Here's the card I made to send to my niece for her birthday this year. Just for fun, I had asked for a photo of her new puppy to see if I could create a paper pieced likeness of the pup to add to her card.
I used Marjorie Ann Designs "Love Me, Love My Shih Tzu" svg file to cut the pieces for the dog, adding color with Copic pens and a chalk ink pad to try to match the markings of my niece's pup. Using print and cut function and Christie font, the word "Celebrate!" was added to her bone. I used a Spellbinders Nestabilities Lacey Circle die and an old Sizzix embossing folder for the round frame behind the puppy.
Inside, I used the Flash Pop Up Card mechanism for a fun pop up surprise. As the recipient opens the card, two "flash cards" appear from behind a panel on the right and swing towards each other. Video tutorial for this Flash Card mechanism by Srushti Patil can be found here.
To decorate the inside of the card, I aded another paper pieced puppy and used Kadoodle Bug Designs "Happy Birthday Cat" svg file for the cupcake.
I'm starting to add pockets to the backside of many of my cards lately. I like that it gives me a place to tuck in a gift card or a handwritten note, and find that it also adds sturdiness to the card, which often helps a lot of pop up mechanisms work more smoothly.
Before I go, I wanted to share the photo of my niece's adorable little puppy which I used to recreate her image in paper. How'd I do?
With my mind set on putting together a gardening themed birthday card for a dear and close friend, I thought the Fabulous Flip card style I recently learned how to make would provide the perfect template.
I started by cutting the pieces for the flowers and gardening bears on my Silhouette, using the "Take Time to Smell the Flowers" cutting file from Marjorie Ann Designs.
After inking and paper piecing everything together, I built my scene onto the double panels on the front of the card. Background panels with sentiments were made using the Print and Cut function.
As the frame of the card is pulled to the left, the two front panels "flip" open to reveal their backside.
Inside, I added another paper pieced teddy. more flowers and a wheelbarrow from Marjorie Ann Designs' "Everything Grows With Love" SVG cut file.
To finish, I made a simple gift card holder decorated with more flowers and created a pocket on the back of the card to hold it.
I'm enjoying making cards using this double swing style of mechanism. There's also a single frame style as well as a shutter style version that I've been experimenting with and will share in a future post.
Had a fun idea in mind for a card that I had been wanting to try for my dear friend Kris' birthday. Since I know she likes Sanrio characters, I searched online for an image of Hello Kitty with a camera for the front of my card.
With the help of Make the Cut Design program, the Hello Kitty image was rendered into a cut file. Paper pieced image was adhered to a panel which had been dry embossed using Cuttlebug "Wicker Weave" embossing folder. Cut file for the word "smile!" was created with Miss Elizabeth font, then cut twice and layered for dimension.
Inside the card, I used Karen Burniston's Photo Collage Pop Up mechanism to create this fun collage of Sanrio characters. Images were printed on glossy photo paper and framed in mini polaroid frames cut using dies included in the Photo Collage Pop Up die set.
I used Miss Elizabeth font again to make the cutting file for "happy birthday kris" and attached it to the "photo" of Hello Kitty so it would swing and pop up together with the rest of the photos.
I'm thrilled that I've been having more fun with these collage mechanism dies than I had anticipated. There are a few more very creative ideas using these dies that others have shared online that I'm looking forward to trying soon!
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.
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!
"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.
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!
Before I go, I wanted to share the photo of my niece's adorable little puppy which I used to recreate her image in paper. How'd I do?
