This is what I was up to the whole of last week, birthday invitations for the second birthday party for 2 adorable twins. The project involved a lot work but I just loved the end result (yeah I love to praise my own work :P!!), and I am not alone the kids’ parents loved them too (I know I know I should stop blowing my own trumpet now......).

I also learnt a few things along the way, which most of you might already be taking care of but I’ll list them nonetheless, so here goes...
1. Clean your workspace before starting any big project; you don’t want some ink or dirt spoiling your hard work.
2. Clean/Oil your equipment (sewing machine, punches etc) before starting out. These cards involved a lot stitching and midway my sewing machine pooped out. I couldn’t get even an inch of stitching done without the thread breaking multiple times; I tried everything from changing the thread tension to changing the thread itself with no success. Finally I had to clean and oil it thoroughly, after which it ran smooth as silk.
3. Stop work if you are too tired. I almost spoilt atleast 2 cards because I was too exhausted to continue.
4. Sit with proper back support, this especially holds good for people like me who sit at a desk all day (both at work and while crafting)
5. Always take extra prints of photographs etc. If you are like me chances are you will mess up with at least one card.........

Here’s a close up a few of the cards,
This one has Winnie the Pooh
And this one is with Spongebob SquarepantsFor more invitation cards please visit http://www.shop.juhishandmadecards.com/2009/11/personalized-handmade-birthday-party.html
Thanks for visiting!!

The Card Patterns design team came up with heart boxes instead of cards this week. So I also decided to make something other than a card. I came up with this photo frame (maybe not exactly a frame coz I kinda permanently fixed the photo to the frame) using old red colored packaging.....The picture is of my parents when I was growing up.........don't they look great together?
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Photo cards are a great concept....I guess framing and keeping them would be a good idea.....and if the frame is also handmade, even better!!

I used one of my favorite childhood picture for this card......yup, that’s me with my mum and sister....guess which one is me :)

I plan to gift this to my mom, I’m sure she’ll love it.......

I used pages torn out from an old desk calendar to make the frame for this one......

I think personalized photo handmade cards are a great gift. I made this card for my husband’s nephew’s 5^th birthday. This was my first attempt at making a card with photos and I think it has come up really well (I know, I know I am quite shameless when it comes to praising my own cards ;) ).

I used two sides sticking tape to create different layers in the card. Two sides sticking tape is one of my favorites, using it to give 3-D effect can pep up even the simplest of cards; I use it liberally in my cards.

I used two kinds of gift wrapping paper (another one of my favorites) for the background. Punched hearts were folded around the corners of the centre photo to create a photo album kind of effect. I wrote “Aadi” with a calligraphy pen, I had got a set of calligraphy pens some time back but had never used them much; writing well with them requires some practice.

I hope Aadi likes it...........