Paper Piecing on Cards for 7 and 5 year olds

 Hi Everyone,

Here are a couple of cards I made for my nephews. It's their 7th and 5th birthday parties today. I don't usually make alot of cards as most people just throw them away..... but as my sister-in-law is also a scrapbooker I'm sure the work that went into these will be appreciated.  I used my cricuit to make the paper piecings (crocodile and bird) but you can follow this link to some free paper piecing patterns: (http://www.scrapbooksetc.com/techniques/paper-piecing/).

 Because I was giving gift cards with these cards I have made little pockets inside the cards to hold the gift cards. When giving a gift card I do like to make a nice card as it shows you still thought about that person and put some love into it. I had some pockets that I got in a little packet I bought and used these as templates for these but you can make a pocket in any shape you like just leave a "seam allowance" the width of your double sided tape and fold it under neath and attach to your page.

I used a paper stack (8 x 8) from DCWV so all the papers would match perfectly. When cutting a paper piecing on my cricuit I like to use co-ordinating patterned papers as it adds more interest than if I used plain cardstock.... which could look like you bought them already made, whereas my paper piecings definitely show I put all the work into them.

I have a set of inks that I purchased when I first started scrapbooking that I use alot when I want to ink the edges of something. They are just a cheap set of inks (1inch x 1 inch in size) but there is one of every colour and the pad is very soft which makes them perfect for inking the edges of any cardstock or paper. Because they are now running out of ink I can also use them to softly shade sections of my papers..... so don't throw out your old ink pads. When they're too dry to use for stamping they are perfect for shading and inking.

I'm making some paper dolls at the moment all in different "dress up" outfits to go with some fabulous photos my photographer (Pish Posh Photography) took of my girls dressing up their daddy in necklaces and frilly skirts as hats.. LOL. I'll upload them as soon as they're finished.