You can never have enough thank-you cards, so I thought that this lovely Birdcage die from CottageCutz would make a very elegant and feminine card for a friend of mine. I fussy cut the papers from the ScrapCake and nestled an Eyelet Edger diecut behind the flower. The ticket is from the Ticket Booth set and the sentiment was a rub-on from Kaisercraft. Finally, one of the Vintage Keys seemed like a sweet way to finish this card off.
I make lots of cards, but have found that keeping them organized by occasion can be difficult. I'm going to show you how to take a simple box from your pantry and recycle it into the perfect storage solution. This is also a lovely way to present someone a set of cards as a gift.
Save a suitable box from your pantry. This one was 6.25 inches wide, so it was the perfect size to hold 6 x 6 cards.
Measure up 6.75 inches from the bottom, draw a line at that measurement around the box, and cut the top away.
On the right side, make a mark 2.5" from the bottom. Draw a diagonal line from the upper left corner to the mark on the lower right side. Repeat for the other side and cut along the lines.
Now the fun begins - Cut patterned papers to cover the box. I stamped/embossed my papers before I attached them. Use Crafty Power Tape to adhere the papers.
Add a tag to label what type of cards are in each box - this one was for Thank-you cards. After the box was complete, I realized the buttons and bows would have been more functional on the back spine, so you could stack several of these side-by-side.
I made a canvas (although I may turn it into the cover of a mini-book later), using the Steampunk Locomotive stamp. I embossed the image with Wow Earthtone Pepper powder and fussy cut the image. The gears were cut with a Spellbinders die from Grunge paper, and colored using Sakura Crystal Lacquer and the new Terri Sproul Mixer Jewel Effects - Gold Dust, Glitter Red and Bronze Satin. I also stamped parts of the wheel elements, glazed them with the Sakura Crystal Lacquer and used them for the centers of the gears. It's always fun to find new ways to use stamps!
The stamp set is one that Suzy West designed that is called Build a Butterfly - and you get to do just that - you can mix and match the layers to create variations in your butterflies - and then all of the different colors of embossing powders - and they are stunning!
Do you have a hard time making masculine cards? Especially for Valentine's Day? Try picking up a very boyish paper, like Rocket Age from October Afternoon. I paired it up with a sentiment that made it perfect (from My Favorite Things). Adding the Heart Circles die from Spellbinders also gave another hint towards the big day, without being at all girlish. You can pick up all the goodies that you need for your Valentine's projects at Scrap-Mart.
So now that Christmas is over, and you are starting to recuperate from all of those Christmas cards that you made - it's time to start working on Valentine's cards!
