Sizzix Accordion 3-D Flip Die - Birthday Card

I received a lovely letter from my friend Caroline  from Georgia, America yesterday. I started following Caroline's blog way back when I bought my first Cricut Machine and was looking for on-line help. We have kept up the correspondence over the years and I always enjoy hearing from her. She reminded me that I had not posted anything for a while, so here goes.

 

My mother-in-law turned 90 on the 9th December 2013. What a wonderful age and she is still as spritely as the day I met her. What a blessing to have had such a caring and loving mother-in-law over the last 40 years! (Secretly I think she was relieved that I took over the responsibility of looking after her son - but don't tell either of them!)

 

I wanted to make a 3-dimensional card because it always has more impact. I saw this wonderful 3-D Accordion die from Sizzix and could not resist!

 

Front

 

 

Back of card

 

 

A bit of detail

 

The nice thing about this die is that you can start with two pieces and add on as many as you like.  I have realised though that you cannot use paper thicker than cardstock.  I made this card with thick board and not only had a problem folding it, but definitely could not add another layer.  This is also a great die for making mini albums. 

 

The embellishments were made with dies from spellbinders and die-namics.

 

 

Thank you for visiting my blog.

 



30th Birthday Card

I am very fortunate that my son is engaged to a wonderful girl.  She recently turned 30 and I loved making her birthday card to celebrate the occasion.

I also made a matching 'x-mas cracker' to use instead of gift wrapping. After some trials and errors,  I decided that I liked the square cracker the most.  I attach a template for easy reference.

Use a normal 12x12" scrapbook page.  Score on the vertical and horizontal black lines and the dotted line behind the diamonds - at 3" and at 9".

Fold each vertical line separately - the diamonds will now become triangles - cut out.  These diamond holes allow the 'neck' of the cracker to collapse.  Cut on the red 3/4" line as indicated to allow a flap. It is not necessary to cut a flap, but it does make the cracker look neater.

I did not want to spoil the lovely paper, but it also looks lovely to punch the two edges with a nice pattern.

Thank you for visiting my blog!   

Tim Holtz Tags inspired Birthday Cards

I have been a bit quiet lately, but everyone who works an eight hour day will understand that it is a monumental task to keep a blog going.

I try (as far as possible) to attend Bella's Tim Holtz Tags classes.  If you don't know it yet, I share her love of all things Tim Holtz!  Thank you for your ongoing inspiration Bella!  You should be in the Tim Holtz Hall-of-Fame by now!

These are the two tags we did in the class.  

These are my Birthday Card versions of the one tag.

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Tri-Shutter Card Templates and Tutorial

Although it looks complicated, the tri-shutter card is relatively easy to make and the final result is always visually stunning. It is a lovely project to use all those left-over bits and pieces in your stash. If you have a couple of photos, it is also nice as a keepsake for the recipient.

I have included a template with imperial and metric measurements. 

 

Below are a few variations on the different shapes you can cut to cover the panels:

 

 

This is the basic card:  Panels can be matted for extra effect.

 

 

 The "D" Panels must only be attached on the one side and be loose over panel A,

which will give a different dimension to the card (See Birthday Card below).

 

 "A" panels are cut as one piece.

 

 Above are only a few ideas, the options are endless.

 

 

Some easy steps:

 

1. Score

2. Cut 

 

 3. Fold

 

A few finished samples:

 

 

A Thank You Card 

 

 

 

A Christmas Card (with permission from Carolyn) 

 

And finally, two Birthday Cards:

 

(Using sample 2 with bigger D panels)

 

 

 Photo Story for a 70th Birthday celebration:

 

I hope you find the templates useful.  Please remember that it is just a guideline and you can adjust sizes proportionally according to you own taste to make it smaller or bigger.