday Card - Boys

If you are not new to my blog, you have probably noticed that I keep getting lots of my craft supplies from Hobbycraft store. Well, not long ago I visited Hobbycraft yet again and I saw this incredibly cute stamp. I knew straight away that this is going to be in my next cardmaking project.

Let's make a birthday card in blue - for a boy.

This is another quick and easy handmade birthday card. The part I spent most time on was the actual colouring in the picture. If you cannot get exactly the same stamp, it does not matter. Just use any cute animal stamp you like. And if there is no present or balloon in the picture, you can always draw it yourself using a black gel pen.

For this design you will need:

• White card paper (15 x 30cm)
• Gel pens - various colours (You do not have to spend a fortune on these - all colours I used were from a pack of 30 gel pens that I purchased from Asda and it cost me only £3. The only additional gel pen I used was a coconut colour from WH Smith - I used it to colour in the dog, cat and giraffe's hooves)
• Rubber Stamp
• Black ink pad
• Paper edger scissors (here are some links if you would like to buy some; http://www.madaboutcards.com/product.php/23376/0 or http://direct.hobbycraft.co.uk/products-HobbyCraft-Set-of-Ten-Paper-Edgers_293530.htm)
• Light blue card paper (15 x 15cm)
• Piece of white card (I used 9.5 x 9.5 cm - but that depends on the size of your stamp)
• Darker blue card paper (I used 10.5 x 10.5 cm - again, that depends on the size of your stamp and the white card with the picture - just cut it 1cm wider and taller than the size of the white card with the picture) 
• Double sided tape
• "Happy Birthday" outline sticker
• Craft foam pads (I used Stix 2mm thick)

  

 Now for some instructions on how to make this card.

 Stamp the picture on to the white card and let it dry. Then colour in the picture using the gel pens. Using paper edger scissors cut a square shape around the picture - it affords a nice crinkle effect that really offsets the square edges of the card. Attach the white card with the picture to the darker blue card using the foam pads.

In this design I used the white card to stamp the picture on. I also used a very pale yellow card paper as a variation of the design - see "variations" further bellow.

Take white card 15cm x 30cm and fold it in half. Take a light blue card paper (size 15 x 15cm) and using a double sided tape attach it to the front of the folded white card. Attach the darker blue card to the light blue card using foam pads.  Add a "Happy Birthday " outline sticker to the card.

Here are some variations for the same card:

In these designs I did not use the paper edger scissors.

Variation 1

Variation 2

Instead stamping the picture on a white card I used a very pale yellow card which gives a nice contrast. Also I coloured the giraffe with a sparkly gold gel pen instead of a yellow one that I used on the white card.