Out of my box - Some truly special custom cards!

Hi there stampers!
Every now and then, I have people contact me for some custom cards that they have in mind for a special somebody. I love doing some custom work as it stretches my creative juices a bit outside my normal "box" and I figure that is good for me.  I thought you would like to see some of these ideas! 

My first request was for a friend whose daughter is a nurse and she wanted to give her a special card for Nurses' Week. I didn't have any "medical" stamps on hand, but was able to come up with something that worked and I think reflected the heart of this mom and her daughter! I used a familiar "gate fold" design for the card and some lovely retired Designer Series Paper

My second project was a card requested by my son, Sam. He wanted a graduation card for a specific friend of his that is graduating from Billings Senior High soon. Sam's exact words were "make in orange and black and if you can throw a bucking broncho in there, that would be great"!  My horse and horseshoe die are not from Stampin'Up! but the rest of the of the elements are! When I heard orange and black, I went straight to my stash of Halloween paper!

My last request I'm showing you today comes from a best friend that I've known since 7th grade. She wanted some custom cards for her grandchildren who were recently baptized. This project was definitely more challenging as I tried to come up with something that reflects the personality of each kid, as well as the significant milestone event. I used a combination of retired, current and soon-to-be released stamps and products to help me create these cards. I neglected to photograph the insides of the card, but I added some more graphics and sentiments to really make these cards special.

I'm currently working on another project for a client that is stretching me even further! I'll share the details once I've got it finalized!   If you get the chance to take on some custom work, try it!  It's a little stressful but super fun. My advice is to ask questions and get an idea of what the customer has in their head and see if you can reproduce it if possible. You also have to be brave and speak up when their idea doesn't work and guide them towards a concept that works for them and is reproducible by you and your stamps!

Thanks for taking a peek!
Sarah