Daydreams Thank You

This thank you card started with an Artful Card Kit called "Daydreams" (HOTP).  The card is a basic center step card (see yesterday's post for where to go to learn how to make this type of card).  As you can probably see, I covered the center front with a green patterned paper from the kit.  I used the allover flower patterned piece for the sides & bottom edge.  The focal was glued in place with foam squares - as was the little flower (both were die cuts from the kit).  The sentiment was stamped on a another die cut & heat embossed.  When adding it, I made sure there was no adhesive under the part that extended past the center part of the card.

For the inside, I cut a piece of pink patterned paper a little smaller than the card & glued it in place.  I then cut two strips of the flower paper for borders & matted on black patterned paper that was cut just a bit wider.  The tag is another die cut - finished with a scrap of ribbon & stamped with a sentiment ("Your Special Day" by JustRite).

Honeysuckle Thank You

Some time ago I made several cards using elements from an Artful Card Kit called Honeysuckle (HOTP). To my mind, the focus was the bees & they were all gone so I had sort of abandoned this kit until I needed to make some masculine thank you cards yesterday and this kit called out to me again.  I made two more cards from this kit (still plenty of elements for more).  Here's my materials list:

• "Honeysuckle" Artful Card Kit (HOTP)
• "Antique Autumn Tags One" stamp (JustRite)
• "Assorted Greetings" stamp (Stampendous)
• "For All You Do" stamp (JustRite)
• "Your Special Day" stamp (JustRite)
• Butterfly stickers from my stash
• Clear Embossing Powder
• Onyx Black Versafine inkpad
• Foam squares
• ATG

 As you can probably tell from the picture above, my first card was a center step card.  (For instructions on how to make this type of card, check out my menu page "card bases from card blanks" and look under "Step Cards" to find "Center Step Cards".)   I covered the center portion with a patterned paper from the kit, and used the black dotted paper for the sides - including the sides of the front.  I added a remnant red border from the kit (I'd used the rest elsewhere) to sort of frame the bottom of the card.  The focal is a die cut from the kit.  I stamped the sentiment (from "assorted greetings") with black ink & heat embossed with clear embossing powder to be sure it didn't smear on the glossy surface.  Then I simply added it to the card front with foam squares for added dimension.

This next picture shows the inside of the card.  I used more of the black dotted paper to create borders & added a couple of die cuts from the kit for interest.  The sentiment was stamped ("For All You Do") onto a piece of artwork from the kit, cut out, and glued in place.

The second card is a standard horizontal card.  I started by covering the card front with some grey patterned paper from the kit (it's actually a border paper, but I didn't use the border part!).  The border you see here is one of the die cuts - as is the bunch of leaves.  The focal is a die cut from the set that is actually in 2 pieces.  On the gray honeycomb piece I stamped a sentiment ("Antique Autumn Tags One") and heat embossed with clear powder to keep it from smearing.  I glued the frame directly to the paper and added the gray sentiment piece on foam tape.  The butterfly was a sticker I had in my stash.  I attached it to a piece of white card stock, fussy cut around it, folded the wings up, and attached it by gluing JUST the body section in the center.

 

The inside of the card is pretty straight forward.  I made a border by cutting a piece of patterned paper & adding the rest of the honeysuckle border die cut (leftover from the front of the card).  The butterfly was another sticker, added the same way as I did on the card front.  I stamped ("Your Special Day") a die cut tag (from the kit), heat embossed the stamped sentiment, & added additional words with a black Pitt pen.

Golden Touch Thank Yous

The twist & pop card I showed yesterday was made using an Artful Card Kit from HOTP called "Golden Touch"  Today's cards are also made using pieces from that kit.  Here is a complete materials list:

• "Golden Touch" Artful Card Kit from HOTP
• Gold Mirri Board (Hunkydory) 
• Beaded Circles dies (Spellbinders)
• Fair Isle Pendants dies (Spellbinders)
• 5" x 6 1/2" card blanks
• Foam Squares
• ATG

Card #1 Card Front: The picture above shows the front of the first card.  I covered the card front with a black patterned paper from the kit.  Next I cut a piece of gold Mirri board just bigger than the die cut I intended to use for the focal.  Now, not wanting to waste all that wonderful Mirri board that couldn't be seen behind the focal, I die cut & embossed the center ("Fair Isle" die) and saved the die cut piece for the inside of the card before matting the focal and attaching with foam squares.  I took a piece of the included border & edged it with a narrow strip of gold Mirri board for the border on the left side of the card.  The sentiment was one of the die cuts but I matted it with a piece of gold Mirri cut & embossed with a "beaded circles" die. I attached that with foam tape & my card front was complete.

Card #1 Inside:  After covering the inside panel with a piece of patterned paper from the kit, I used the piece of gold Mirri die cut I had made when creating the front of the card for the mat for my sentiment (another die cut from the kit). Since the sentiment was more narrow than tall, I decided it needed an additional touch.  I cut a piece of black patterned paper using another of the Fair Isle dies and cut it apart so I could create the look you see in the picture above.  I used another border die piece from the kit & another narrow strip of gold Mirri to create the border on the left.

Card #2 Front: This card is a gate-fold card.  To make a gate-fold card, don't fold along the center of the card, instead score your card so the two ends meet in the middle at that fold line.  The only other thing you need to be careful about is to make sure that when you attach elements to the card front they are only attached to one side or the other - not both!  In this case I cut patterned paper just a little smaller than each panel and glued in place so it had a narrow white border.  I then centered my focal on the card front but ONLY glued it to the left side of the card.  I added a sentiment - once again making sure it was attached ONLY to the left side of the card.

Card #2 Opening:  This picture shows the card partially open so you can see the gate-fold panels.

Card #2 Inside: After covering the inside panel with a piece of patterned paper cut just a tad smaller, I added my decorative elements.  The main piece is a sentiment die cut from the kit.  I matted this on a lighter pink paper (from the kit) that was die cut & embossed using a beaded oval die.  The butterfly in the bottom left corner was another die cut from the kit.  I folded the wings up and then attached it to the card making sure the adhesive was ONLY on the body of the butterfly (not the wings).

Hunkydory Twist & Pop

I recently purchased a pack of card bases from Hunkydory - bases for their "Twist & Pop cards.  This is the first card I've made using this card structure.  In addition to that card base, I used the following materials:

• "Golden Touch" Artful Card Kit from HOTP
• "Assorted Sentiments" stamp set from Stampenous
• "For All You Do" stamp set from JustRite 
• Gold paper ribbon from my stash
• Gold-edged ribbon from my stash
• Black Versafine Inkpad
• Clear embossing powder
• Ribbon from my stash
• Small Heart-shaped punch
• Foam squares
• ATG

Belly Band: The picture above shows the card closed with the belly band, so I'll talk about that first.  The belly band is included with the card base & the card really needs it as it is quite bulky when finished - especially if you use foam tape for added dimension on the card front like I did.  My challenge was that I didn't want it glued closed, like we often do with a belly band, since I had several elements on the front of the card that were raised with foam tape & that would make sliding a belly band on and off a bit of a challenge.  What I ended up doing was, after covering the band with patterned paper from the kit, punching a little heart-shaped hole at one end.  Then I glued the ribbon on "most" of the way around, but left the ends free.  The ribbon from the bottom part threads up through the punched hole & then it is tied in a bow to hold everything in place.

Card Front: This next picture shows the front of the card with the belly band removed.  After covering the entire front of the card with patterned paper, I added a couple of border strips using a gold paper ribbon I had in my stash.  The focal & sentiment are die cuts from the kit - added using foam tape for dimension.

Inside: Next is what the card looks like when opened.  This is where the "twist & pop" comes in.  The four panels pop out when opened, but can be twisted back inside the card when closing it.  The instructions for this card aren't quite as detailed as I'd like - especially when it comes to adding the piece that pops out, but Debbie at Simply Special Crafts has made a video that demonstrates how this is put together.  For the inside, before adding the twist & pop mechanism, I covered the inside with a pastel paper that coordinates with the paper I used for the background of the card.  This gave me plenty of space I could use for writing a note to the recipient later.  The next picture shows a closer view of the 4 panels that pop up.

Pop-Up Panels: I started the pop-up panels by choosing 4 elements from the kit that I thought would coordinate well.  I cut 4 pieces of patterned paper slightly smaller than each panel, inked the edges with Pine Needles distress ink, & glued in place so there was a narrow white border around each. For the two outer panels I added a border of the gold paper ribbon before adding the elements as taken from the kit. On the two elements for the center panels I stamped sentiments with black Versafine ink.  On the oval one I added another die cut flower.  On the rectangular one I added a short hand-written note.  The final step was to take the punched-out die cut corners and arrange them around the rectangular piece on the 3rd panel.