Friday 18 October 2013

Barbie fest

Yesterday our eldest Grand daughter Mia was six years old :) Wahoo, how did that happen so soon?

Both she and her little sister Olivia (Livi), who has a Birthday not long after Mia's, absolutely adore Barbie in any way, shape or form. I'm sure they'll grow out of it but for this Birthday I made their cards based on Barbie images:

I used:

- 6" x 6" scalloped square white card blanks

- plainish backing papers from Prima's 'Firefly' paper stack

- now the Barbie images. I found a website offering free Barbie screensavers and managed to copy and tweak a couple of sample images. It just shows what can be found if you search hard enough. These were backed with snippets of toning card at a jaunty angle, die cut using a Nesties scalloped rectangular die

- all the letters and numbers were die cut using Britannia dies - am still unhappy with those individual letters but did trim some of the swirls down - the V looked like the letter N and for goodness sakes, who leaves the letter A hanging in the air at the right hand side? But that how it was - I cut it twice in disbelief. Better designed single letter dies are now on my Christmas wish list :)

- and as little girls like all things sparkly, and Mia and Livi are no exception, I added lots of sparkly stickers bought from Accessorize many moons ago

The cards also had another meaning as Mia's Birthday gift from us is Barbie and her horse and Livi's is the winged horse and chariot.

So far so good - but these had to go all the way to Germany and the parcels, although quite light were mahooooosive. Len reckoned that the box containing Livi's gift was almost as big as she is. After checking Parcel Post rates online I went and lay down in a darkened room - Livi's parcel alone was going to cost UK £54 to send  - sheesh! I could almost have hopped on a cheap flight and taken it in person.

But, after more online searching I found a much better option - Interparcel Limited to the rescue. Both parcels went for almost half what it was going to cost for just the one, a courier (from UPS) collected them from home on the appointed day and within my requested time slot - and they arrived within a few days. Result!

Hope you had a Happy Birthday Mia!

Di
x

17 comments:

  1. Oh, you're a good grandmother and made cards you knew would be loved to the moon and back. They're perfect and sparkly and all things little girls adore.
    Glad you found cheaper postage but as we all know, you would have paid whatever you needed to make those granddaughters happy. :-)
    Yes, they grow up soooo fast.

    ReplyDelete
  2. These are adorable cards, and perfect for the matching gifts for your grandchildren! I'm so glad you found more reasonable shipping rates! I think shipping costs should all be standard regardless of where the package is going! If only I ruled the world...........sigh

    ReplyDelete
  3. Great cards there Mrs. I know what you mean about the post - it does not make sense!
    Hugs
    xx

    ReplyDelete
  4. Fab cards Di my daughter was mad on Barbie when she was little cost us a fortune LOL huggles Sue xxx

    ReplyDelete
  5. Two gorgeous card Di...those little girls will be so pleased to see their favourite Barbie on them.

    My little sister had the Barbie with the horse and horse trailer. She kept it all those years and gifted it to my daughters...now Little Miss C has it!

    I love the sparkly butterflies you used...it adds the lovely touch of bling that children love.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Awww what a lovely crafty Nanna you are :)
    I am sure the girles will be thrilled with these beautiful cards and their presents too(can't believe how much it was going to cost to post them eeeek!!)
    Hope you are having a fabby holiday,
    hugs,Nessa xxx

    ReplyDelete
  7. Happy Birthdays to your gorgeous girls Di. What fab cards....I'm sure they will love them.
    Hugs,
    A x

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lovely girly cards. I am sure the little ones will adore them. Enjoy it while you can. They'll be mini-goths or emos by the time you can turn around! Kate x

    ReplyDelete
  9. Lovely cards Di. I'm sure they will love them. I solve the postage rates by usually buying from a certain well known online store and getting them to gift wrap and deliver direct!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Awww - sweet cards for sweet girls. You are wonderful. Good job you did some research on the postal rates though!

    Hugs
    Sarn xxx

    ReplyDelete
  11. Perfick cards Miss. I love all that sparkle. You'll have two happy children there when they open the parcels up. Good that you found a cheaper parcel rate. Not one I knew about. I just pay the rate at the post office but will think twice next time before I do.
    hugs Mrs A.

    ReplyDelete
  12. There are going to be 2 very happy little girls in Germany :-)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I bet they will love the cards as much as they will love the Barbie. Really pretty cards and perfect for such young little ones. It's amazing what you can find on the internet these days.
    I hope you's aving a lovely oliday Miss. They's behaving all right cos Hettie's keeping Mrs A in check lol xx

    ReplyDelete
  14. Two fabulous barbie cards ... I'm sure Mia and Livi will LOVE them! Loll xx

    ReplyDelete
  15. Two fabulous cards for two lovely girls, bet they went down a storm.

    Kath x
    Well done on finding cheaper postage, we just tend to take the PO for granted and not look else ware.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Did these Barbie cards bring back some sweet memories. Our DD (who is 46) loved all things Barbie at one time (still has some memorabilia tucked away). Loved reading how you found the images and made them so personal. Little girls love these colors and all the glimmer. Wonderful job on the cards, and they are sure to be a big hit, and especially so, with the gifts you sent. Glad you found a less expensive postage rate! TFS & Hugs

    ReplyDelete
  17. Hi Di, Mia had indeed a very special birthday card and you should have seen her little face seeing the card. It was showing a huuuuge questionmark '...how did she get Barbie on my card???' You know, we love your cards and they always get a special place for some time in the girls room. She is sooo happy with her new Barbie toy. Unfortunately we had big crocodile tears in the afternoon, when all her friends came for the party. Mia was so focused on playing Barbie with her new Skipper riding horsie toy, but the others didn't want to play Barbie ... so we had the birthday girl in tears, but not for long. Luckily dinner was ready at that time ... puuhhh. Lots of love and speak to you soon

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much if you take the time to comment!

This is a public blog. Those leaving a comment on any post on this blog or entering a piece of artwork into a linky do so in the knowledge that their name and blog link are visible to all who visit this blog and in so doing have published their own personal details and consented to my use of that personal information should they be selected as a winner or to accredit work.