Silhouette Cards

For the silhouette cards, I started with 4x6 profile pictures and carefully cut out the exact features with a pair of small, sharp scissors. I found it harder to cut out these smaller photos than the 8x10 pictures I used for the wall art. It isn't a bad idea to get a couple copies in case of errors.


Using a pencil, I traced around the cut-out photo onto black card-stock paper.

I cut out the silhouettes just inside the pencil mark. If you are feeling adventuresome, try adding a few hair details. Or you can just keep things simple. Either way, I think they look great! Erase any remaining pencil marks.

I've been crazy busy around here, so I didn't have as much time to experiment with Valentine's card styles as I would have liked, but here are two ideas. If you want a way to incorporate multiple silhouettes, try making a little booklet.

Here I cut a standard-size piece of black card-stock paper into fourths. I used three different red monotone patterned papers for the backgrounds and glued down the silhouettes, leaving a bit of extra room at the top to attatch the cards together. I added a fourth page for a Valentine's message. I found a box of vintage-style Valentine stickers and thought one would look nice.

I couldn't find my white gel pen anywhere, so I'll have to pick up a new one this evening. I think I'll write each boy's name at the bottom of each silhouette and then write a message on the last card.

I punched two holes at the top of each card and tied them together with ribbon to make a little booklet. They will be easy to take apart if the recipient wishes to display each silhouette or add them to an album.
I made a second card using one piece of folded black cardstock. Recognize the circles? I thought it would be fun to add that element to a card. In fact, if you don't have silhouettes, I think a card with a collage of small circles or other repeated cut-out would be fun. Using a variety of pink and red patterned paper and possibly a heart punch would make a great Valentine's card. It would be easy to use magazines and catalogs for the patterned paper when the punches are small.

My cousin, Amy, made small silhouette cut-outs and glued them to petite artist's canvases (painted with a background color) as Valentine's gifts for the grandparents. What a terrific idea!
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UPDATE: Bella Art Girl posted pictures of the Valentine silhouettes she created before my post was up. Isn't that fun?