St. Patrick's Day Greetings

Do you enjoy making and sending handmade greeting cards as much as I do? I never miss an occasion to create a special greeting. With St. Patrick's Day just around the corner, I knew that I wanted to make paper castings using molds from Arnold Grummer's.

Here are the molds that I selected and the castings that I made:

Shamrock Mold
Thistle Mold
Lotus Mold

I followed these basic instructions for making paper castings. But, I experimented a bit. I achieved the mottled green coloring in the top shamrock casting by adding a drop of food coloring to the partially strained paper pulp, and gently kneading the color through the pulp just before plopping the pulp into the mold. I also discovered that if I didn't like the coloration, I could hold the strainer containing the paper pulp under a gentle flow of tap water and the color would, for the most part, wash away!!

For the thistle casting, I sprinkled the casting with clear ultrafine glitter as soon as the casting was removed from the mold and was still wet. As it dried, the glitter adhered to the surface. Coloring for the last casting was more conventional. I added tissue tints to the blender as I was processing the pulp.

To make the cards I first a cut a card base 8.5"W x 5.5"H and an inner liner 4.25"W x 5.5"H. I scored the card base at 4.25" and folded the card. Next, I cut a 3" circle in the center of both the card front and the inner liner. Now is the time to decorate the card fronts and add any sentiment to the inside of the card. I embossed these card fronts.

To make the paper cast inserts, glue two casting together, back to back, with a length of strong string or twine sandwiched between them. Take care to orient the string in the center of the castings from top to bottom. For gluing handmade paper castings I prefer a non-water base adhesive such as ZipDry by Beacon Adhesives. I find that water-based adhesives tend to get absorbed into the paper rather than adhering the layers. Let the casting dry thoroughly.

Position the castings in the center of the inner liner with the string extending from the top and bottom. Tape the string in place with Scotch tape. Use a tape runner along the edges of the inner liner. Position the card front on top of the inner liner, carefully aligning the openings.

Ta-da!! A handmade greeting card to send to someone special.

Take advantage of our March sale. Use coupon code EARTH20 and get a 20% discount on your purchases!!

You can see more projects on my Create & Craft blog.

Carole