Shaped cards

Ready-made shaped cards are a great way to make handmade cards more interesting. You can get a wide range of shapes, including shoes, handbags, cars and I have even recently come across watering can-shaped cards which would be good for keen gardeners! The idea is that you save time and have a more professional look by using a pre-cut shaped card, but you can decorate it however you want.

A friend gave me a pack of five boot-shaped cards, and I decided to use one for my boyfriend's sister-in-law's birthday card.

I covered the main part of the shoe in strips of paper that had a raised felt design. Bizarrely, these were actually from Laura Ashley - they have a range of card making stuff that I found on http://madaboutcards.com. The strips were about an inch wide and intended as border pieces, so I stuck them as closely together as I could - I don't think you can really see the join. I then used a piece of sticky felt ribbon along the sole of the shoe and at the top, and covered the heel in patterned paper. As a final touch I added some stick-on gems as buttons.

I was really pleased with the way this turned out and have bought some different shaped card blanks to use in future!