Birthday Cards for Kids

Hi Friends.

Back after nearly a fortnight. I have been busy with my new batch of students. It will take me till the end of the month to settle everything into a rhythm. After a long period of holidays, children will take time to settle down. I also need to work out a schedule and stick to it.

In between I had to attend to my dad's annual ceremony. A few days before and few days after it we have had a lot to do. It is really back breaking with all the work. But then rituals are strictly to be adhered to. 

Here it is hot once again. No rains. Humidity is really unbearable. So I could not spend much time on my crafts. But one of my friends wanted a birthday card for a little one. I had just 4-5 days and with my dad's ceremony in between it was really difficult to create something which would catch  the eye of the child, its parents and the sender(my friend). 

I did manage somehow to make this card. Then I had to mail it to reach on time.

This was what I came up with. 

I used a textured blue card stock, attached some stickers of animals. 

For the tree, I cut brown coloured thin hand made paper for the trunk and glued it. Then I punched out some oval shaped green textured hand made paper for the foliage. I attached some self adhesive red crystals as fruit on the ovals. 

The first layer I glued it directly on the card. The upper layers, I used foam tape for dimension. 

I punched out some green coloured thin card stock for grass and glued it near the base of the tree. 

The sentiment was stamped on thin yellow card stock. I then shaped the edges with a bracket punch. Then I used a brown coloured sharpie to colour the edges of the sentiment as well as the tab, before attaching it to the card. 

This is the inside of the card. I added the sentiment, message and balloons and the cake. I got it printed on a cream coloured papaer and glued a heart shaped puffy sticker.

This is the envelope. I had to use a ready made white one. 

I had some anxious moments when I was pushing the card inside it. I wanted to make a box type envelope to fit the dimensional stickers and punch art I used without squashing them. I didn't have time at all. Moreover, I am not experienced enough in making such envelopes. I didn't even have proper tools or materials to make one. 

Thank God! The Card fit the envelope :) With not much space around it. I attached mini and mickey stickers on the outside. I wanted to stamp it but no time at all.

I couldn't do much as there was no time to even think or shop for material. I had to do with what I had at hand.

I mailed the card and it reached on time. I got a feed back that they all loved it. So everything ended well. Hope you like it too....

Materials used:

Blue textured card stock

Yellow card stock

Green card stock

Green textured hand made paper

Dark brown hand made paper

Animal and cartoon stickers

Red coloured acrylic self adhesive crystals

Clear stamp for sentiment

Black ink for stamping

Brown coloured sharpie

Glue

Envelope

Cream coloured thick paper for inside the card

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Card Making Kits

Hello there. We are having some showers here. Day temperatures are down. But it is still sultry. With frequent thunder storms, power cuts have become regular feature. So I have to do all my work as fast as possible-whether it is my daily chores or any other work related with electricity very quickly. We are always apprehensive as to when there will be a power cut. If we are stuck in the middle of doing something, then we have to wait until we get back electricity. 

One of my friends gifted me some card making kits. It was some time back and I din't even have time to open and inspect it. Recently, I opened it. Look what I found.

Three different colour card stock, folded and ready to use, three envelopes(white), some embellishments and double sided tape cut into neat little squares.

I felt that the size of cards was way too small. Any way while trying to make the cards, I ended up adding my own embellishments, as some of the one provided were too small.

Here is the first card I made.

I added the purple plaid self adhesive tape, some crystals and the butterfly from my own stash. The butterfly seems to be a little big for the size of the card or the embellishments. But that was the smallest I had and in matching colours.

I jazzed up the white envelope by adding the plaid tape to match the card.  I have not added the sentiment. I made it as all occasion card. I will add required sentiment when I have to give it away.

I think for a beginner or a novice, this kit may be of help. They don't have to buy all the required materials from different places, which is not only time consuming but also costly. But for a crafters like me, who has so much of stash lying around, I think, I prefer to do it in my way, choosing what I like and goes well with the theme or the card. 

What do you think about this card? Watch out, I will be posting, other cards I made.

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Freebies at Flintobox

We all agree that fast changing technology touches every aspect of our lives. We have no doubt benefited from it. It has made our lives easy and changing it everyday. But there are also some negative effects. Specially when it is our children and their growth, we are worried about them .

Today our children are so addicted to TV and hooked on to smartphones, most of us parents are complaining that our children have become couch potatoes without any physical or creative activity. Naturally their growth is not as much or how we want it to be. 

90% of brain development happens by the age of six. Early experiences and positive interactions during the age of 2-8 years determines the overall development of children for years to come. Research shows that children need to be actively engaged in 12 different areas for a holistic development. However, in these busy days with nuclear families, parents don’t have the time to ensure that their child is engaged effectively. And this constraint makes children resort to the easy way of watching TV.

Friends, I came across Flintobox which helps parents in this regard. I feel that their concept is good. So I thought I would share it with you.

Flintobox provides age-appropriate activity boxes for children between the age group of 2-8 years. They are delivered to your doorstep every month! Each box is loaded with play-based activities for kids that promote early child development in a fun and explorative way. With a new theme every month, this research-based box is crafted by montessori experts and child psychologists, and caters to the 12 developmental areas of a child.

These are hands-on activities that will take the child away from the TV and hook him/her onto meaningful and engaging activities.

Each box contains different activities that covers 12 development areas including fine motor, cognitive and gross motor, creativity, exploration, language, and social skills through fun activities

Children are exposed to different concepts, ideas and inspirations which make them creative and inquisitive and they tend to use them in a variety of different aspects in their day to day lives. A constant encouragement from parents on such hands-on play will create a natural tendency in kids to move away from TV. 

Their  products are targeted for children between 2-8 years of age. Each box will contain the following four segments:

• CREATE – An art/craft based activity to create something that will imbibe a sense of achievement in the child 
• PLAY – A fun game setup which could be a board game, a card game or an outdoor game or a fun family game which will target holistic development
• EXPLORE – An experimental or explorative setup to feed the child’s curiosity on the theme of the month 
• STORY-- A storybook on Flinto (the octopus) which is generally an adventure or a moral story that parents can read with and to their child

Please do visit their site. Read their terms and conditions and offers and decide for yourself. Here are some links to Freebies from their site:

For 2-3 Yr Olds - Amazing Animals - http://flintobox.com/blog/printable/animals-worksheet-toddlers

For 3-4 Yr Olds - Jungle Adventurer - http://flintobox.com/blog/printable/animal-preschooler-worksheet

For 4-8 yr Olds -  Widllife Safari - http://flintobox.com/blog/printable/animal-activity-worksheet-kids

I think it will also make a great gift for any child. 

NOTE: I am not endorsing the organisation or its product in any way. I don't get paid for this. I just thought this is a good concept and wanted to share with you all. So visit the site read the terms and conditions and decide for yourself.

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