Sunday, May 29, 2022

Get Well Flash Pop Up Card

I made and sent this get well card to a favorite aunt as she was recovering from her recent knee replacement surgery. 
 

I picked up the cutting file for this adorable paper pieced turtle as a freebie a few years ago from Little Scraps of Heaven Design and was thrilled to finally have the perfect opportunity to put him together.

For the interactive element in this card, I installed the mechanism for what Srushti Patil calls a "Flash Card".  

As the card is opened, two card panels on the right side of the card appear from the panel behind the turtle and swing together toward each other.   

For my card, I added the sentiment "Have a" and "speedy recovery" on the card panels. Walking turtle paper piecing cut file also comes from Little Scraps of Heaven.

When trying to decide on a sentiment for my card, I checked the internet for ideas and was surprised to find lots of get well cards specifically made for those who are recovering from knee replacement surgery. I couldn't resist choosing a couple "punny" ones I liked to add into my card.

I really like the movement in this interactive card style. If you too would like to give it  try, the video tutorial by Srushti Patil can be seen here


Sunday, May 22, 2022

Welcome Sachi!


This is the "Welcome New Puppy" card I made when my sister and brother in law brought a new Shiba Inu puppy into their home. They named her "Sachi", which is the Japanese word for "happiness".

For my card, I cut a window on the front and layered a stencil cut paw print panel on top. I used an older Shiba Inu cutting file I had created a few years ago for my Year of the Dog calendars and sized it up to fit into the window. Next, I searched for  a simple image of a doggie bed and rendered it into an svg cut file so  my puppy would have a comfy place to sit.

Inside, I used the Karen Burniston's Spinner Square Pop Up die. As the card is opened, the square panel with the puppy pops forward and an arm with the sentiment, dog toys and dish spins out from behind the square.  

 "Welcome Sachi" sentiment was created as a print and cut using LaFemme font and a shadow cut. Cut files for Sachi's toys and bowl were created from coloring book images.

On the backside of the card I used another stencil cut pawprint panel to create a pocket for a gift card holder.

Here's a photo of sweet Sachi. She's still a baby, but growing fast! Hope her mommy buys lots of toys and treats with the gift card!


Sunday, May 15, 2022

Bluey Themed Birthday

"Wackadoo!" Earth completed another trip around the sun and suddenly our granddaughter was five years old.  This year she requested a "Bluey" themed party. 

Do you know Bluey? She's an Australian Blue Heeler puppy in a Disney animated series for children. Together with her sister Bingo, the two pups encounter some fun and unpredictable adventures. 
I picked up a set of layered Bluey cutting files and clipart on Etsy to create a paper pieced Bluey to add to the front of my card.


autoplay loop Inside the card, I added the mechanism from Karen Burniston's "Mailbox Pop Up" die set to create a fun "Double Spinner Pop Up Card".  Since it's difficult to show the spinning movement of this pop up card through still shots, Hubby helped to capture the fun in this short video.

I used the print and cut feature in Make the Cut design program to make cut outs of Bluey and her sister Bingo and attached them to the spinning mechanism. Video tutorial by Karen Burniston on how to assemble this fun pop up using her "Mailbox Pop Up" die can be watched here. Love that she always shares alternate creative ways to use her dies to make different interactive cards.

It's not always easy when you live an ocean away from your grandchildren and you want to help with their themed birthday parties. I wasn't able to do much; I printed up a bunch of bag headers for some of the goodies that were going into the treat bags...

 
... made Bluey lollipop holders,

  
... and silly Bluey and Bingo hats ...

... that even the dog didn't want to wear.
Nevertheless, I'm told the party was a big hit and the kids had a great time.

Sunday, May 8, 2022

Mother's Day Cards

I am often amazed by the number of different shapes and styles of box cards creative card makers have come up with in recent years. This fun envelope shaped box card from the Lori Whitlock store especially caught my eye and I thought it would make sweet Mother's Day cards to send to my friends who are moms.
 

The original cutfile by Lori Whitlock creates a card about 3.5" x 4.5" in size. I increased the size of the card by about 25%; mostly because I was in a hurry to get these done and I didn't want to worry about intricate fiddly cuts.

The finished size of my cards was about 5.5" x 4.25" with a depth of 0.75".  The only other change I made was to add an insert of printed paper on the backside of the card.

Here's the view from the top where you can see the center panel with the flowers inside the envelope box. I used Stickles glitter glue and a white gel pen to add some bling and accents to the flowers and butterflies.

I added a insert panel to the back of the card where I used a stitched oval die to create a space to add my sentiment. These were easy to assemble and I was pleased at how they turned out. Wish I had gotten started sooner so I could have made more!

Here's the Mother's Day card I put together for my mom. I decided to keep the front of the card simple with a sentiment behind a gold bordered window embellished with a few flowers.

Flowers were cut from Cottage Cutz' "Teacup Mouse" die, and leaves from Stampin' Up's "Little Leaves" die. Flatback adhesive pearls were used for the flower centers.

On the inside, I used Karen Burniston's photo collage die to animate eight photos and a die cut sentiment for a fun surprise. 

"Happy Mother's Day" shadowed cut was created using Brisk font in Make the Cut Design program. Die cut words "love" and "you" were cut from dies from Karen Burniston's Pop 'n Swap die set and I used Punch Bunch mini punches to cut the flowers and leaves.
Happy Mother's Day to all the moms out there. Hope you are relaxing and enjoying your special day!