Making A Birthday Card For My Niece

Update: My niece wanted to open this card before any of her presents and she has told everyone that it is the best thing she received for her birthday, which shows handmade gifts are a hit.

This is another hub that will give people suggestions on how to make their own cards. My niece's sixth birthday is coming up on May 30, so I am creating a special card to commemorate her special day. Making a card is easy or as hard as you want it to be. In this hub I will be discussing how I made this unique card for my niece. All the crafting ideas I present here are unique ideas that come to me, and I hope my hub will give you some inspiration for coming up with your own creations.

A few weeks ago I had began sketching out a bird on a piece of sketching paper. When I make a card I usually like to use cardstock, but since my niece's birthday was coming up soon I decided to use this drawing I had already started. That is why I will be strengthening the sketching paper with modge podge, which will give the card a lustrous look.

I like to add the colors section by section when I am coloring a picture. So the first section I colored was that of the bird's throat. I used an old picture I took as a reference.

In this shot I have added the color to the stomach and the head. Thus you can see how I continue to add the colors section by section.

As I colored the bird I added some texture to give the bird a realistic look, such as feathers and a shiny beak. In this picture I stayed true to my original photograph, but people can change it up if they like. Sometimes I decide to put blue in the place or orange. Remember to experiment and have fun! My art and cards are always different that someone else's and your should reflect your own personality.

Shade the branches to create depth and dimension. It is fun to use a shading tool to smooth out parts of the drawing and coloring. I love to sometimes just practice shading on a piece of paper and it is very relaxing! Hypnotic and relaxing in that my mind is not running around with a thousand little thoughts like it usually does through out the day. When I sketch and draw I am truly focused on the moment and enjoying the moment.

I decided to color the background in a diagonal direction, which gives the picture a special texture. I also enjoy coloring the background straight across and perfectly blending everything, but sometimes that can be boring so I like to mix it up. Each of my past and future hubs on card making are intended to show the reader that each drawing and art project is unique and special.

In this step I used a paint brush to paint the modge podge across the surface of the picture. I had used thinner sketching paper for this project because I had not planned on making it into a card intially. However, modge podge helps to make thinner paper more stable and gives it a glossy sheen once it dries. Watch this instructional video to see how I spread the mode podge across the surface of the card.

Watch the instructional video to see how how I complete the card. I had modge podged both sides of my drawing and allowed it twenty-four hours to dry, which gave this paper the stability of cardstock. However, what I love about the modge podge is that it gave my picture a lustrous shine that I love and a paint like look. This is something special I like to do with my cards, I sew together two pieces of paper to make the final card. This gives it a very homemade feel and sewing can be relaxing and fun. Just make sure to get a big enough needle so it is easy to thread the embroidery floss through and try not to poke your fingers. I do this sometimes and I always warn people to be careful!

Here is a picture of the finished card and I hope it gives you inspiration with making your own cards. Wen you make cards by hand you are giving someone a unique card that will be a hit at any birthday party, and it will make you seem very thoughtful too. No offense, but anyone can buy a card at the store, but how many people will actually put in the effort to make you a card? Of course you are thoughtful to begin with, but giving a handmade card shows thought was put into a person's birthday. I hope my idea will inspire you to create your own birthday cards and to save money on buying cards from the store. Remember a homemade card can be made out of any materials from around you house.