A cat-themed birthday card for my son

I don't normally make greeting cards because I find the constraints of trying to make something that other people like a bit stressful and restrictive to my creativity.  One exception is my son's birthday. The tradition started back in 2014 in my first year of discovering mixed media - so, this is the sixth project in the series. You can find all the previous ones under the birthday label.

Mike wanted a "cat-shaped" card - well, it didn't turn out to be cat-shaped but it's very much cat themed! It's made out of a large recycled cardboard envelope, which was covered in book paper to make it more sturdy. Several layers of gesso, paint and collage later, the substrate became strong enough to hold its own weight standing up, despite its large size, which is just under 14" X 10".

I didn't really have a plan before I started this project - it sort of evolved as I went along over the course of several days. The blood moon was printed off the internet, the cat shape cut on my Cameo and the rest are die-cut pieces.

The inside of the card features photos, cat cartoons printed from the internet, letter stickers, washi tape and a pocket holding a little note card (which you might recognise from an earlier project) with a birthday message on the back and a gelli pinted mini envelope from years ago that holds Oreo's whiskers. We've been collecting his lost whiskers ever since he was a kitten - it kind of became a good luck tradition!

The back of the card has some squares cut from a cute cat fabric that I'd had for many years, even before I became interested in crafting. They just happen to feature the same cat/moon/stars theme as my design on the front of the card so they were a perfect match! 

My son said this is the best card yet I've ever made him so I have my job cut out for next year! There was also the obligatory cake, with god knows how much butter and sugar in it - I'd rather not think about it (and it still looks like it's missing a layer LOL) - and the "official" birthday portrait with Oreo (looking a bit unimpressed!) who celebrated his fourth birthday at the same time.

Happy Sunday! xx