Black Cat Lanterns

I cut and assembled these fun and "not so spooky" lanterns to share with friends on Halloween this year. 

I found the template/svg cut file for these gable box shaped lanterns designed by Quietfire at the Lori Whitlock Shop. The cut out image of the black cat and spider web that I used for the lantern panels comes from Lori Whitlock's three panel Halloween Scene Cat.

The original size of the gable box lanterns turned out to be 2.75 inches wide and 6.5 inches tall. I added another 1.5 inches to the bottom of my lanterns so there would be room to hold Halloween candies.

I also added a shelf inside the lantern so a tea light could be attached, and I changed the bottom closure to a flip top so the tea light would be easily accessible to turn on.

After wrapping the lanterns in cellophane bags, I added a tag so the recipient would know where to find the candies and switch to turn the lantern on.

I'm finding making lanterns and luminaries are fun and thinking I might want to make a Christmas themed one too...

For Fashionista Ghoul Friends

I put together several of these fun paper witch shoes  to share with a group of old "ghoul friends" at a dinner get together we had earlier this month. The template for these was designed and shared by Cindy Louh on her website, Skip To My Lou. 

I used this very same template 12 years ago to make similar witch-y shoes for another group of friends. (See blog post here) They were a big hit back then and well, you know what they say about fashion trends repeating themselves, so I figured I'd try making them again.

The best part about these treat holders was that they were super quick and easy to put together.  

Purple tulle and orange organza bows together with glittery die cut ghosts and skulls adorned the toe of each shoe.

I put the chocolates into cellophane tubes and wrapped them in black tulle and purple satin bows to put into the shoes for a festive look. 

Double Spinner Square Pop Up

The card I'm sharing today was made for a good friend I go walking with to get a little bit of exercise. It's fun and therapeutic to walk and talk with a friend!
 

I knew I wanted to put together walking teddy bears for the front of my card but since I couldn't find a cutfile for one, I ended up using a combo of  cutting files to create an image of  teddy bears walking together. I used Marjorie Ann Designs' "Take Time To Smell The Flowers" and "Franklin Brain Freeze" for the teddy bears, hats and sunglasses; and Cuddly Cute Designs' Girl On Scooter for the sneakers.

On the inside of the card, I installed two sets of Karen Burniston's Spinner Square Pop Up mechanisms for a fun interactive card. As the card is opened, a panel on the left side with the word "Happy" swings up, while a panel with the word "Birthday" simultaneously swings down on the right side.

The pivoting mechanisms which create all the movement are hidden behind the decorated square panels. The mechanism on the right of the card was installed in the usual manner and the the mechanism on the left was installed upside down to get the spinner to rotate in the opposite direction. Karen Burniston's You Tube video tutorial here explains all the details. I've owned and used this Spinner Square Pop Up die to make cards for a couple years now, but only recently have felt confident enough to try two in one card. Don't know why I waited so long... it was easy and so fun!

Pop Up Rubik's Cube Card

Many years ago when we first met our son in law (as our daughter's boyfriend), he used to wow and delight our family by demonstrating his speedy Rubik's Cube solving skills. I recall thinking back then that it would be cool to make some sort of  Rubik's Cube themed birthday card for him, but it took me ten-plus years to finally come up with one for his birthday this year.

The paper pieced Rubik's cube I put together for the front of the card started off as an image I found through a Google search which was rendered into a svg cutting file using Make the Cut Design Studio.

Totally inspired by Karen Burniston's Surprise Pop Up Cube Tutorial, here's a short video showing the fun pop up that I constructed inside my son in law's card.

The three stacked cubes are rubber band activated pop up cubes created using Karen Burniston's Surprise Pop Up Cubes die. I used a template for a Rubik's Cube gift box designed by Creative Print Lab together with the Print and Cut function to do the individual sides for each cube. The cut file for the floating Happy Birthday sentiment was created using Hello Valentica font. A strip of acetate was adhered to it and it was attached to the back of the top cube.

During my Rubik's Cube searches for this project, I came across an interesting diagram of what appears to be drawings submitted by inventor Erno Rubik for application of  an U.S. Patent.  I reprinted the diagram onto cardstock and used it as a fun backdrop for the card.

Rubberband activated pop ups are fun to put together and give, but come with a moderate probability of failure. I usually don't have a problem as long as the card is hand delivered since I will wait till the last moment before putting the card into it's closed, flattened position and into it's envelope. On the otherhand when the rubberband activated pop ups are kept in it's fattened format for too long, the rubberbands may get over stretched and not spring back to pop up. I especially worry about this when I have to mail these types of cards. Happily, the rubber bands in this card survived the three day journey overseas via USPS and popped up perfectly, according to my son in law.

Simply Putt...

Hubby celebrated his birthday this weekend and I managed to come up with another golf themed card for him. Yay!
 

Kept the front of the card very simple. I used an old cut file I created a while back for the golf putter, and the shoes were a freebie svg file I picked up at SVG Cuts. Golfer's jeans were hand sketched to fit with the shoes, then traced in Make the Cut to create a cutfile. Happy Birthday sentiment was hot foiled and cut using Spellbinders "Be Bold Glimmer Sentiments" hot plate and die set.

I decided to create a Double Slider interactive card. As the tab on the right of the card is pulled out, the golf ball slides in the opposite direction to the left of the putter and appears to drop into the hole. I used a video tutorial on You Tube  by Karolyn Loncon of MFT Stamps as a guide for the construction of  the mechanism for this  Double Slider Loop card, found here. 

Slider cards have always been my nemesis because so many things can (and usually do) go wrong that prevent the slider mechanism from working smoothly. This time around, I did a bad job of cutting the channel for the ball to slide along, which caused the ball to get caught along the jagged edge. In an effort to avoid having to redo the entire front panel, I rubbed a candle along the rough edges of the cut line. The wax from the candle really worked to smooth it out and got my slider working smoothly... so happy! 

I attached the slider front to a top fold slimline sized card and added my sentiment together with some golf clip art on the inside of the card.

Hubby was very pleased with his interactive birthday golf card and even suggested an idea for his next... "next time, how about making the golf club swing?"!!!

Rectangle Pop Up Card

My card today is a Rectangle Pop Up card together with a matching gift card holder. 

I purchased the SVG cutting file, "Rectangle Pop Up Arbor" from the Lori Whitlock Store to create my card. The mechanism for this pop is the same as for the hexagonal pop up cards I've been making for a while, the only difference being that the shape of the base of the card is rectangular instead. 

The original file for this card includes the flowering arbor, fence, tree and bird. Just to add a bit more fun, I also added a paper pieced Patches the teddy bear with a watering can from Marjorie Ann Designs "Take Time To Smell The Flowers". I also added a few additional die cut flowers using Spellbinders "Mini Blooms and Sprigs" die.

On the front of the card I used Pink Fresh Studio's "Perfect Sentiments" hot plate and dies to add the foiled "Happy Birthday". The blue panel behind it was dry embossed using an embossing folder from Cuttlebug Decorative Tile Set.

Heres a couple of views of the card from the top and sides which show the struts where all the paper pieced embellishments were attached to. 

Here's the card flattened, ready to go into its envelope. I added a birthday sentiment to the back of the card. I also created and included a small instruction sheet to enclose with the card, just in case the recipient needed help opening her card.

Just another short video of the  gift card holder in action...

Then  just for a little excitement, I used Karen Burniston' Slider Box together with the Bam Box Pop Up, and Surprise Cube Pop Ups for a fun presentation of a gift card.