Happy (belated) birthday, Matt!

Since I am heading off to Indiana with Moose at the ungodly hour of 3:00 a.m. tomorrow morning in order to visit our dear friends Caela (of Heinous Hats), Rufus and Matt for the weekend, tomorrow’s post shall now be today’s post.

This past Sunday, one of my best guy friends, Matt (a different one from the one we’re visiting this weekend), celebrated his 30^th birthday. Since he recently moved with his lovely wife (and another of my best friends), Virginia, to Newfoundland, we do not get to party with him this year, at least not until the next time we all get together. It really drives home how hard it is not to have them around anymore and how much I miss them.

To stave off this depressing thought, it only seemed right to make him a card that was a silly and cheerful, with a slightly geeky theme to honour his interests on this momentous occasion.

Enter the robot birthday card. Here’s hoping he’s already got it, since I was a little late getting it in the mail (and the postal service seems to be exceptionally slow between here and the Island to boot!).

Supplies:

·      Sheet of 8 1/2” x 11” blue card stock

·      Sheet of 8 1/2” x 11” silver text weight paper

·      Scrap of polka dot patterned card stock

Equipment:

·      Computer

·      Printer

·      Paper trimmer

·      Bone folder

·      Craft knife

·      Scissors

·      Metal-edged ruler

·      Pencil

·      Thin-tipped black marker

·      Glue stick

·      Piece of wax paper and a heavy book for pressing

Directions:

1.     Create a new letter-sized (8 1/2” x 11”) document in a graphic design program. On the left side of the document, create a 3 1/4” x 4 1/2” box using guidelines. Create a text box within these guidelines (about 1/3 of the way down) with the words, “happy birthday”. Insert a robot image (I used this one) in the bottom right corner. Insert the same image on the right side of the document. Resize it so that it is approximately 5” tall. Print the document on the silver text weight paper. Allow time for the ink to dry.

2.     Cut the right side of the silver text weight paper (around the “happy birthday sentiment”) with the paper trimmer to make a 3 3/4” x 5” panel. Cut the blue card stock in half to get two 5 1/2" x 8 1/2" pieces. Set one aside for future projects and fold the other with the bone folder to make a 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" card.

3.     Use the craft knife, scissors and metal-edged ruler to cut out the robot image.

4.     Draw a party hat (rectangle) on to the scrap of polka dot card stock. Size the hat so that it is proportionate to the robot’s head. Use the black marker to outline the hat shape (to mimic the outlines on the robot). Cut out the hat, just outside the black marker border.

5.     Use the glue stick to glue the “happy birthday” panel to the inside right side of the card. Glue the robot and the party hat to the front of the card.

6.     Place the piece of wax paper on top of the closed card and press the card with the heavy book until the glue is dry.

That’s all for today, Internets! Hope you have a fantastic weekend and a wonderful start to February. Come back next Friday for the next card in the Valentine’s Day series.

Countdown to Valentine's Day: Card 3

Valentine’s shaker card

Today’s card is one of my absolute favourites of the Valentine’s series. It’s fun, it’s cute and it looks a lot harder to do than it really is. These cards are really versatile, too. Just by using different colours of card stock and different shapes of confetti (or glitter) you can make Christmas cards, baby shower invitations, wedding cards and so much more!

The secret to making this card are having two items that one does not usually keep on hand for card making: foam mounting tape and clear document protective sheets, both of which can usually be found in your local office supply store.

Supplies:

·      Sheet of 8 1/2” x 11” red card stock

·      Sheet of 8 1/2” x 11” white text paper

·      Clear protective sheet

Equipment:

·      Computer

·      Printer

·      Paper trimmer

·      Bone folder

·      Pencil

·      Metal-edged ruler

·      Craft knife

·      Double-sided tape

·      1/2” foam mounting tape

·      Mini heart punch

Directions:

1.     Create a 3 3/4” x 5” document with 1/2” margins in a design layout program. Write the text, “Happy Valentine’s Day” and add decorative images as desired (I used this one). Print the document.

2.     Use the paper trimmer to cut the red cardstock into two 5 1/2” x 8 1/2” pieces. Cut one of those pieces in half to get two pieces, measuring 4 1/4” x 5 1/2”. Set one aside for future projects. Trim around the sentiment on the white paper to get a 3 3/4” x 5” rectangle for the front panel. Cut the protective sheet to get a 4” x 5 1/4” rectangle.

3.     Fold the 5 1/2” x 8 1/2” red card stock into a 5 1/2” x 4 1/4” card with the bone folder.

4.     Mark a 9/16” border all the way around the 4 1/4” x 5 1/2” piece of red card stock.

5.     Use the craft knife and ruler to cut out the marked border.

6.     Attach the 4” x 5 1/4” protective sheet “window” to the marked side of the border piece of card stock, using the double-sided tape. Make sure that the window is securely attached with no gaps.

 

7.     Punch red and white hearts from the left over paper and card stock (use the piece cut out from the border piece for the red hearts) with the mini heart punch. I ended up punching 50 of each colour.

8.     Attach the “Happy Valentine’s Day” panel to the front of the card with the double-sided tape.

9.     Place the punched out hearts on top of the front panel of the card, grouped towards the centre.

10. Attach the foam mounting tape around the edges of the back side of the red card stock window. Make sure there aren’t any gaps (or else the confetti will escape). Peel off the paper backing to expose the adhesive.

11. Firmly attach the window on to the front panel of the card, lining up all of the edges. Shake the card to distribute the heart confetti.

Notice: From now on, I will be updating Card Tricks on a weekly basis on Fridays. I love doing this blog and creating all these fun cards, but it’s taking up a lot more time than I had thought, and I need to start focusing on some other aspects of my life as well as Card Tricks. As a bonus, with only one post per week, I’ll be able to come up with more creative cards! See you next Friday, everyone!

Countdown to Valentine's Day: Card 2

Lovebirds mini card

Happy Wednesday!

Today, for the second card in the Valentine’s Day countdown, we are going to use scrap paper to make a sweet little mini card. This easy to make card is the perfect size for attaching to flowers, boxes of chocolates and all those other romantic Valentine’s Day gifts.

Supplies:

·      Pink card stock scrap from Monday’s post

·      Square of pale pink card stock, measuring 2 1/2” x 2 1/2”

Equipment:

·      Paper trimmer

·      Bone folder

·      Decorative scissors (“cloud” pattern)

·      Black stamping ink pad

·      Lovebirds stamp

·      Black thin tipped marker

·      Mini heart paper punch

·      Glue stick

·      Glue runner

Directions:

1.     With the paper trimmer, cut the pink card stock from Monday’s post into a 3” x 6” rectangle. Save the scraps for step 6.

2.     Fold the 3” x 6” rectangle into a 3” x 3” card.

3.     Cut around the edges of the pale pink card stock square with the cloud patterned decorative scissors.

4.     Saturate the lovebirds stamp with the ink pad. Stamp the image on to the pale pink square, placing the image so that there is room to write underneath it. Allow time for the ink to dry.

5.     Write “lovebirds” under the stamped image with the marker.

6.     Punch four hearts from the card stock scraps from step 1.

7.     Glue the hearts on to the four corners of the pale pink card stock.

8.     Use the glue runner to attach the pale pink card stock on to the front panel of the card.

Come back on Friday for one of my favourite cards in this entire series. See you then!