Arch of Leaves Pop Up Card

As the days begin to get noticeably shorter I'm realizing the holiday season has already begun. I found myself scrambling for ideas for a card to include with our Thanksgiving "care package" that we send to our granddaughter each year. When I came across Jennifer Webster's beautiful fall themed arch pop up card posted on her blog, I knew I wanted to try something similar.                                                         

I kept the front of my card simple by only adhering a sheet of pretty patterned paper with autumn leaves to it. Since this card ended up being quite bulky, I decided to use a belly band to help keep it closed. That meant both the label with my greeting and the paper pieced deer I wanted to put on the front had to be glued on to the belly band.

Inside, I installed the mechanism from  Karen Burniston's  "Arch Pop Up" and added lots of die cut leaves, acorns, and even a couple pumpkins cut using Karen Burniston "Autumn Elements" set. Smaller leaves were cut using very old Carl and Marvy Uchida punches. Marianne Collectable dies were used to die cut and piece together the two deer for this card.

For some additional pop up fun, I glued a rubber band activated Karen Burniston "Small Scenes Bam Box" to the back of the deer so it would pop up to its upright position as the card is opened.

Really had fun putting this arch pop up card together. I ended up adding more leaves to the arch than I initially thought would be needed, which resulted in quite a bulky bulgy card... next time I think I will add at least a quarter inch spine to the center to help the closed card lay flatter. 

Thanks for stopping by to visit today; relax and enjoy Thanksgiving... Christmas holiday madness starts tomorrow!

Thanksgiving Hugs

This is the card I created to send to our granddaughter together with her Thanksgiving "care package" this year.
 

I used Marianne Design's Squirrel die together with Karen Burniston's Autumn Elements and word dies to decorate the front of the card.

On the inside of the card, I added a pull down panel...

As the panel is pulled downwards, a little raccoon pops up from inside the pumpkin.

I used one of my favorite Karen Burniston pop up die sets, the "Parcel Pop Up" to add this surprise pop up element to my card. Click on the video to watch this fun pop up in action.

The cutting file for the pumpkin was created in Make the Cut Design program. Squirrel and Raccoon were cut and pieced together using dies from Marianne Designs. I used MFT's Grassy Edges die for the grass border, and Karen Burniston's Autumn Elements and word dies for the leaves and sentiment.

I added our sentiment to the left side of the card as a "print and cut" using a fancy label svg created in Make the Cut. Being that we live an ocean apart from our granddaughter means we aren't able to spend most holidays together but we hope she'll remember we have her in our hearts and thoughts when she receives this card.

I also quickly put together these treat holder boxes to share with friends we had lunch with earlier this month. Using a  svg cutfile from Cuddly Cute Designs called "Wishbone Bear" I pieced together the Pilgrim Bear to add to the front of the boxes.

The template for the treat holder is a simple one; I just made a box that would fit the bottom of the box of Moose Munch Popcorn, making the front and side panels tall enough to join together at the top to tie together with a bow.

Every Thanksgiving, I look forward to receiving a wonderful handmade card from my dear friend Bev. This year her card was this fun Triple Cube Pop Up in beautiful autumnal colors.

Here's what the card looks like from the top...

... and a view of the back. I really love the cute printed paper and layers of matching cardstock Bev chose to create her card, how she used colorful leaves and squash to embellish the front, and especially the way she placed her sentiment inside the two front cubes to pop into view as the card was unfolded.

Thank you for stopping by today. Hope you have an enjoyable Thanksgiving day.

Swing Through Accordion Thanksgiving Card

This is the card I put together to send with our little Thanksgiving "care package" to our granddaughter this year.  
 

I've been wanting to try a landscape format accordion card for quite awhile, especially after seeing all the wonderful cards others have been creating in this style.  For the base of my card, I used Lori Whitlock's Swing Through Valentine Card Cut file, and adjusted the length of the window and frame of the card to be rectangular. Each of the three panels measures 7.25" x 4.25".

Although the finished card is too large to fit into a legal size envelope, I intentionally made this card oversized because I wanted to be able to comfortably fit the cute raccoon and fox die cuts onto the panels.

Several different die sets were used to decorate the three card panels. Marianne Design Eline's Collectibles dies were used to create the fox and raccoon, Lawn Fawn's Grassy Borders, Karen Burniston's Upsy Daisy Pop Up for the flowers, Spellbinders Be Bold Blossoms for the leaves, and a retired Quickutz die for the pumpkin.

I added our computer/printer generated sentiment to the center panel of the accordion. Thank you for stopping by today. Hope you're having a relaxing and enjoyable Thanksgiving!

A 3-D Turkey for Thanksgiving

While searching for ideas and inspiration for a fun card we could send to our granddaughter for Thanksgiving, I came across the cutting file for this 3-D paper turkey designed by Chirpy Llama Art Studio on Etsy.

What I liked the most about this turkey was that it looked like a simple version of a sliceform papercraft with layers of  feathers and the turkey body slotted together. Sliceform papercrafts always ingtrigue me, but I haven't had the courage to try one yet. This one looked easy enough for a beginner like me!

Happily, I was able to cut and assemble the pieces to put this little guy together pretty quickly. There was lots of room behind the last row of feathers to add our personal Thanksgiving wishes.

Neatest thing about these sliceform projects are how they flatten so easily to slide into an envelope for mailing.

I had so much fun putting this 3-D  turkey together that I wanted to share the fun with our granddaughter. So I cut the pieces to the turkey again, this time about 30% larger (for tiny hands) and made a step by step photo instruction sheet for easy assembly. We put everything into a large envelope and mailed it as part of  our Thanksgiving "care package" from Grampa and Gramma.

May have been "too easy" for her but hope she had fun making a turkey for Thanksgiving!

Before I go, I wanted to quickly share this beautiful intricately cut Thanksgiving display card that came in the mail for us from a very dear friend.

I especially love the combination of vibrant fall colors for the pumpkin and leaves together with the pearlized gold frame and easel...so pretty!

I hope everyone is enjoying the Thanksgiving holiday today with friends and family. Tomorrow: Black Friday and full steam ahead to Christmas!

Thanksgiving Treats

I'm a week late, but I thought I should post these Thanksgiving projects before I get too wrapped up in Christmas stuff and forget. As much as I love Thanksgiving, for some reason I always fall behind and struggle to create anything fun to share with others for this holiday. Luckily, I have two crafty friends who are on the ball and always have a creative RAK to share for Thanksgiving.

This sweet Thanksgiving bendi card was created and sent to me by my dear friend Bev. I think this is the very first bendi card I've ever received and I love it! Bendi cards are especially fun because the recipient gets to play a part in putting it together to create a neat three dimensional display style card.

 

My super creative friend Lorna came up with this sweet treat box which she filled with my favorite candies. I thought her paper pieced roasted turkey and pumpkin pie were adorable; and I really liked how she added a cute seasonal kokeshi stamped image from Dandelion Designs to adorn her treat holder.

I was feeling a little guilty because I knew I was behind schedule and didn't have time to put a Thanksgiving card together for our 4 year old granddaughter this year. A week before Thanksgiving, I came across a post by a member of Dreaming Tree's Facebook group about how she had cut out a paper pieced turkey and sent it unassembled to her grandson for a fun Thanksgiving craft project. What a brilliant idea, right? I didn't have time to come up with a fun interactive card, but I knew I'd have time to cut the pieces for a paper pieced turkey and send to our granddaughter to assemble herself.  I also adhered a simple folding frame to the back of the base piece so turkey could stand up for display once it was completed. Prior to mailing, I snapped step by step shots for assembly instructions to include with the turkey pieces.

Happily, it turns out she had a great time putting her turkey together.

Only problem, I'm told was that "It was too easy" and to "Please make the next one more challenging"!

Thankful

Keeping true to a promise I made to myself when our granddaughter was born, this is the Thanksgiving card I made and sent to her this year. Now that she is 3, she enjoys interactive cards, and I of course enjoy making them for her! 

Here's a quick video to show the fun pop up surprise that I put into her Thanksgiving card.

The body of the pop up turkey is actually a rubber band activated hexagonal "ball" created with Karen Burniston's "Surprise Ball Pop Up" die.

I have to admit that when Karen Burniston first released this hexagonal pop up ball die a year ago, I really didn't think I would be buying it. But within a few weeks of its release, creative Karen Burniston fans and crafters began creating and sharing  the cutest little pop up critters, from unicorns to Baby Yoda and more using this hexagonal ball on Karen Burniston's Facebook fan page. It didn't take too long for me to realize I really NEEDED this die after all!

To create my turkey, I used parts from the turkey in Cuddly Cute Design's "Pilgrim Cuties" and glued them on to the hexagonal ball. The ball was then attached to the card with a brad, which allowed the turkey to turn and swivel inside the card. I glued an extra panel of cardstock to the backside of the finished card to hide the brad.

Then to keep the turkey flat and the card closed, I added a flap to the right side of the card and inserted  thin but strong neodymium magnets  in between the layers of cardstock of the flap and front of the card.

Cutting file for the paper pieced Pilgrim teddy on the front of the card comes from Cuddly Cute Design's "Pilgrim Bears".  She was adhered to an oval panel which was run through the "Three Dots" Sizzix Textured Impressions embossing folder from Birthday Set #2. A double layer of ovals was added behind this to create a frame. "Happy Thanksgiving" greeting was created using Expose font and the print and cut function on the Silhouette.

For the Indian teddy on the inside, I used the same teddy bear from the Cuddly Cute Designs "Pilgrim Bears" cutting file together with the Indian costume and corn from another Cuddly Cute Designs file called "Indian Mouse". I really had fun putting this card together and playing with the hexagonal ball pop up. I'm looking forward to experimenting and trying to create many more fun pop up critters with this ball!

Thanksgiving will be a little different  this year since we'll be limiting our celebration to our bubble of just three of us. Even so, I felt the need to connect with family so I decided to make a batch of Cheetos, Bugles, Fritos snack mix to share with those we'll be missing.

I put the snack mix into recycled  half gallon mayo and nut jars that I had been saving and decorated them very simply with just a band of printed paper and an oval matted label adorned with a cute paper pieced turkey. Slid the bottles into cello bags and added a bow as a final touch to make them look festive. Only had time to make half a dozen of these; really wish I had started earlier so I could have done a second batch.

Before I close, I want to share a couple sweet surprises I received from crafty friends this week...

I got happy mail! This adorable Thanksgiving mini shadowbox created by my sweet friend Bev really helped to brighten my day. Cute little squirrel and coordinating fall themed images were created using the print and cut function on her Silhouette and added to to struts inside and on the front of this fun shadowbox card. So darned cute!

Isn't this Pilgrim's Hat treat box created by my dear crafty pal Lorna the cutest ever?   I love how Lorna made this hat box designed by Snapdragon Snippets extra special by adding  the pretty paper pieced sunflower and polka dot hatband to add a touch of whimsy. "Thankful for You" was sketched onto the flower center by using the pen holder and sketching function on her Cameo... so cool!

Coping with all the changes and precautions needed to keep safe and healthy this year has been a bit stressful at times, but thankfully,  my passion for crafting and keeping in touch with close friends and family has helped a lot. Feeling so thankful and blessed. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Thanksgiving Turkey Double Slider Card

Happy Thanksgiving! Thanksgiving came late this year, which turned out to be a good thing since it gave me a little extra time to put together a card to send to our granddaughter. Although I'm not accustomed to making Thanksgiving cards, I promised myself when she was born that I would make an honest effort to try and make and send cards to our her on  special holidays, especially since she lives an ocean away and we aren't able to celebrate in person with her.

I found a lot of cute Thanksgiving themed cutting files over at Cuddly Cute Designs and chose to use the "Pilgrim Cuties" paper piecing file for the front of my card. All the pieces were cut from white and black cardstock and colored in with Copic markers. For the background, I used distress oxide inks applied with cosmetic brushes and temporary stencils cut from Lawn Fawn puffy cloud and stitched hillside border dies. 

Then, inspired as always by all the fun interactive double slider cards designed and shared by the talented Anita Chang on Instagram, I decided I wanted to try one too.

Pull the tab located on the bottom right hand side of the card and a turkey slides into view from behind the little Pilgrim boy and girl. I'm hoping our granddaughter will get a kick out of this! 
Instructional video by Christy Gets Crafty on how to create this type of double slider card using MFT DieNamic's Double Slider Slot die may be viewed here.

On the inside, I used Doodlebug's Flea Market Tree border from the Lori Whitlock Shop to add some color.
Best wishes to everyone for an enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday today, whether you decide to spend it eating and relaxing with family, watching football, or going shopping. Me? I'll see 'ya at the mall!