Tuesday 17 May 2011

Lots of little Mothers Day cards

April just flew by, between renovations, school hols & an escape to the Sunshine Coast & now, May is following suit with Cara’s birthday, not to mention Stampin' Up! convention, last week. More about some of these events later though, or I’ll never get today’s post finished.

Each year the fundraising committee for Cara’s school runs a stall for Mothers Day, where kids can choose a gift for their Mum. This year, I suggested that we give each child a card to give with their gift... a handmade one of course, so that’s what we did. This idea was inspired by Nikki Stalker, who made these lovely cards last Mother’s Day for her school.
I knew the cards had to be simple & quick to do as we had to make 320 & only had limited time to complete them, and most importantly, appeal to the kids. Fortunately, our renovation schedule meant I had useful time at home to prepare the card packs. Then, with some good friends & school Mums to help put them together, we finished them in plenty of time for our stall on May 5th. Anyway, here is a sample of the card designs. You can click on the pic for a bigger version (& yes, that is our beautiful & finally finished floor under the cards - yay!).
We made lots of some, depending on supplies, time & how much I liked them! Most are variations on a butterfly theme, with different bases & DSP. The fronts are 7cm x 7cm, which meant I could cut 6 from one A4 sheet. Here are some close-ups of some of mine & the kids faves too...
This birdie one was my favourite & Cara liked it too, as she chose one in turquoise with spotty DSP for me (shown top row, second from left).
This sparkly butterfly (which was much more glittery IRL) was the kids favourite, as I kept having to replenish supplies!
These designs were used for most of the cards, with different base & DSP combinations.
This was another popular one (especially with the girls) in a turquoise base (shown 3rd row, far left). It's also a favourite retired DSP of mine.

The Mums who helped out seemed to like making & seeing the cards & we had lots of nice comments from the teachers too. The kids mostly seemed pretty excited to pick their card too, so I think it was really worthwhile. It was very entertaining watching them choose a card too - some were really decisive & picked one straight away, some checked out them all out first, some picked the same as their buddies, & to my surprise lots of boys picked hot pink girly cards & girls picked simpler blue ones. All in all, it was a fun & rewarding experience & I hope we can do it again next year.

Anyway, I hope all the Mums, Grandmas out there had a wonderfully special day. I’ll be back next time with some butterflies. Let me know if you’d like more info on anything
Inky wishes, Di

Supplies:
Stamps: Butterfly Prints, Garden Whimsy, Teeny Tiny Sentiments, Family Sentiments, Great Friend, Short & Sweet
Card/Paper: lots! (mainly retired)
Ink: lots! (mainly retired)
Accessories: dazzling diamonds glitter
Tools: butterfly punch, 2 step bird punch, word window punch

4 comments:

Sarah Milbourn Independent Stampin' Up! Demonstrator said...

Hi Di!
I read about your cards in the newsletter today, and wondered what they looked like! So thanks for sharing. It was so kind of you to donate all of the supplies as well!
Hope you are well. We must catch up soon, even though we keep saying it! :)
S xx

Christine Blain said...

Di, these are gorgeous! What a mammoth, but no doubt rewarding, task to undertake. I was so pleased we got to meet "in real life" at Convention .... hopefully we can catch up even more in Canberra!

KimB said...

What a great idea Di and even "simple" this must still have been a mammoth task. I'm not surprised the kids loved them as they are gorgeous!

Kim

PS: Really enjoyed catching up with you at Convention :) You're wonderful company.
PPS: The kids are totally fascinted by the "pear"

H2 :) said...

These are all so sweet Di. Great idea! I'm sure the school community & a whole lot of Mums & Grandmas would have loved them. :)