Card design is an evolution

It's been awhile since my last post. Work and sports commitment has taken up most of my time. So I just have to take time to relieve my stress. My most effective  stress reliever is creating cards.

The following cards says it all.

An assortment of stamps makes this slider card that special effect.

This daisy gives that special touch on the card.

Cot instruction for greeting cards

This instruction is written with simplicity in mind.

1) Card stock measuring 9 1/4 inches by 4 inches ( I used a designer paper for this instruction). Score at given marks.

2) Use the scallop tag topper to shape up the top of the 2 inch parts of the card stock. Trim off the

top of the 2 1/2 inch part. 

3) Trim off 1 inch at the bottom part of the 2 1/2 part of the card stock.

4) Use the everyday label punch to shape the bottom part of the cot end,

5) The sides of the cot can be done with 2 gaps or 3 gaps. The following  photos will show the  

     dimensions.

     I used the paper trimmer to cut the pieces off. Use the blade point as guide to line up the blade with           

     your marks. 

     The 2 gaps side , uses 1/2 inch  apart marking.

     For the 3 gaps side, measurements across after the 2/8 ends are marks off is done by  

      approximation. A difference of a point of an inch will not be noticeable.

      For the purpose of instructions I did two different gap patterns in this cot.

6) Fold in the remaining 1/4 inch in and glue it with the other end of the cot. The following photos

    shows the 2 gaps side finish and the 3 gaps side finish. 

Have fun making a cot to add to your card design.

Flower pot pop up card instructions

This is a detailed instruction on how to create the flower pot pop up card. I am not keen to make a video of the instructions so I will attempt to make the instructions as clears and easy as possible to follow.

Card base

Card base of the pop up card is made from a rectangular card stock of 6 in X 8 in. 

Score at 4 in. mark along the long side of the card stock making the folded size of the 

card 6 in X 4  in.

Flower pot construction

Get a card stock of your preferred colour for the pot. Measure a rectangular piece of 2 in X 8 1/4 in.

Score and card into parts as shown in below. 

Along the lengthways of the card,  score at 2 inches, 4 inches, 6 inches and 8 inches leaving a 1/4 inch at the end of the card.

Along the short side of the card, score at 1/2 inch throughout the entire length of the card strip (refer to photo above).

Mark off at 1/4 inch from the left of the card stock, and in every score line mark off 1/4 in on each side of the score line. Draw diagonal lines connecting the centre mark from the 1/2 inch point on every score line made at 2 inches with each 1/4 inch mark on both sides of the scoreline.

Cut the right diagonals as shown above and score the left diagonals as also shown above. 

Join the diagonal of the pots but leave the end bits off. Make the cut on the top part of the pot after you have joined the corresponding diagonal. 

Closing the pot will,be done with the lattice work. 

At this point, you may cover up each panel with a designer paper or you may leave it as it is.

Latticework inside the pot (I'm using 4 different colours to show how the strips interlace).

You will need four strips of card stock measuring 3/4 ini X 2 1/2 in. Mark off 1/4 in on both sides from the centre mark and cut on this marks up to halfway of the strip depth (see photo). 

Put together the strips to form the lattice. (See photo below).

You can have the cut underneath or on top.

Flatten the lattice as shown, then make a diagonal mark on the top four end  making the narrow end as 1/4 inch from the end of the strips. Fold this Mark by freehand to make this attachment bendable. 

Put double sided tape on each end of the lattice strip. 

Draw a horizontal line on the top part of the inside of the pot. This will guide you on how to position your lattice strips. (As shown in the photo).

Turn your taped lattice strip down lining the centre of the strip with the middle joint of the pot. Position the top edge of the strip with the horizontal line in the pot.

This is how your lattice and pot should look.

Draw diagonal lines on the remaking strips facing up. Attach double sided tape and work with the right side of the pot first. This is the side of the pot that has the diagonal flap.

This time close the pot, making sure that the left edge of the pot is lined up nicely with the right edge.

Open the pot and if the lattice strips had been positioned nicely, you should be able to flatten the pot on all of the four directional ways.

 If not, just have the best flatten part positioned on the card base centre score mark for the assembly part.

Assembling the pop up mechanism

Position the pot with the two opposite joints lined up with the centre score mark of the card base. 

Draw an outline on where the pot is sitting in the card.

Draw a small square along the two parallel lines, approximately 1/4 in X 1/4 in. Any bigger will cut through the score line, make sure you don't cut the score line as you won't be able to cover the hole on the front part of your card. 

Cut the 3 sides of the square leaving the line on the pot outline intack.

Put glue on the outside face of the tab and position back in place the pot. Leave it to adhere before attempting to fold the card. 

Your pot should now be well positioned in your car.

The front of the card will have the two holes showing, use a designer paper or anything you decide to cover it. 

At this point you can have the pot adorned with flowers. 

This is how I covered holes in my showcased card.

I hope you enjoy making the flower pot pop up card.

Pop up slider card

I'm making use of the remaining few days of the school holidays. I am still fascinated with pop up card mechanism.  As I was looking for pop up mechanism in Pentirest I have come across a tutorial on how to put together a pop up card in a slider card. It looks complicated but following the simple tutorial I felt so happy it turned out great. 

Using a combination of different stamp sets, I decided to use the powder pink and burst berry colours.

So here it is:

Take note of the dancing lady in e middle of the plants.

A closer look of the composition.

This is the layering concept of the pop up part of the card.

Light of hope

I am still in the creativity mood before I get busy back at school for the coming term. I have been taking advantage of my free time to create more cards while my mind is still at the designing mood.

This time I have made used of the high tide stamp set. So what an inspiration to make a card using this set on a stormy day with dark sky around. Although the sky is looking grey outside, I want to express the need for the recipient of this card that light can always show a glimmer of hope. 

The design kind have evolved as a recue to the misattached insert into the twisted panel card design. I don't like to throw away part of the card if I change the design. I always like to save it by recreating a card using a different design.

So from the inset, it now becomes a pup up card showing a landscape scenery for a windy stormy beach scene with a light house. The colour used is the sandy slate to make the scene realistic.

So here is the front of the card,

And here is the inside of the pop up card. 

Fresh fig panelled card

This panel card was inspired by the 2 ways stamping process. So ccmbining the wild about flowers stamp set and the colourful seasons set made up the pictures for the 6 small squares and 2 large squares. The border card stock finishes the look. So here  it is:

The front of the card.

Partly opened card.

The fully opened card.

Panelled card

I was looking through Pentirest and came across a quilt with square panels and turned diagonally making an illusion of a rhumbos. So I thought "what's good idea" for a card. Using the tranquil tide colour I've come up with 3 small squares and one big square combination. I'm rather pleased on how this turned out. 

The front of the card.

The inside of the card.

Half  turned opened card.

The complete card pictorial.