A Poppin’ Birthday Card From Cats

Every so often, I get a commission’s from cats for cards for their human family. This card was a birthday card for their cat mom.

My inspiration for the card is from the stamped image on the back of the card by Dominic Phillips called Bad Cats Club which has a preciously stacked set of wooden crates with cats perched on them. (I also drew engineering inspiration from Karen Burniston’s March 4, 2023 virtual class for the stacked cubes.) To recreate this image in a 3D form, I used Karen Burniston’s Surprise Cube Pop-Up and Bam-Box Pop-Up dies and cats cut from paper and washi tape. The card is a gusseted slimline card with string wrapped closure.

Card Base: Because I was using specialty cardstocks that were 5 1/2 x 8 1/2-inches, I cut two 3 3/4 x 8 1/2-inches pieces and one gusset strip of 3/4×8 1/2-inches. The gusset strip was scored and folded lengthwise at 1/4-inch and 1/2-inch. The 1/4-inch tabs on the gusset strip were glued to the long backsides of the bronze metallic piece and woodgrain piece. Next, I worked on the flap closure. The inside of the card base is covered with a wide map pattern washi tape.

Flap: I watched the assembly video for the Long Flap and Closure before I began the flap assembly. A long flap and six spacers were cut from brown cardstock using Karen Burniston’s Long Flap and Closure die set. A decorative flap inset piece was cut from the woodgrain cardstock and another for the inside of the flap from brown cardstock. I used two long brass brads that I had to trim the legs to make them fit the card using metal cutting snips. The star decorative piece under the brads is from the Surprise Cube Pop-Up and pushed up from the cardbase by three spacers glued together. (Remember to think through the assembly of the card so that you have papers to cover over the brad legs. Also remember to add your string before covering the brad legs with a decorative paper.)

Tower of Crates: For the pop-up cubes I watched the Surprise Cube assembly video and Bam Box assembly video before starting. From discussion with Karen Burniston on her Pop-Up Peeps Facebook page, I learned that as long as the cubes would fit into the cardbase when folded flat, you could glue the cubes in any manner. (Let the glue set-up before you test your cube tower opening….I had to glue my tower a few times because I was impatient and the power of three rubber bands was pretty strong.) I cut the decorative woodgrain papers from scraps I had in my stash. The cats were fussy cut from some printed papers in my stash and from some washi tape. The top cat is glued to a Bam Box which is glued to the top cube. (I attached the tower with a brad through the bottom cube and card base, much like you would for a ball pop-up animal that you want to be able to turn.)

Sentiments: I used the Happy Birthday die set by Karen Burniston and the paw prints from the Doghouse Tiny House Add-ons for the inside sentiments. The stamped sentiments outside came from the Bad Cats Club set and a Happy Meowther’s Day set.

This card will be delivered in person, so no envelope was created for it.

Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope this gives you inspiration and makes you smile. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

• Karen Burniston in cahoots with Riley and Company – Surprise Cube Pop-Up – 1226
• Karen Burniston in cahoots with Riley and Company – Bam Box Pop-Up – 1222
• Karen Burniston in cahoots with Riley and Company – Doghouse Tiny House Add-ons – 1221
• Karen Burniston in cahoots with Riley and Company – Long Flap and Closure – 1200
• Karen Burniston in cahoots with Riley and Company – Happy Birthday – 1030

Stamps

• AALL & CREATE – Designed by Dominic Phillips – Bad Cats Club – #793
• Simon Says Stamp – Clear Stamps – Happy Meowther’s Day – sss202293c

Papers

• Karen Burniston in cahoots with Riley and Company – Exact Pack 3 – Animal Add-ons 3 – Brown
• Hero Arts – 5.5×8.5 Woodgrain and Bronze Metallic Cardstock
• Ms. Sparkle & Co. Paperie – 5.5×7.5 Paper Pad – Woodgrain Neutral
• Woodgrain Packaging Scraps
• Brown and Cream Cardstock
• Stampin’ Up – Designer Papers -Playful Pets

Ink

• Stampin’ Up – Classic Stampin’ Pad – Early Espresso

Adhesives

• Neutral PH Adhesive by LINECO
• Fine-Tip Glue Bottle
• Scrapbook.com – Double-Sided Tape -1/4-inch wide

Tools

• Die Cutting Machine
• Scoring Board and Tool
• Stamping Platform
• Scissors
• Piercing Tool
• Metal Cutting Snips
• Small Crafting Clips

Miscellaneous

• #8 Rubber Bands
• Fun Stampers Journey – Journey Thread – Beach Breeze
• Washi Tape – Old Maps – 2 3/8-Inches Wide
• Washi Tape – Cat Life – 1 3/8-Inches Wide