Fall is in the air. Hooray! I love the cooler weather. I guess I should finally take down the heart-shaped Valentine’s Day wreath that’s on my front door and put up an autumn one! Four of my nieces have fall birthdays and the family recently had a collective celebration for them. I decided to carry on with my tradition of making personalized birthday cards and I used techniques that I posted about in my Recycling Blooms post. Thought you might like to see the crafty cards that I made for my oh-so-cool nieces.
The photo mosaic house and garden scene above I made for cute little Jessica by snipping free form shapes from old photos. Note the little white dog sitting in his dog house. That’s my little Romeo making an appearance. Inside the card balloon shapes with attached kite strings float in air to give her birthday greeting a festive look.
Artistic Kimberly also received a photo mosaic card, but hers was constructed to resemble a slice of birthday cake. I used a pig-shaped hole punch and a regular round punch to make the small pieces that were densely layered to create the illusion of a cake slice. Each piece was selected for its color value to provide the cake with an appearance of dimension and texture. “Birthdays are Nature’s way of telling us to eat more cake,” was a great quote I found for the inside greeting of Kimmy’s card.
Wanting to try something different for fashionable Lani, I clipped a photo of a model wearing a suit from a fashion magazine and redressed her in one of my own designs. I created an evening gown by layering shapes of black and red text from the magazine. This model proudly wears her label on the outside – note Dior is prominently displayed! Before adhering the model to the red card stock, I first ran the card stock through the printer so that it read, “Happy birthday to a gal with a style all her own!”
My niece Stacey is so much more than just a pretty gal, so I wanted to create a unique card for her by using photos of beautiful celebrities to create a face within a face look. According to my daughter, this card is a little scary looking, but I think the card’s sentiment pulls it together, “There’s more to life than just being a pretty face . . . There’s brains and charm and compassion and wit . . . And you have it all!”
With the cost of greeting cards rising, why not make your own?
What about this? 
These are really creative and fun. I can’t wait for my next birthday to receive another Linnell original. I am inspired to try to make my own version someday.
Liz, you’re a great friend and supporter of all my endeavors. Of course, you’ll receive a Linnell original for your next birthday; you’ve always been a gracious recipient of my creative projects -good and bad ones! Linnell
Linnell,
I ALWAYS knew you were creative but WOW….I thoroughly enjoyed reading EVERYTHING on your blog. Before today, I never really knew much about blogging. Other than discovering it in the movie Julie Julia, I knew very little. Your blog just blew me away. You truly are a talent in all aspects and I can’t tell you how excited I am for you. I remember you telling about the oatmeal at the Fong’s graduation party and I often thought of trying to make it. Now I have an actual recipe for your famous oatmeal. I am very excited. I have two friends whose husband has Cholesterol issues, I hope you don’t mind if I share this with them. Please keep writing, you truly have a gift for it. Thanks for sharing!
Rita
Rita, thanks for the encouragement! I hope the oatmeal recipe helps your friends as much as it has helped me. My goal for this blog is to share ideas and spread joy, so please pass the link to any of your friends that might be interested in reading it. Linnell
Hey, Nell
My next shopping trip is to find a frame worthy of that “ooh la la so fabulous” birthday card you made for Lani. What do you think metal or wood ? Dark or light ? She has dark wood in her room. We got space on the wall. Will post a photo when it is up. BTW Can I post picture on your blog ?
Julie
Hi Julie,
Glad you and Lani like the “fashionista” card. The red card stock has gold specks in it, so you may want to incorporate that color into your framework. You could also buy an inexpensive gold-ish type matte board to put over the card. This will necessitate purchasing a larger frame, but I think it would turn the card into more of a statement piece of art. I will have to check into your ability to post directly to my blog. Until I get the answer, you can always email me the photo and I can post it directly.
Thanks always for your input,
Linnell
Wow! These are amazing!! You are truly one talented lady Linnell!!!
[…] Some of the cards will be crafted in the detailed and time-consuming mosaic-style (see Teacup, Slice of Cake, and Bridal Shower) in which I recycle photos, calendars, magazines, and scraps of pretty paper. […]