Sketch 6 - Card #2

Time for another quick post before the holidays. Taking my cue from the printed paper for both color and design, I layered a thin loop border on top of the big scallop border (both are Accucut dies). Adhering a silk flower with a pearl center on top of the circles (Marvy punches) completes the look.

Whenever you are feeling "design" or "color" challenged, select a piece of printed paper from your stash that you really like as your starting point.  Disect it (mentally, of course!) for design and color and then simply repeat the elements.  Using the "Rule of 3" will also help you create a pleasing look.  Odd numbers tend to give the illusion of balance and 3 seems to be the right number - not too few, not too many. 

If you look closely at this card, you will see that I have 3 colors - lavendar, dark purple and white.  I also have three elements - loops, scallops and dots/circles.  I could have incorporate another color but the lavendar and the dark purple are at opposite ends of the purple spectrum that they can easily work as two different colors.

I hope you and your loved ones have a safe, happy holiday season!

Sketch 6 - Card #1

This is the first of the cards from Sketch 6 - the final sketch for this series.  The basic layout includes a border along the left side of the card, an embellishment in the upper right corner and a stamped verse in the lower left corner.

The border and dragonfly/circle are die cuts from Accucut.  I put a coordinating strip of paper behind the border to make it stand out.

Stay tuned to see how this sketch gets interpreted over the next several cards.

Sketch 5 - Cards #8, #9 and #10

It's time to get back on schedule with my Versatility cards.  If I don't finish up soon, it will be time for next year's cards! So, here we go:

Card #8
I embossed a tan piece of card stock for the square using a Cuttlebug folder.  The bubbles of the embossing mimic the dots in the paper.  A cute pink button and a bow made from sheer brown ribbon add the finishing touches.

Card #9
This card was created using a custom die I had made by Accucut. It is an A2 size card that opens at the top, with a velcro closure under the flap.  You can easily re-create this card by cutting out a large circle with any of the die cutting systems.  A couple of punched flourish shapes and a small flower decorate the flap and the bottom of the card.

Card #10

This card was also made from a custom Accucut die.  It is similar to card #9 but I embossed the entire card front and then highlighted it with a Brilliance ink pad.  The printed paper used on the flap repeats the embossed design to tie the entire card together.



Well, that's it for Sketch 5.  Sketch 6 will start tomorrow!

More Gift Card Holders

I thought I'd share three other pop-up gift card holders I made - one for a birthday, another one for Christmas and one as a general thank you.  The possibilities are endless!

I hope you have fun creating your own versions.  Please be sure to email your finished work to me and I'll add it to a future post for others to enjoy!

Click on the photo to enlarge it for a more detailed look at the cards.







Happy Holidays!

Gift Card Holder

For all of you who attended the MiTi at Stamp Your Art Out last weekend, I'm finally getting around to posting the promised instructions.  The supplies and instructions are for an A2 size card.

This is what the finished project will look like:

You'll need the following general supplies:

• Card stock for an A2 size card and a 5-1/2" x 6" piece of card stock to match the card
• Printed papers, coordinating card stock,  punches, stamps, ink pads, etc. to decorate the card
• 1/4" and 1/2" wide red line tape
• Other adhesive, paper trimmer and scoring tools
  

I'm assuming you can figure out how to decorate the card, so I'm only going to provide photos (click to enlarge) and instructions for the pop-up gift card assembly, followed by some general notes on how I decorated my MiTi card.

Start by cutting a piece of card stock 5-1/2" x 6" and place it in your Scor-Pal (see photo).  This is the piece you will use to make the pop-up.

Note:  For illustration purposes only, I'm using yellow and green card stock in some of the photos and I've highlighted the scoring marks with black and red markers.

Next, score your card stock at the 1-1/2", 3" and 5-1/2" marks (black lines in the photo).

Move your card stock to the right so that the line you originally scored at the 3" mark is now aligned with the 4-1/4" slot (see the red arrow in the photo).

With the 3" score line aligned with the 4-1/4" mark, score the panel at the 5", 5-1/2" and 6" score lines (red marks in the photo).

Fold the card stock on all scored lines.  The middle red line is a valley fold.  All others are mountain folds.

Place 1/2" red line tape just below the bottom score line and 1/4" red line tape just above the top score line.  You'll also need two small pieces (about 1/2" in length of either width) positioned at either end of the piece just above the 3rd score line (below the valley fold).

Do not remove the tape liner until you are ready to adhere that portion to the card.  It will save you a lot of frustration later . . .

Now, it is time to place the pop-up assembly into the card.  Remove the tape liner from the 1/2" strip at the bottom of the panel.  Line it up just below the inside fold line of the card and press it onto the bottom half of the card.





Fold the panel back on itself at the second score line (top of the decorated panel.  Remove the tape liner from the two small pieces and press sections together on the valley fold line.  In my illustration, the "1/2" marking and the little square will be pressed together.

This forms the "pocket" for the gift card to sit in.

Remove the tape liner from the 1/4" wide strip.










Press the front/top of the card down over the exposed tape to adhere it.  Press firmly.

Open the card and ***presto***  just like magic, your gift card holder pops up!










 NOTE:  If you don't have a Scor-Pal, you can use the Score-It Board or a bone folder and ruler. Laying your card stock in the same orientation (6" width running left to right), score at 1-1/2", 3", 3-3/4", 4-1/4", 4-3/4" and 5-1/2".  The rest of the instructions will be the same.

For my "Cool Yule" MiTi card, my supplies were:

• White, dark green and dark red card stock (Marco's Paper)
• Printed paper (JoAnn's)
• "Cool Yule" stamp (Judikins)
• "Trees" stamp (Judkins)
  
• "Happiest Holidays" stamp (Verses Rubber Stamps)
• "Dots" and "Snowflakes" stubbies (Stamps by Judith)
• Tree and zig zag border (Accucut dies)
• Mementos dye ink pads - Summer Sky and Cottage Ivy
• Memories dye ink pad - white

General instructions for decorating the card:

• Stamp snowflake and dots with blue ink on top half of white card
• Stamp "Cool Yule" verse in green ink
• Adhere printed paper to bottom portion of front card
• Adhere strip of dark green card stock across bottom edge of card - use die cut, border punch or decorative scissors to jazz it up!
• Die cut tree from green card stock and stamp dots with white ink.  Adhere with foam tape.
• Cut and score pop up assembly panel.  Decorate panel before applying tape!  
• Follow instructions above for pop-up assembly.
• Stamp verse with green ink and mat with dark red card stock.  Adhere to inside panel.

Thanks again to all who attended the MiTi!