Handmade Fall Cards for Small Children

Halloween has passed, Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and then it'll be Christmas Time!  This past weekend, my husband and I went to our grandchildren's home to celebrate "Grandparents Day" at their school.  I brought them some handmade fall cards and a fall gift bag.  These are the cards I made for each grandchild.

For my two older grandsons I made them each a fox card.  I bought this "Finley the Fox" die from Spellbinders.  I thought it was so cute, and I love foxes!  I've had the pleasure of seeing one running through my yard a few times and that always gets me excited.  Of course, I don't own any chickens that I need to worry about 😀

I got the idea for this card from the Spellbinder's website.  They always have so many great examples of how to use their products. 

To make my card, I found some dark fall paper to use as a background and then I created a frame by using an arched die.  I embossed chocolate brown paper with a tree limb embossing folder first, then I cut out the frame and popped it all up on dimensionals.  The flowers and butterfly were included with the fox.  I just cut all the pieces from the Finley the Fox set out of different shades of card stock, ink blended them, then adhered them to the card. The fox is also popped up on dimensionals.  I stamped the sentiment onto a separate piece of card stock because the background paper was too dark to make it pop.

For my Second "Finley the Fox" card I used a similar idea but this time used different papers/colors, and I added leaves instead of using the flower stems from the set.

To make my card, I picked a fall background for the opening and a die to make a rectangular frame.  After I cut my frame, I popped it up on dimensionals to create some depth.  This time my background was lighter, so I could stamp my sentiment right on the card.  I cut some fall leaves using old Cuttlebug dies and adhered them around the frame.  This time, I cut my butterfly and fox in different colors, assembled them, and adhered them to the card.  I finished the card by embellishing with gem stones in fall colors. 

My next card is for my youngest grandson who is about 18 months old.  Because he is still a baby, I wanted his card to have some texture so I made his with felt pumpkins and metal leaves.

To make this card, I used a simple layout with polka dot designer paper on the base of the card and then a solid purple strip where I could put my pumpkins and leaves.  The pumpkins are felt stickers from Martha Stewart.  I added metal leaf brads in-between the pumpkins.  The sentiment was stamped separately onto white card stock and bordered with black card stock.

My final card was for my granddaughter and was the most complicated to make.  All the detail that went into making this card is ridiculous.  I think it took me all afternoon to make.  I cased the sketch of this card from Pinterest, but I changed all the paper and stamps.

To make this card I used images from several different sets.  The scarecrow is the vintage scarecrow image from the Wizard of Oz from Crafty Secrets.  The pumpkin and sentiment are from Hero Arts, and the fence is from Martha Stewart. I stamped, colored, and fussy cut everything out.  I picked a fall designer paper for the leafy background.  I used a sewing machine to stitch around the card, the circle, and the zig-zag in the designer paper.  The sunflower was cut with an MFT die, then ink blended and adhered to the card.  The plain off white background was dry embossed using a Cuttlebug tree limb embossing folder.  The scarecrow is popped up on dimenionals along with the fence.

The Grandchildren were so excited to get their fall gift  bags.  They've come to expect presents from Grandma every time she arrives.  Little Elisha was asking me when he could open his present for a day and a half before we actually had the time to do so.  

Here they are posing with their newly opened cards.  Everyone seems super excited except Baby Lazarus.  😀. I think all the attention and excitement was getting to him.

The whole point of our visit was Grandparents Day.  Every year their school has the grandparents come to visit to see what they are learning and doing in school. They have a special program involving the whole school, and then we break up and go and visit each of our grandchild's classrooms and meet their teachers.

Alethea was proud to show us her weaving and trojan horse she made.  She completed her weaving, but was still working on her horse.

Atticus was thrilled to show us his desk and opened up his binder to show us everything he has done since the beginning of the new year.

I got such a kick out of what he wrote as one of his favorite things to do with his grandparents.  It couldn't have made me more proud. 😁

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

For more ideas on Fall Cards check out these posts:

Handmade Cards to Celebrate Fall

Handmade Fall Cards

Handmade Fall Cards for My Grandchildren

Two Handmade Fall Cards: One Simple, the Other Complicated

A Thanksgiving Card for a Little Girl

A Handmade Fall Card "Fall Leaves"

"Happy Fall Ya'll" Handmade Scarecrow Card

 

Handmade Cards to Celebrate Fall

Hello! I am back from a fall break and probably my last vacation of the year until the holidays.  We drove down south to spend some time with the grandchildren during their fall break from school but we also made a couple of fun stops along the way of which I will tell you all about in my next travel post.

I always give the grandchildren gifts/cards for all the holidays/seasons.  They don't celebrate Halloween, so I keep my cards/gifts fall themed.

My first card uses a stitching die from Spellbinders.  Spellbinders has all these neat monthly clubs you can join where you get their latest product at a discount.  I really like the idea of combining sewing with paper crafting and I think their stitching dies are really different so I joined that club.  Every month I receive a new die in the mail, and this was September's die "Stitched Sunflowers".  Isn't it beautiful?  It is perfect for fall cards and thank you cards. 

This was probably the most challenging stitched die I received because the floss kept catching on the petals.  After a lot of frustration, I finally figured out to turn the die upside down while I was sewing.  Also, each petal had to be sewn individually or the thread would be seen as you went over to the next petal.  So it was a bit time consuming as I had to cut and tape the thread after finishing each petal.  Not all stitching dies are this complicated.  But the result is beautiful, and I love it!  My daughter went crazy for it too and said "That is one card that needs to be framed".  

To make this card I cut two sunflowers out, one flower center, and the leaves.  I did some ink blending on everything to make it more natural and interesting, then I stitched away and adhered everything together.  I did pop up the top sunflower and the brown center on dimensionals.  I used gold metallic floss on the flower and a light green floss on the leaves.  Everything was then glued to a blue patterned fall designer paper then I added a few fall gems and a stamped a fall sentiment.

Spellbinders had a huge sale recently, so I saw that as an opportune time to buy a couple of new dies. This die is called "Truckin' Through the Seasons".  I love this die for its versatility because it includes other items you can put in the truck bed like presents, Christmas trees, etc.  

To make this card I chose a pretty fall patterned designer paper and adhered the truck to the paper.  I decided to add a little fall poem about pumpkins to tie in with the pumpkins in the truck bed.  I stamped that on a piece of golden card stock then added some flowers and vines from the same die set.  Everything was then adhered to a gold foil card base.

I think these die cuts are a lot more work than simply stamping and coloring, so I don't understand why crafters like them so much.  I think it might be because people don't like to color, but I've become very skilled at coloring, so I enjoy it.  Every single piece you see in the truck below had to be cut in a different color, ink blended, then glue back together.  It's a long, pain-staking process in my opinion.

This next card was really hard as that tractor and all its veggies was a lot of small pieces, but I sure like the way it turned out.  It's a great card for a little boy and it can also be used for other seasons/events.  I can see filling the trailer with Christmas trees for the holidays and doing the tractor in red instead of green.  This die cut is called "Thankful Tractor" but I can't seem to find it on their website anymore so it must be sold out.

To make this card, I once again very painstakingly cut all the little pieces out of all the different colors of card stock, ink blended everything, then glued them back together.  The wheels were popped up on dimensionals,

Once everything was complete, I just glued it to some fall designer paper and adhered it all to a green card stock base.

I also made some fall tags for all their fall gift bags.  If you're wondering where Lazarus' card is, I didn't make him one because he is only five months old and I ran out of time.

The leaves were die cut with old Cuttlebug leaf dies then ink blended.  The tags were cut using a Spellbinder's tag die, and eyelets were installed in the holes of the tags

And here are all the little ones holding their fall cards.  I know, they look so thrilled 😆 I think they were just anxious to see what was inside their gift bags and I make them open up their cards and take a photo first.  Trust me, they do love the cards.  They even keep their favorites in little boxes and Alethea even keeps the unicorn shaker card I made for her birthday on display on her dresser.

And here you can see few photos of them being a little more excited opening their gift bags.

I always give them a new fall outfit.  They really do enjoy receiving new clothes.  The rest of the items in the bag are a few candy treats, some healthy snacks, and little toys/books.

This was the outfit I got for baby Lazarus.  Isn't it cute?  Brown is definitely this season's "it color".

And here is baby Lazarus wearing his new outfit.  Isn't he adorable?  I love his smile.  The sweater goes so well with his auburn hair.

The grandchildren love activity/sticker books.  They go through them so fast though!  They love them so much, when they get a new one they start working on it immediately and don't stop till it's finished.

Well I hope you enjoyed my fall cards and a little insight into my family.  There will be more fall stories to come in future travel posts.

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Handmade Fall Cards

Every fall I love to send my grandchildren gift baskets and I always include a special handmade fall card made just for them. 

My first card I made for my oldest grandson Atticus.  I thought the little boy resembled Atticus so much.

To make this card I used a vintage stamp set from a retired company called "Crafty Secrets".  I managed to buy a lot of their stamp sets before the company went out of business knowing how hard these vintage images are to find.  

I created a scene by stamping grass on to plain white card stock.  The boy, the pumpkins, and the wagon are all popped up on dimensionals.  I stamped them, colored them in, then cut them out.  The sentiment, frog, and leaves are stamped directly on the card stock.

My next card went to my youngest grandson, Elisha.  For this one, I just glued a fall print onto brown card stock and adhered it to a white card base.  I cut a scalloped circle of brown card stock and a coordinating fall print using circle dies and a Cuttlebug machine.  The turkey was made with a stamp from the Dollar Bin at a fabric and craft store.

I cut a piece of tan solid card stock and stamped the sentiment onto that and glued it to the card.

I added google eyes to the turkey because I thought Elisha would get a kick out of that, then I added some fall leaves for embellishment.

My final card was made for my granddaughter, Alethea.  This image was found on the Internet and I simply printed it onto white card stock and colored it in.  You can find so many cute images on the Internet for free, that one really doesn't need to purchase stamps anymore.

Because this card was made for a girl, I used brown sparkle card stock as a border.  The sentiment was from another stamp set.  I stamped that onto separate card stock, used a corner edger to get creative corners, then glued it to a piece of sparkly gold card stock.

 I hope you enjoyed my fall cards!

Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

Handmade Fall Cards for My Grandchildren

There's nothing I like to make more than cute cards for my grandchildren.  This first one I gave to my grandson Atticus because I thought he'd love the adorable fox image.

I stamped the fox image separately, colored it in, and popped it up on dimensionals.  The leaves were cut using a die cutting machine.

The acorn was also stamped, colored and cut out separately, then glued to the page.  The circle panels were cut using Spellbinder's dies.  I cut one ordinary circle out of designer paper that coordinates with the background designer paper.  Then I cut a second circle, this one with scallops, out of olive green card stock.  The sentiment is a MFT die cut, and I cut it twice, once in white and once in rust, then I stamped a sentiment on it.

This is the card I made for my granddaughter.  I used a retired Crafty Secrets vintage fall image and lots of colorful, coordinating designer paper to make this card.

First, I colored image in using all fall colors, then I cut it out and layered it twice, once on purple paper, then on orange.  I used three different fall prints on this card, stamping the sentiment on the solid purple panel.  I then stamped a small leaf, colored it, fussy-cut it out, and glued it at the end of the sentiment.

For embellishments,  I added a couple of purple adhesive crystals to the far upper right corner of the card and a double, rustic bow above the sentiment.

Finally, this was a card I didn't make but it was sent to me in celebration of my birthday.  Because my birthday lands in fall, the creator used fall images for my card.

I love how they tied a knot with rustic twine above the acorns.

Have a Great Day!  Amy

Linking up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!

 

Two Handmade Fall Cards: One Simple, The Other Complicated

I have two very different fall cards to share with you today:  one is very simple and easy to make, and the other is very complicated and more time consuming.

First let's look at the simple one.  To make this card, I just used a pretty fall designer paper and then added a large fall sentiment.  The sentiment is an old stamp from Inkadinkado.  It's one of those "no color" stamps.  To get the fall color on the stamp, I had to color right on the stamp with an assortment of watercolor markers, then I stamped directly on the white card stock panel and wa-la!  I had my main image colored and done.

I added the sentiment panel to a piece of rusty orange card stock after I cut a scalloped edge using a MFT die.  Then everything was just assembled upon a white card base.

For my next card, the "complicated" one, I used stamps and stickers from a lot of different sets.  I wanted to show fun little scenes of fall in every square.  I have to say I did get this idea from Wanda, but I changed it up using the supplies I already owned.  

The card is divided into four squares.  Each square uses a different piece of designer paper.  I put the main sentiment in the top left square because the eye reads left to right.

It's a very large, square card, I think 6 x 6.  I used a piece of Kraft card stock for the base.  In some spots I used dimensionals to pop the elements out.  The pumpkins are felt stickers and the sentiment above them was just cut out from the designer paper.  The rest of the sentiments are stamps and cut out with MFT dies.  Finally, I added some fall colored gems for embellishment.  Is this a fun card or what?  It was a lot of work, but I sure enjoyed making it. 

 Have A Great Day!  Amy

Linking Up with these Fabulous Blogs HERE!