Engaged!

I  recently had the chance to make my very first engagement card and gift card holder set for my sweet niece and her fiance. They were here on vacation last month when her fiance proposed to her on the beach ... so romantic!

Since I had never made an engagement card before, I searched online for ideas and was inspired by the engagement card designed by Crazy Penguin Designs.  Loved her idea of the oversized engagement ring with the whoppin' gemstone! I created the cutting file for my ring in Make the Cut Design program by nestling trianglular shapes together to form the gemstone and joining circles to create the ring. The ring was cut from silver foil board and I used silver glitter cardstock for the gem. "Congratulations!" sentiment was computer generated using Moderne font and printed onto pearlescent cardstock. After adding the ring, the front panel was matted onto white glitter cardstock. 

On the inside I added a fun sliceform pop up, using the "Wedding Glasses Sliceform Pop Up" svg file which I    purchased from the Lori Whitlock Shop. 

Used a lot of  glitter, metallic and pearlescent cardstocks, and even some Stickles glitter glue to give everything glitz and shine!

 

I always have such fun making cards with lots of glitter and sparkle! Plus, using Lori Whitlock's premade svg cutfile helped to make this pop up card come together  very quick and easy.

Couldn't resist making another matching surprise sliding box pop up gift card holder! Decorated the sliding box with "Congrats" die cut using Karen Burniston "Congrats Word Set", and hearts from Impress Cards and Crafts "String of Hearts" die. The ring is from the Lori Whitlock svg file I used on the inside of the card.

Rubberband activated pop up cubes were assembled using Karen Burniston "Surprise Cube Pop Up" dies. A svg cutfile from My Scrap Chick  was used to cut the gift card insert panel, but this time I slid cash in instead of a gift card.

Back To School!

After seeing several very cute backpack cards and treat boxes online, I decided I wanted to try making a backpack shaped card to include with our "Back To School Care Package" that we sent to our granddaughter as she prepared to enter second grade.                                                                              First, I found a simple coloring book image of a school backpack and used Make the Cut Design program to create a svg cutfile for a shaped card. Next, I asked my daughter to send me a photo of the backpack our granddaughter would be using for her new school year so I could maybe try to create a card that would look similar. 

 Honestly, I expected her to send a photo of a backpack with Pikachu or some Pokemon character, but instead this is the picture she sent saying, "Your granddaughter thinks she's a 'nature girl' this year..."

Okay, so this is the card I came up with. I found digital paper on Etsy from designer PrintPatternPapers that I thought looked similar to the floral design on the actual backpack and I added  paper pieced deer which I die cut from now retired Eline's Deer die set. 

Scissors, paint brush with paint set and pencils were die cut from MFT's "Just Add Paint" and "Tools of the Trade" DieNamics. Composition notebook and ruler were created as a print and cut in Make the Cut. These school supplies were then tucked into the front and side pockets of the backpack.

I made my shaped card to be a bottom fold card and inside, I used a red pin striped patterned paper to mimic the lining of the actual backpack. For a quick and easy pop up, I followed Karen Burniston's video tutorial on how to install a double Lorna Label pop up mechanism. However,  because of the height of  my card, I substituted the Lorna Label with a slightly taller bracket style label which I created in Make the Cut.

Our personal  message to our granddaughter was added to the labels using 212 Baby Girl font and the print and cut function. Also added a few flowers cut from Spellbinders "Sealed Blooms" and "Flowering Tree" dies and another deer.

And finally, I made a simple gift card holder embellished with the same die cuts to slip into one of the front pockets of the backpack.                                                                                                                       I really enjoyed making this shaped card; nothing fancy but I think the challenge of trying to recreate a paper version of our granddaughter's new backpack made this so much fun.

Blossoms and Butterflies Pop Up Bouquet

I recently made this butterfly and floral themed birthday card and matching gift card holder to send to a very special friend.

To decorate the front of my card, I started with a top fold card and added a panel which had been cut using Poppy Stamps "Cortina Pinpoint" cover plate die. Spellbinders' "Birthday Unboxing Glimmer" hot foil and die set was used for the sentiment. Cheery Lynn retired "Small Exotic Butterflies #1", Spellbinders' "Club Blooms", and MFT's "Grassy Edges" dies were used to cut the butterflies, grass and flowers.

Teddy bear was paper pieced using "Take Time To Smell The Flowers" svg cutting file from Marjorie Ann Designs.

As the card is opened, a large, colorful bouquet of flowers and butterflies pops forward to unfold from the center of the card. 

 

Inspired by Karen Burniston Design Team Members Sandy Diller and Nicky Foden, I used the "Little Twist Panel Pop Up" die set to create this fun pop up. Instructions and helpful tips from both ladies on how to create this interactive card can be found here and here.                                                             The svg cutfile for the large shadowed "Celebrate!" sentiment was created in Make the Cut Design program using "Hello Valentica" font and cut from gold foil board.

This is actually the third card of this type that I've put together this year. I've been practicing and experimenting with different types and sizes of flowers, the arrangement of the flowers, and this time I added butterflies by attaching them onto strips of clear acetate. I'm learning that a bit a patience is required because I had to carefully open and close the card several times after adding each flower, leaf, or butterfly to ensure each addition would not create a catch point. I found I needed to trim a few petals and leaves as well as rub a few petal edges with some candle wax to get everything to open and close smoothly.

In the end, I was pleased with how the card looked and worked. Really enjoy making this style of card so you can be certain I'll continue making many different versions of this pop up card.

This time I kept the matching gift card holder simple since I wanted everything to fit nicely into a small padded envelope for mailing.

Have a "Meow-velous" Birthday

The card I'm sharing today was created for one of my very special friends who owns a beautiful calico cat named Cheerio. I find it's fun to make pet themed cards for friends who own pets.

For this Double Hinged Pop Up style card, I used Marianne Designs "Eline's Kittens" die set to piece together all the little kitty cats inside.  The shadowed sentiment peeking through the front window on the right side was created in Make the Cut Design Program using Note and Hello Valentica fonts together with the pawprint image. Cupcake was die cut from MFT's "Cupcake and Sprinkles" die. and blinged with some Stickles glitter glue.

As this top fold card is opened, the two panels you see through the front window pop forward and move to the sides to reveal additional side and center panels inside. Template and video tutorial for this interactive pop up card by Tatyana Zhykova can be seen here.

I used a shimmery cream colored cardstock which was dry embossed with a Tim Holtz's "Courtyard" Texture Fade folder for all the panels. It was fun piecing together kitties with different colors and markings.

And yes, I made another matching Slider Box/Surprise Cube Pop Up gift card holder to go along with the card. I used the same "Eline's Kittens" die set for the kitten on the front of the slider box, but this time did some custom cutting in an attempt to create a likeness to my friend's cat "Cheerio".

     

I think both "Cheerio" and my girlfriend approved!