I've only recently realised that there are blog challenges for papercrafts in the same way that there are for baking. Challenges for Days has a really helpful list of all the themes so I decided to have a look at that list for inspiration.
There is a challenge on Daring Cardmakers to produce a baby card with a rocking or moving element to it and as one of my closest friends is expecting her first baby in August, I thought that was the perfect theme. I first thought about making a card with a cradle that rocks, but wasn't sure how to go about making one element of the card move - there are various ways it could be done, but I didn't want to spend all morning making just one card!
Instead I took a square white card blank and cut all four corners into a curve, and trimmed the remainder so there were no straight edges, of course leaving the top of the card attached so it would open. This way, the card stands up but if nudged, will gently rock from side to side.
I used a piece of pink checked backing paper from a pack of mixed papers as the backing. I bought a set of Tattered Lace die cuts from Ebay a while back (I'd really like the die cutter to make these myself, but it's pretty expensive!) and chose a large pink circle with lacy edges; this fit perfectly onto the middle of the card.
I had a baby card making set that had a few embellishments and a pre-cut baby's buggy topper. I used the topper in the middle of the pink circle. I used some pink ribbon to stick a line across the top and bottom of the card (which you can only just see) and used some more of the ribbon to tie a little bow, which I stuck on to the flat piece of ribbon at the bottom of the card.
The gems are from the same pack as the baby buggy; they were impossible to stick on with glue (I tried two types of glue) so I ended up cutting a tiny piece of adhesive pad and using that instead. I stuck a row along the piece of ribbon at the top of the card, and another in the middle of the bow at the bottom.
I used a transfer sheet for the words; I think it looks much nicer this way than an outline sticker as it looks like it is printed directly on to the card. Another way you could do this is with a rubber stamp but I think I got a more professional look with the transfer. I really like this card - of course I made a similar one in blue in case my friend has a boy!
As well as the Daring Cardmakers challenge mentioned above, I am also sending this to the Alphabet Challenge, as this month they have chosen J for jewels.