Congratulations Greeting Cards

Written and Created by PaperCraftCentral Susan

Congratulations greeting cards are always welcome on those special occasions.

"Send someone a note that reads "Congratulations." Regardless of who he is, he'll think he's done something the past week to deserve it".
~Anonymous

Congratulations greeting cards are handy to keep on hand for those special occasions that crop up without warning (or happily, as expected) when someone achieves a goal, is given recognition or just when you want to boost someone's confidence a little.

Receiving acknowledgment via a handmade greeting card can really make someone's day. And I am all for making people feel warm and appreciated!

By making your own congratulations card by hand, people can know you have taken time and put thought into your creation, while thinking about just them. 

How to Make a Congratulations Greeting Card

I try to keep one or two cards on hand so I can be prepared in case I need them in a hurry. 

The card shown above was made for a class I held. The attendees wanted congratulations cards they could give to a man or to a woman. The Sunrise Sailing bundle sure helped us meet everyone's goals, and included some nice techniques for them to learn along the way.

I made this card by first choosing an embossing folder from the Sunrise Sailing bundle by Stampin' Up! I thought the sailing boat and ocean images suited my purposes perfectly and realised the sailing ship could be cut out separately and popped up over the ocean and sky background.

TIP: Choose a stamp set that appeals to you and has an image that can become a special feature on your card.

How I made my Congratulations Card

I chose some supplies, mainly cardstock, blending brushes and inks to go with my stamps, dies and embossing folder.

I started with a piece of Petal Pink cardstock making it the same size as my card front plus about a centimetre on each side. I used a Post-It note to mask off the bottom half of my card where the ocean would go.

Then I chose some yellow and orange inks and using a blending brush, I added yellow around the middle of my card piece, then blended some orange over that and further up into what would become the sky. Keep adding layers till you are happy with the way your sky looks. I was going for colours of the dawn. You could add a tiny bit of red to the skyline too if you wanted to, and mask off a small circle to become the rising sun. When you remove the circle mask, be sure to colour your sun the colour you want it to be.

Next I chose some bue and green inks to add colour to where the water would be. I masked off the sky at the waterline of the ocean, and got to work creating a green and blue sea. I did add some yellow and orange on the part of the ocean that would reflect the sun.

Once I was happy with the ocean colours, I ran the whole piece through the embossing folder, matching up where the waterline was on my blended cardstock.

You will notice the sailing ship is coloured like sky and water. If you likek that, leave it that way, but if not, stamp another ship on a separtae piece of cardstock (I chose Basic Beige to stamp out my ship in Secret Sea ink then I colored it with Crumb Cake and Timid TIger inks). I popped the ship up on Stampin' Dimensionals.

Tip: Use colours you like to create your own card.

Next I added details to the sun with some Stampin' Write! markers. In the photo I have not yet removed my mask, but I coloured the sun in with markers too. I used a small metal ruler as a guide to add the sun's rays.

I cut about a centimetre off two edges of my embossed piece so I could use them inside my card as decoration. I mounted the card front piece on a piece of Secret Sea Cardstock about 1/2cm larger than my main image.

Then all that was left to do was to add my ink blended embossed and stamped piece to the front of a Basic Beige card base, make a sentiment, pop it up on my card and add some bling! Oh, I did cut out some clouds and blended a little Cloud Cover ink on their undersides before popping them up on the backgroumd of the sky and then I stamped some birds in the sky as well in Secret Sea ink.

May I encourage you to make some congratulations greeting cards for someone special, too? Help them celebrate their day. You'll make it all the more memorable for them. 

You might also like to make a small gift to go with your card. If so, try these ideas:

• Chocolate Sliders
• Explosion Box album (fill it with pictures of the congratulatory event)
• Footlocker Box to hold a hand made greeting

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