Greetings, fellow creatives! Jennifer, here, with a birthday card right up the alley of any number crunchers on your list.
I seem to always have grand ideas about making birthday cards for friends and family but seldom to I start early enough to actually get it done. With my husband's birthday later this week, I finally got on the ball and created this card that even he–an accountant–has to agree with. After all, the numbers don't lie!
The heart of the card is the string of years printed out on my adding machine (I'm a bookkeeper myself, this is standard stock at our house). If you don't have access to an adding machine, you can easily create the same effect with a typewriter font printed on regular paper and trimmed to about 2" or so wide.
I played with the folds and curve of the strip of adding machine tape to get just the right amount of "movement" without overwhelming my card blank and held it in place with a kitchen clip while I grabbed my Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots.
Liquid Scrap Dots are perfect for this because the adhesive will support the curves and undulations in the strip of paper. Remember when I said you could use computer paper for this? It might be a good idea, even if you do have adding machine tape available as you'll see the Scrap Dots through the thinner material.
After the adding machine tape was set on the blue card stock, I added the beginning of my message (It All Adds Up…) in small sticker letters, and some other embellishments that will make more sense in a moment using Quick Fix Permanent Adhesive Runner. Now, I'm going to be honest here and admit that I cut my matting card stock too short. Rather than cut another piece, I split it across the middle and used the "gap" to run a bit of chenille fiber behind the card front.
To complete the adhesive trifecta on this project, Helmar ZapDots added a bit of loft to the double-matted number stickers for the birthday boy's age.
Finally, to finish the card, I matted a piece of card stock in the same way as the front (at which point it totally became a stylistic choice and no one but you and I need to know it was an error!) with more Adhesive Runner, and wrote the rest of my message, "you're another year AWESOME!"
For giving, I suggest a slightly over-sized envelope to allow for the fullness of the front matter, and if you're going to mail it, a padded envelope might not go amiss.
Wishing you creative days,
Helmar Adhesives Used
* Liquid Scrap Dots
* Quick Fix Permanent Adhesive Runner
* ZapDots
Other Items Used
* Card blank
* Cardstocks
* Adding machine & tape
* Letter and number stichers
* Chenille fiber
* Gel pens
