Friday, January 17, 2014

Birthday Blues

I needed to make a card for a male family friend who has a birthday next week. As he is football mad I wanted the card to be in his teams colours and also to have a football theme.
 I decided to challenge myself  and see if I could make a recipe from scratch using just my stash, a paper trimmer and using a new technique another of my New Yr resolutions !
Recipe.
1st off I needed a number of assorted blue papers. Now a ready supply of these come in the post almost daily. Namely those irritating  white envelopes, you know the ones that come with bank statements and nasty bills inside!  Well once you have thrown those straight in the bin you are then  left with the  envelopes which if you slice open have some rather natty patterns on the inside  mostly in blues and greys. I keep a pile of these to hand (don't you? No! Tut tut)  so out came the blue ones.

 


Next I needed to throw in a mix of extra papers so out came my handy box of strips (you do keep all those don't you?) and sorted out a few more of the blue ones and then cut a few of the envelopes up into random size widths using my trimmer as I needed dead straight edges.

 
New Technique.
Finally throw in a little bit of origami paper folding and this is what you should end up with.

The Origami shirt is in the brand new 2014 Club strip!
I folded from white paper and then added the blue stripes afterwards.
I found the tutorial for shirt here.
Sentiment cut using Britannia word dies.
Strips of paper randomly stuck to a piece of old cardboard with white strips in between(as the cardboard was a grey colour).
Edges trimmed to neaten and then adhered to a slightly larger blue backing sheet.
 
Entering into the following challenges:
Cardz 4 Guyz #1: Happy  Birthday.
Deep Ocean Challenge #69:  Birthday.
Tuesday Throwdown #178: Stripes.
Charisma Cardz #2: It's a Boy Thing.
Card Mania #38: Anything goes.
My Craft Creations: Anything goes.
Melon Headz: Birthday challenge.
Country View Crafts #11: Monochromatic.
Pixie's Crafty Workshop #107: Use up your snippets (those nasty envelopes and odd strips).
Paper Pretties #293: Monochromatic.
 
 


 

43 comments:

MagsB said...

A long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away, before I discovered stamping) I used those envelopes for iris folding. Must have another go!

Your origami shirt is fantastic - what a clever idea! I bet the recipient will love it!!

love Mags B x

MaryH said...

So fab & so very clever. I am in love with that shirt! Definitely used up a ton of your snippets! TFS & Hugs. PS..Loved your thoughts over at the Silver Crafter re: technology! :-)

Sue said...

This is wonderful. Such a great design, a fabulous way to use up some paper strips and the insides of envelopes too. The folded shirt looks brilliant too.
Thanks for the inspiration
Sue xx

Doreen said...

Love this,what a fab design.xxx

Unknown said...

Amazing use of envelopes and scraps of paper. Fabulous card and great that you were able to make the shirts colours match the team colours.

Viv said...

Terrific 'man' card - great make Mrs A! x

Pat said...

Well what a clever piece, I think quite a bit of patience must be needed though. Such a lovely colour combination, and who would have thought that the inside of envelopes could look so good. A lovely card Mrs A. x

Hettie said...

I sometimes keep nice looking envelopes but they do tend to be boring in my line of work as I think all solicitors buy from the same suppliers!
Great card there Mrs. Now get laying!
Hugs
xx

Margreet said...

This is really brillant, Mrs A...I'm just like you: I keep the envelopes with the pretty insides (I already did that when I was only at Origami folding and not yet cardmaking)...I will have to take a look at the link of the shirt, as I have to make a card for a football fan within short!
Will also thank you for entering Melonheadz Friends with this fab card.
Have a great weekend!
xxx Margreet

Di said...

Clever you Mrs A! Fancy using the insides of envelopes so well - never thought of doing that ( And the little shirt is brilliant too - I have a card on my blog from ages ago made a similar way and know how fiddly they are! Would it be Reading's new strip perchance?

I know, since the Playground was hit by gales and then a gardener came to clear stuff ready for the new fence there's a lot of blank space behind bushes - enuff for a rollercoaster really! Sigh.

Ain't this constant rain awful - the duckpond is overflowing!

Hugs, Di xx

Brenda in IN said...

Good job thinking outside the box. He will love the fact that you made him a card for something he is interested in. I think he will love it.

Diane said...

The Origami shirt is fabulous what fun you have created with the papers. I am sure the card will be a big hit.

Hugs diane

Createology said...

SUCCESS! Your manly card is bluetiful. You are very smart to use those envelopes for your art. Blissfully Creative Dear...

Cazro said...

Ingenious and different, so clever.
I'm sure it will be greatly appreciated. Thanks for sharing with us at Cardz4Guyz during our first challenge, hope to see you again. Caz

Lynn said...

Wow, Mrs. A, that is super. Great shirt! Lynn x

Sherry said...

... and I thought I was bad keeping stuff - LOL. Your card is amazing though, brilliant in fact! Love the little shirt - I'm wondering what team it is for though. Bet it'll be well received xx

Crafty Judith said...

Fabby card loving the stripes - ty for playing along at Tuesday Throwdown Judith DT x

Sandra H said...

This is why l like visiting your blog Mrs A you are so creative ......what a fab card and the way you created it is amazing xx

Princess Judy Palmer said...

Look at all those strips! I have a dollar bill folded up like that shirt. Goodness knows I've tried it myself many times but I'm just not an orgamist!

Kathleen said...

This is fabulous, you have some brilliant ideas and congratulations on all your blog achievements.

Kath x

Bonnie said...

You never cease to amaze me! This is fantastic!

cm said...

Whew...I'm glad I have company in keeping papers of all kinds (including pretty magazine covers/ads...you just never know!). Your card here is utterly brilliant and perfect for the football-mad recipient! Again, your ingenuity amazes! Hugs~c

Carol L said...

Yes, I absolutely keep all my strips of paper for making backgrounds just like this! I love the little origami shirt too and thanks for the link to the tutorial! Congrats on all your followers too!

scrappymo! said...

What a wonderful snippets idea.
This is a blue ribbon shirt! Could not resist that pun...

Methinks I am looking at a soon to be featured card here!
Three cheers for you for:
1. using your snippets
2. creating snippets from those envelopes
3. trying out the folded origami shirt
Will be watching the featured card post later! Well done!

scrappymo! said...

What a wonderful snippets idea.
This is a blue ribbon shirt! Could not resist that pun...

Methinks I am looking at a soon to be featured card here!
Three cheers for you for:
1. using your snippets
2. creating snippets from those envelopes
3. trying out the folded origami shirt
Will be watching the featured card post later! Well done!

Anonymous said...

Hi, great card, thank you for joining us for our 1st challenge Cardz 4 Guyz. Good luck and we hope to see you soon.

Hugs Erin DT x

Brenda said...

Love your origami shirt and love your striped background. Great use for those snippets!

Maarit at Violets Corner said...

Brilliant male card Mrs A, the white paper strips give the card a fabby crisp feel.

Warm hugs
Maarit

Lorraine A said...

Oh wow !! this is fabulous ! brilliant recycling too ! I am sure he is going to love this !

luv
Lols x x x

KandA said...

What a brilliant card and such a great use of those leftover paper strips xx

MaryH said...

Not surprised to see this beauty as a Playground Highlight. Well done, You Clever Girl! It's fantastic. TFS

Kimbo said...

Just fabulous Mrs A and so pleased Miss picked this one to showcase. Thanks for playing along at our first challenge at Cardz 4 Guyz x

Elizabeth said...

Fabulous card Mrs A, and an impressive use of envelopes. Sadly, I don't have a pile of these but that's simply because I hardly every receive that kind of mail any more - we check all our service bills and bank statements online and as for the rest, we are registered with the Mail Preference Service, thereby stopping the avalanche of junk mail and hopefully saving a tree or two in the process. However, I'm sure you will be pleased to learn that I'm not entirely a lost cause ... I do safe PP strips for possible later use :) Elizabeth xx

Karen Petitt said...

Gorgeous card and fab upcycling x

Mary said...

What a great use of snippets. I LOVE this card. My mind is racing. I'd like to try a black and white one ....hmmmm. To answer your question....maybe! My question... Were there cameras? Have a wonderful week and we will take any rain you want to share.

Greta said...

This is amazing & so creative! Congrats on the shout out at the Playground!

Darnell said...

I saw this as a highlight by Lady Di and had to come and tell you it's grand!! I won't be surprised if you win every single one of these challenges!! Hugs, Darnell

KalySto said...

Oh, someone had a lot of work/fun here:)
Thank you for playing with us at Card Mania Challenges!
Smiles, Kaly

Faye Wynn-Jones said...

Very clever Mummy x

Merry said...

Stunning card...love how you created that background. I will be looking at my bill envelopes so differently in the future. Thanks :-)

Jo said...

Aaaah here it is, and I love your background, so banks are useful sometimes eh?
I haven't made an origami shirt for years, and yours is fab, would be great for a couple of football mad men I know who are Baggies fans (West Bromich Albion)

Jo xx

Gabrielle said...

Lovely entry to our Monochromatic theme at Country View Crafts - thank you for joining us! xxx

Grenouille Greetings said...

Loved your CAS sympathy card (I'm working backwards) and your pretty thank you but this one is very clever - perfect way to use up all those bits I cut off my 6x6 papers! Hugs, Lesley