Handmade Cards 2024 (7 Unique Designs) – Quilling, Watercolour, Scrapbooking

Sticking to this blog’s tradition, it’s time for the annual summary of all the handmade cards I created this year for my family members. It’s always fun to gather all of my works in one post and see what I came up with. This year, it was a good mix of techniques, although with a strong focus on my favourite method – quilling. I managed to incorporate some watercolours and scrapbooking, and I’m rather proud of the results! So, sit back and enjoy the summary of my handmade cards from 2024.

Grandmother’s Day – Quilled Flowers

Let’s start with Grandmother’s Day, which in Poland falls on January 21st. My Grandma loves my quilling cards, so I had to employ that technique for her card. One of her neighbours also makes quilled cards, and my Grandma is proud to display the ones she got from me in her living room, so the neighbour can see them when they visit. I suppose I’ve been pulled into a bit of a “who can do it better” competition! This year, the Grandmother’s Day card featured a simple design of red flowers.

A handmade card wit red quilled flowers with yellow centres. — Handmade Cards 2024 – Quilling Flowers

Dad’s 60th Birthday – Cat

In March, my Dad celebrated his 60th birthday. I always struggle with ideas for cards for him, as the most obvious quilling designs – flowers – seem too girly for him. This year, I wanted to emphasise the special occasion, hence the quilled number. I also included a cut out cat, because we’re all crazy cat people since my family adopted a kitty a few years ago. Pretty happy with the result!

Scrapbooking card - cat - with quilled elements. The cat is wearing a birthday hat and is holding a sign with the number 60. — Handmade Cards 2024 – 60th Birthday Card

Mother’s Day – Envelope With Quilled Flowers

In May, we celebrated Mother’s Day. I’ve already made a post dedicated to this card, you can see it here. It was a mixture of various techniques, and I’m really pleased with the outcome. I made the envelope out of watercolour paper and stained it with watercolours to resemble old parchment. I filled it with quilled red, orange and yellow flowers, and made a wax seal to put on the envelope.

Completed DIY card with an envelope filled with red, pink, orange and yellow quilled flowers. The envelope is placed on a brown card blank. — Handmade Card – Envelope With Quilled Flowers

Sister’s Birthday – Shrek Themed Card

June is filled with celebrations in my family. First of all, there’s my sister’s birthday. Every year I try to surprise her with a humorous card. This time, I built on her love for the film Shrek – she’s a massive fan to this day and rewatches it frequently. And we can both throw quotes from the film left and right! I had this random idea to replicate Shrek’s… toilet, from the intro of the first movie. I added some birthday-worthy balloons and a mini photo of my sister’s favourite frame from the film – Shrek and Donkey’s polaroid shot from Duloc. Not your usual birthday card, but my sister was delighted.

Completed DIY card for a Shrek lover. There's a Shrek figure inside his toilet shed. The shed's door is open. Shrek is holding an orange and blue balloon. There's a photo of Shrek and Donkey hanging on the door. — DIY Handmade Card For Shrek Lover

Grandmother’s Birthday – more quilled flowers

The next June celebration in my family is my Grandma’s birthday. Again, I stuck to a floral quilled design, knowing that it would make her the happiest. I made some purple and pink flowers and created a symmetrical composition. Simple, but pretty – I hope!

Square, white card with handmade quilled flowers- purple and pink. — Handmade Cards 2024 – Quillied Flowers

Father’s Day

The final holiday in June was Father’s Day, which in Poland is celebrated on June 23rd. This time, I decided to play with watercolours. I’m not the best painter, but I like to challenge myself every now and again. The execution perhaps wasn’t the best since my painting skills aren’t too high, but I’m extremely happy with the general idea for the design. Empty beer bottles filled with flowers are card-worthy, but manly enough! My Dad enjoys a pint of good quality craft beer every now and again, so the design felt perfect.

Handmade watercolour card depicting beer bottles in various shapes. The beer bottles in the painting are empty and serve as vases for colourful flowers. — Handmade Cards 2024 – Father’s Day

Mum’s Birthday

The final opportunity for a celebration in my family – besides my own birthday, which is in a few day’s time – was my Mum’s birthday mid July. I decided to try to combine watercolours with quilling in a floral card design. I started by painting some lavender with watercolours, then placed small purple quilled flowers on top of it. I’m super happy with how this card turned out, and will try to combine the two techniques again in the future!

A floral birthday card with watercolour lavender painting in the background and purple quilled flowers glued on top. — Handmade Cards 2024 – Watercolour and Quilling Card

And that sums up my cardmaking in 2024! I’m pleased with the variety of designs I created this year, and particularly happy with the cards that combine multiple techniques. Even though it’s only July, the cardmaking factory is closed for the year now, since all family celebrations are now behind us. The next one will be in January, so I’ll be back to cardmaking at the end of the year. See you next year for the next cardmaking post!

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