Recently I made a special birthday card to mark my mum’s special birthday. It was a present within a present really, as I made a small light catcher as the focal point of the card. It brings new meaning to the term ‘gift card’! The idea is to keep the light catcher in the card while it is on display with other cards, and then remove the light catcher later, to hang up as a more long-lasting gift and memento.

I have been experimenting with various glass pens and paints and liked the look of a black outline filled with bright colours. A butterfly is a natural choice to celebrate lots of patterns and colours. I drew a butterfly outline on a piece of thin card and cut a small piece of clear glass to the size I wanted for the light catcher.

I put the butterfly design under the glass and traced off the outline with a black glass pen. I added shapes and patterns in black. Then I filled in the gaps with different, bright colours. In order to set the colours onto the glass, I baked the glass in the oven.

Once it had cooled, I added a border of copper foil and soldered on a little hanging loop. I blacked the border and added a ribbon.

The card itself was made from thin card that I folded into three. The idea was to hide the extra ribbon behind the folded panel and secure it in place.

This was a fun idea to carry out – I like the idea that a card can hold a lasting present that will remind the recipient of their special occasion every time they look at it.

My mum was delighted with this unique, handmade card (she received lots of other creative presents too) and I’ve subsequently had orders for more cards from people who have seen the original one. I am refining the design so it will fit a ready-made tri-fold blank card, so watch this space as I may do more of these if there is a demand in the future… I’d love to hear your thoughts!