Birthdays for the Young and Young at Heart

Hi everyone! I’m Julie from the QuicKutz design team and I am excited to share some birthday cards with you. I don’t know about you, but I love giving a handmade card. It's something about the heartfelt gesture that means so much more to me. With that being said, I feel my most "go-to" cards are birthday cards (I know I should be better about giving thank you cards than I am, but that's another story!) So for today, birthday cards it is! Sometimes I create a card with a specific person in mind and other times I create cards to add to my "go-to" stash, which ends up getting used a lot when I'm in a hurry.

The cards below are what I like to call "quick and easy." You can create these cards when you only have a few minutes right before a party, or when you just want to quickly and easily create cards to bulk up your stash. Now, mind you, I may have said "quick and easy,” but they are still beautiful and the person will think you spent so much time on their card—sneaky, I know!

I will list the supplies I used as I demonstrate how to make each card below, but here’s a picture of the stash of fun stuff I used.

My first card, entitled “Turning 2”, is great to use for a young child's birthday. It could also be adapted for any other age. For this card, I used the following supplies:

Cardstock
Pink Ink
Twine
Glitter Domes
QuicKutz Polka Dots GooseBumpz
Polka Dots Embossing Folder 038
Birthday Candles REV 156
Rollerskate 4x8 Alphabet
Numbers NO 73 4x8 Die

The background of the card is embossed with ink. The trick? Ink the embossing folder before you send it through your Epic or Revolution! I used light pink ink on my card. Below is a picture of the dark ink on the embossing folder so you can see the effect. When you place this on the card, it is the inked side showing (the debossed side.) Normally, the puffy embossing is what you see. Now, I am not taking credit for this technique, I did see it a while back and can’t remember where. But it is so cool—not your typical inking.

The rest of the card is assembly. I used the round glitter domes to add a little more dimension to the project. They perfectly accompany the polka dot candle and background.

I made a cute little treat holder to go with the card using a small dart container (the kind you get salad dressing in when you order it “on the side”), cardstock, QuicKutz Nesting Flowers, Nesting Circles and the Cupcake Liner dies. Simply wrap the cupcake liner around the container and decorate with the flower and circle on top. You’ll notice I used the embossed paper I made with my ink to cut my circle. A little child or big child would enjoy getting that little treat with their card. It holds a regular-sized package of M&M’s. Yum!

For my Sweet 16 card, I used the following supplies:

Cardstock
Stamps
Ink
Glitter Domes
QuicKutz Metal Adhesive Sheets
Flowers Embossing Folder 007
Fashion Doll Set 050
Rollerskate 4x8 Alphabet
Nesting Circles Dies

The great thing about this card is that you actually run two pieces of cardstock and one piece of scrap of metal adhesive sheet through your die-cutting tool and then mix and match the colors to build your purses. On one of the purses, I embossed it and then inked it to give it a pattern that stands out. To do this yourself, simply place the embossed die cut on an inkpad with the raised image facing the ink and press firmly. What a cute Vera Bradley it makes!


My last card is for the Young at Heart. My Mom will just oogle over this one! And it was so easy.

Gather the following supplies:
Cardstock
Ink
Ribbon
Stamps
QuicKutz Sunflower Rev0250
Letterpress Holiday Printing Plate 3
Letterpress A2 flat card
Letterpress Light Pink Ink

Believe it or not, this was the first time I used my L Letterpress and I could not believe how easy it was. I am in love with this tool now. When I showed my husband my project, he thought I bought the embossed paper that way and I quickly corrected him. I made that paper! This card is really my first run through the Letterpress and boy am I impressed!

I set the Placement Guides where I wanted them using my card as measurement. I then adhered the printing plate to the lid of the Letterpress and then gently rolled the ink onto the printing plate. After running it through the Epic tool, I let it dry. Then, I trimmed and inked the edges and assembled my card. To give the pink flower a little more dimension, I crumpled the paper. I stamped my greeting, and it was finished!

I thought the treat container went well with this card too, so I cut a circle out of a second card I ran through the Letterpress (I was having so much fun with that tool) and used it to decorate the top of my treat container. My mom will love the M&M’s too!

I used pink in my cards because I had a lot of female birthdays coming up, but the first and last card can easily be adapted to male birthdays by using more masculine colors. I’m going to get crackin’ on more quick and easy cards for my stash!

Thanks to Design Team member Julie for these darling ideas and new ways to use products!