FAIRY CARD

CARD FRONT

It's easy to focus on the front of a greeting card and forget that there are at least two panels inside and one on the back as well that all invite decoration.  Janet has gone one step further by using a three panel card and adding a variety of papers and elements from Kaiser;s "Fairy Garden" range to produce a really sweet fairy-themed card.

The largest die on the front is also from Kaiser - the "whimsical circle frame".  Other elements have been fussy cut and mounted with foam tape to add dimension.

This would obviously be a lovely birthday card or maybe a very special greeting from the tooth fairy?

INNER PANELS

3D FLORAL BOUQUET WITH EMBOSSED FRAME

3D FLORAL BOUQUET

Unfortunately, this picture probably doesn't show this card to best effect, however I'll explain the technique so you can get the general idea.

I began with a piece of paper featuring lots of flowers (some in repeat) - this one's from Kaiser- and fussy cut several elements from it.

I used two square dies, one placed inside the other, in conjunction with a rubber mat to emboss a frame on the front of a square white singlefold card from Regal (SPL1).

After that I arranged the cut-out flowers, leaves and butterflies on the card, and before sticking them down, shaped them (you can use a tool and a mat but I just used the palm of my hand and my fingers).  I added further dimension by positioning one cut flower over another of the same type and using various combinations of flat double sided tape and foam dots to achieve different levels.

As I mentioned, the card looks a lot better in reality.  The actual construction of the card is quite speedy, but arranging the "bits" can take some time if you're that way inclined!

HEART CUT-OUT CARD WITH FLOWERS AND BUTTERFLIES

DOUBLE HEART CARD

Spring is in the air (or am I just being overly optomistic).  In any case here's a pretty card by Marilyn to get you into the spirit.

She has taken a textured white heart cut-out card (HE1) from Regal Craft Cards, and used both the aperture and the heart.  Decoration is added with lots of hole-punched flowers in various sizes and some butterflies fluttering around. Kindyglitz, glitter glue has been used around the outside of the large hearts to finish off.

Since die-cutting machines have become the go, a lot of us have a drawer (or two) of neglected hole punches.  Why not get them out and play and remember why we all thought they were so good in the first place!

DOUBLE LAYERED TEABAG FOLDING CARD

SIMPLE TEABAG FOLDED MOTIF

This card is a lot simpler than it looks to make.  Start with a singlefold white craft card (PL1 or PL2) from Regal Craft Cards.

Assemble the motif by selecting 8 plain paper squares for the back, and eight double-sided squares for the front.  The actual size doesn't matter too much as long as it fits onto the card base you have selected.  (1 1/2 inches and 1 1/4 inches could be a size to try)

Fold and unfold each square along the diagonal, then fold the sides to the crease to make a kite shape.  Take your time with this bit as accuracy here makes a bit difference to how easy the next bit proves to be.

Assemble the eight plain "kite shapes"so that the edges lie next to each other and they make a "circular" motif.  After you've arranged them so that they are fairly evenly positioned (i.e. so you don't end up with either a big gap or not enough space at the end), stick each down with a piece of double sided tape.  Repeat with the smaller squares, and position one motif on top of the other, and stick down.  The split pin in the middle is optional but it does help to hold all the shapes together and hide and slightly dodgy bits where they are supposed to join in the middle!

Arrange a greeting and some patterned backing paper (perhaps, as in this case, the same paper used for the smaller squares), and there you are!  I've just talked about this with a fellow crafter and agreed that there are a lot of words here for something that is very easy to do and would take only a minute to demonstrate, so if you'd like the "in person" demo, pop into Regal and I'd be happy to show you!