The Flames of Inspiration
“Does anyone have a 50th birthday card?
At 2 am on Saturday morning, the message went out on my family’s Whatsapp chat like a card-maker’s bat signal – I was so ready for this! There’s nothing like a goal and a deadline to increase the odds of completing a project. I did not have a lot of time since my extended family was throwing a surprise birthday party for one of my aunts that evening and I still had a list of chores to complete. As I sipped my morning latte, I scrolled through my Pinterest account, looking for inspiration. My attention was caught by two cards that I had previously pinned:
They made me laugh and my husband thought my family would appreciate the joke. (My original plan had been a cutesy card with a cartoon ox on it to match my aunt’s zodiac sign – but this was more entertaining!)
I cobbled together the design on the front from free SVG files I found online. (There are so many awesome ones available if you’re crafting on a budget.)
I got the cake SVG free from Crafts with Sarah. Her design is very intricate with far more layers than I needed. I selected only a few to get the general shape and omitted a lot of the details. For the forest of candles on top, I hand cut rectangles out of cardboard scraps at roughly the same size as her candles.
For the flames, I downloaded this SVG, simplifying it to only two layers and cutting the inner and outer parts out of two different shades of orange.
The fire warning sign was from here and printed on my Epson ET-2700 color printer.
Then, I set the whole thing on fire! Nothing like a bit of ash and the smell of smoke to add that extra special touch of authenticity!
I loved how this card turned out! Definitely a technique to use the next time I need a card for a milestone birthday.
Would you be willing to set a handmade card on fire? Comment below!