Making a Beaded Birthday Card

I received a packet of Skull Beads from Dala and I was instantly fascinated. There were a number of ideas that immediately sprang to mind as to what I could do with it, and I have shared some of these with you already. But what I wanted to do, more than anything else, was to use them in conjunction with a very specific paper design I had in my paper stash, to make a card from. That is why today's blog was inspired by the beads.

This is the 12"x12" patterned craft paper that I had in mind for the beads. Can you see the skull and crossbones in the design of the paper as well?

I cut the page in half with my craft knife and metal ruler. I will be using the bottom half with the skull designs.

Fold the paper in half so it now measures 6"x6".

I stuck some coordinating paper on the inside of the card as I found the stark white a little boring, especially for a teenager, the intended recipient of the card.

I then brightened it up with a strip of Washi Tape on the side.

Turn the card over and crop the Washi Tape with a craft knife to get an even finish with the card.

I found a collection of clear stamps in line with the music theme of the card.

I liked the compliment of Faded Jeans in the Tim Holtz Distress Ink range.

I applied some stamps with this color to the inside of the card.

I then decided that I wanted a little more variety and Pine Needles would give me what I wanted.

Some more stamps were added in this colour.

Now the inside of the card looked a lot more interesting and a lot more suitable to an older teenage boy.

I found some string and measured off a length of this slightly longer than double the height of the card.

I tied a loose knot on one end of the string to stop the beads from slipping out.

I then strung enough beads to fill the height of the card.

The string was tied in a knot inside the card and the ends trimmed shorter.

I had already used Dala Air-drying Clay to form a heart. I kneaded the clay, rolled it flat with a rolling pin and then used a cookie cutter to cut out the heart. The clay was then left for 24 hours to air dry.

In the meantime, some tiny hands had snuck into my studio and lifted the clay before it was completely dry. The heart cracked in two. No problem! It actually worked better with my theme! I glued the two pieces back together with Tombow glue and painted the heart Warm Red with Dala Craft Paint. I then used the same glue to stick it and some ceramic embellishments to the card.

Perhaps it is not everybody's idea of a pretty card, but it will suit the recipient very well indeed!

For more crafty ideas and great products, visit APrettyTalent.com.
Remember to keep nurturing your TALENT for making PRETTY things.
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