Be Bold Blooms Birthday Card

 This the the first of the two birthday cards I needed to finish within a week that I mentioned in my last post. 

I used the same Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms die, this time using more purple and lavender shades for the various blossoms. Paper pieced teddy bear cutting file comes from Marjorie Ann Designs' "Patches the Bear Birthday".  I used Ballerina font for the computer generated sentiment on the front of the card, and Sizzix embossing folder "3 Dots" to add texture to the white panel. Difficult to see but I also randomly adhered a few flatback dewdrops to the flowers and background.

On the inside, I added a Pop Up Accordion Panel (aka Twist Panel Pop Up) mechanism. But instead of the four rectangular panels typically seen with this style of card, I made an accordion folded shadow cut "Happy Birthday" greeting using Arial Black font to twist and pop up as the card is opened.

Having fun playing with this Spellbinders floral die set and experimenting with different color combinations. I'm really bad at mixing and matching colors but am learning a lot by studying the different color combos other crafters have been using to make their cards with this die set.

Be Bold Blooms Retirement Card

I received my long awaited order of Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms dies in the mail last week and it couldn't have come at a more perfect time! I had procrastinated for too long and was in need of  three cards and a lot of inspiration in a hurry. I'm a very slow crafter so three cards in one week from me is quite a stretch. But getting to play with this new die set really helped to get the creative juices flowing again!

I'm usually not a fan of die cut or paper pieced floral arrangements but this Spellbinders Be Bold Blooms die set caught my interest because the set includes several different types and sizes of blossoms and foliage that can be mixed and matched and look great together. I also really like that the dies have lots of embossed details that add pretty textures to the petals, leaves and flower centers.

This retirement card for a former coworker was the first card I made using my new die set. I used a Sizzix embossing folder, "Argyle #2" to add texture to the panel on the front of my card, cut a window and added the die cut flowers and leaves. Through the window you can see a die cut adirondack chair.

On the inside, I used Karen Burniston's "Rockin' Rectangle Pop Up" mechanism die to animate my card.  As the card is opened, the panel with the chair pops forward and "rocks" to the right to reveal another panel with the sentiment underneath. This has become one of my favorite pop up mechanisms to create a fun and fairly quick interactive card.

I used the same dies to create a matching gift card holder to enclose with my card. Really happy that these floral dies make it easy and fun to decorate cards. In my next post I'll share the other two cards I was able to finish in time thanks to this die set.