Birthday

Carousel Birthday Card

| ullycatdesigns

This birthday card was made for Craft Roulette #199 whose parameters included card with a bookmark, bakery colors, large animal element and horizontal lines.

For this card I used dies from two of my favorite crafting companies – Karen Burniston Pop-Ups and Rubbernecker Stamps (rebranded as Brass & Bliss). The front carousel, as well as the animals and lattice work used on the inside cake are from Rubbernecker’s retired Carousel set. The other dies used are Karen Burniston’s Happy Birthday Shadow, Happy Birthday, Cake Trims and Cake Pop-Up.

Cardbase: I used a purchased A7 (5×7-inch) cardbase and envelope. Cut four 5×7 panels of decorative paper. Glue two to the outside and two to the inside of the cardbase leaving the center fold uncovered. (I used two panels of a London park map paper inside the card, matching up the design at the fold.)

Card Front: The background paper, green border and journaling quote card are all from a Mary Poppins themed paper collection. The carousel is a bookmark tucks into the journaling card pocket. To create the pocket, I used thin strips of foam tape on three sides of the journaling card.

Bookmark: Because the carousel die is one piece, I cut it three times from white cardstock and once from red cardstock. For the animals I used markers to color them and glitter markers to add some magic to each critter. Once all the elements for the carousel were cut, colored and assembled, I glued them together at the top of a 4×8-inch rectangle of heavy white cardstock. Using a ruler, draw with a pencil the bookmark base as a 2-inch wide column centered at the bottom of the carousel. Fussy cut around the carousel and bookmark base. Punch a hole in the top point of the carousel. Thread two 6-strand pieces of yellow embroidery floss through hole for a bookmark pull. Decorate base and back with stickers from the paper collection.

Card Back: keeping with the bookmark theme, more of the collection paper was used to cover the card back featuring books and a sticker related to reading.

Pop-Up Cake: Watch the assembly video at the bottom of the link page for the Cake Pop-Up before die cutting. I wanted the cake to resemble the carousel, so the middle layer is white with the animals from the carousel die attached. The base layer is red and uses the carousel base cut in white trimmed to fit the sides of the cake. The top layer uses the Cake Trims set’s scalloped swag trim and the candle from the Cake Pop-Up set to suggest the roof and flag of the carousel.

Sentiments: Happy birthday uses two dies – the shadow cut in pink patterned paper and the words cut in matte gold.

Envelope: The back flap of the envelope has a carousel tent top.

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Carta Bella – 12×12 Double-Sided textured Paper Collection Kit – Practically Perfect
  • Spellbinder’s – 8.5×11 Color Essentials Cardstock – Snowdrift
  • Fun Stampers Journey – 8.5×11 Cardstock – Cranberry Bliss
  • Matte Gold Cardstock
  • Park Lane Paperie – A7 Cardbase and Envelope – White

Ink

  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Ink- Fired Brick
  • Pigma – Mircon 01 Fine Tip Pen – Black
  • Crafter’s Square – Metallic Marker .05 in Point – Gold
  • Sharpie – Permanent Marker – Fine Point – Pale Lavendar
  • Stampin’ Up – Stampin’ Write Marker – Chocolate Chip
  • Stampin’ Up – Stampin’ Blends Marker – Light Daffodil Delight
  • Scrapbook.com – Glitter Brush Marker – Pretty Pink
  • Scrapbook.com – Glitter Brush Marker – Sunshine Yellow

Adhesives

Tools

  • Die Cutting Machine
  • Bone Folder
  • Craft Mat
  • Sponge Dauber
  • Stamping Blocks used as paperweights
  • Pencil
  • Ruller

Miscellaneous

  • Embroidery Floss –Yellow

Tag Birthday Card

| ullycatdesigns

This tag birthday card was made for Craft Roulette #197 whose parameters included a card with two tags, happy colors, nail(s) and “outside the line.”

I followed the directions on Karen Burniston’s assembly video for making this Circle Tag Book Pop-Up (which is on the bottom of the linked page for this die set.)

The Nuvo Dream Drops that I used were fairly easy to apply as finger nails on the hands that were die-cut using a set by Karin Joan’s Missees collection.

For sentiments, I used Karen Burniston’s Happy Birthday with its shadow cut from a holographic pink paper. I added heart hands cut from the same die set as the inside hands. The back white label is a place for a personal message. A gift card could be tucked inside for a manicure.

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Ink N’ Splatter – 6×6 Double-Sided Cardstock – Raspberry Crush

Ink

  • Nuvo Dream Drops – Rudolph’s Nose

Adhesives

Tools

  • Die Cutting Machine
  • Scissors

Miscellaneous

  • Pink Gingham Ribbon – 1/4-inch wide
  • Peach Organza Ribbon – 1/2-inch wide

Being Fishy Just For Fun

| ullycatdesigns

I’ve had some flat back fish embellishments in my stash for awhile and the Candy Hearts Box in the December 2023 release by Karen Burniston begged to be the container for these candy-like fish.

The box is cut in one piece. (I was able to cut it from an A5 (5.83 x 8.27 inches/14.8 x 21 cm) piece of blue water patterned paper.) Before assembling, cut out the window with the largest of the square dies in the set and back it with a scrap of clear acetate or plastic packaging. Then, adhere the cut-out inside the box as a backdrop for the window.

The sentiment of “HB2U” (Happy Birthday to You) are cut using the Mini Alphabet and Numbers die set. Use the stitched medium size square die from the box set for the white label on the back of the box.

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Papercraft Society – Sam Calcott’s Underwater & Nautical Box – A5 Size Papers -Water Background Cardstock
  • White, Red and Black Cardstock Scraps
  • Grafix Dura-Lar .005 Clear Film (Acetate/Plastic)

Adhesives

Tools

Miscellaneous

  • Buttons Galore & More – Flatbackz Embellishments – Aquarium
  • Buttons Galore & More – Flatbackz Embellishments – Bug Eyes

Celebrating A 9th Birthday

| ullycatdesigns

Growing a year older should be celebrated. This show-stopper card is for a 9-year-old.

For this card I used two new dies from Karen Burniston’s December 2023 release – Birthday Candle Add-Ons and the Topper Tags – as well as her Fancy Label Accordion, Fancy Winter Frames, and a few other previously released die sets to decorate.

Before starting, watch assembly videos for the linked die sets. The videos are towards the bottom of the linked pages.

Accordion Frames: Cut four accordion frames using the Fancy Label Accordion die set. They will be decorated AND THEN assembled. It is much harder to decorate a fully assembled accordion card when you cannot flatten the various moving panels and frames. (I assembled this card as I would normally, but the candle and heart add-ons are designed to be assembled with with the accordion frame behind the add-on panel and not as I did by putting the frame’s center post in front of the panel.)

Candles Add-Ons: The Birthday Candles Add-On cut a pivot panel that attaches to two Fancy Label Accordion panels. It also has dies to cut and stencil four candles and their flames. Cut one candle panel from a solid color cardstock. Cut another from decorative paper. Train the folds on the solid color panel as directed on the packaging. Using the largest decorator label from the Fancy Label Accordion set, cut a frame from the decorative paper. (The section between the two label cut outs will fall out and the frame can be cut down the center fold.) Glue the frame onto the panel matching up the edges.

Assemble and decorate the candles using the die stenciling feature or use decorative papers. (Because I needed to celebrate a 9-year-old’s birthday, I did not use all twelve candles that the panel will hold. I decided to add a number 9 as another candle by cutting a “9” using the Numbers die set and cut the top of a candle with the flame attached to the back top of the number.) The flames I cut from a background paper I had made using glitter ink and drew the black burnt wick onto them.

Once the panel is fully decorated, work on the accordion frames that it will be glued onto. Glue two frames together using the outer long tab. From one panel cut the label panel along the pivot point making sure to keep the label attached to the pivot bar. Cut the other label, but the cut will look different than the other panel. See photo below. Add glue to the back side of the candle panel and attach it to one of the label panels. Add glue to the other end of the candle panel and attach it to the other label panel. (See 2nd photo under tags for what the back side of the attached candles panel into the accordion frames.)

Tags: Cut two tags using the second from the smallest tag die in the Topper Tags. (If your paper is a single-sided decorative paper like mine was, cut two more tags that cover at least the part of the tag that will not be covered by the fancy label panel. Glue the tags together as shown in the photo below.) Attach the back of the tags to the fancy label panels on their backsides.

Decorations: The Birthday Charms die set are used for balloons, party hats and cupcake. Three colors of bakers twine are used for the balloon strings and for tag ties. A thin black pen was used to draw the balloon strings onto card back. The frame borders are cut from white copier paper backed with a wide double-sided tape using the polka-dot frame die from the Fancy Winter Frames.

Once the frame borders are adhered, attach the end accordion frames to the candle frames. Add balloons to the folds and then glue the fancy labels together.

Sentiments: Add the sentiments once the accordion frames and fancy labels are all attached together. “Happy Birthday” uses two dies – Happy Birthday Shadow and Happy Birthday. “Just for You” uses three die sets – Word Set 15, Word Set 8 and Mini Alphabet. The “You” is cut from a phrase die and its shadow is created by tracing the outside of the die and fussy cutting. (You could use other word dies for the “You.”)

Envelope: The closed card fits into an A7 (5×7-inch) envelope.

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Violet Studio Designs – 8×8 Single-Sided Paper Pad – Hoppy Easter
  • Yellow 110lb. Cardstock
  • Blues, White and Cream Cardstock
  • White Copier Paper

Ink

  • Sharpie – Permanent Marker – Ultra Fine Tip – Black
  • Sharpie – Permanent Marker –Fine Tip – Blue. Green, Orange and Yellow
  • Pigma – Mircon 01 Fine Tip Pen – Black
  • Gel Pens – Multiple Colors
  • Sakura – Gelly Roll Pen – Medium – White
  • Spectrum Noir – Sparkle Glitter Ink – Candlelight

Adhesives

Tools

Miscellaneous

  • Three Colors of Bakers Twine

Sneak Peek – Bag and Box It Up!

| ullycatdesigns

It’s the start of SNEAK PEEK Week for Karen Burniston’s December 2023 Release. Today we’ll focus on the Mini Gift Bag and the Candy Heart Box die sets.

These bags and boxes go together quickly and have two main surfaces that allow for creative decorations. It doesn’t matter whether you use solid colored cardstock or decorative patterned papers, the bags are great fun for tucking in gift cards and other small items like jewelry, small toys, car keys, candy, or crafting supplies.

12 Days of Christmas Gift Tree
Valentine’s Day Candy Hearts Box and Mini Gift Bag – both fit a gift card
Tag Card with Mini Gift Bag to hold a gift card

Look for tutorials on these projects in the coming weeks.

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

The Guitar Man

| ullycatdesigns

Flickering candles in a dimly light room, people singing along with the guitar man, these are the cues for this birthday card for a musician.

Using Paper Discovery dies and stamps designed by another musician, Olga Direktorenko, this was a quick card to make. The large guitar face die cuts a shaped folded card base using an 8.5-inch by 11-inch piece of kraft cardstock folded in half and then cut with the long straight edge of the die jutting out slightly over the fold. Using a specialty paper-backed wood, I cut an additional card front and adhered it to the shaped cardbase with double-sided tape. The details of the pick guard, bridge and soundhole are die-cut from cardstock with the six strings cut from pearlescent vellum.

Sentiments from two different stamp sets by Olga were used inside the card. “Life is a song. Sing it” and ”Happy Birthday.” Musical notes were also used from both sets on the envelope flap.

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

Materials Used:

Dies

  • Paper Discovery by Olga Direktorenko – Music -play On – Guitar & Violin Card Front

Stamps

  • Paper Discovery by Olga Direktorenko – Music -play On – Sentiments
  • Papercraft Society Box 9 – Paper Discovery by Olga Direktorenko – Music

Papers

  • American Crafts – 12×12 Specialty Paper Backed Wood
  • Lawn Fawn – 8.5×11 Pearlescent Vellum
  • Black and Kraft Cardstock
  • Catalog 6×9 Envelope – White

Ink

  • StazOn – Solvent Ink – Jet Black
  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Ink- Walnut Stain

Adhesives

  • Neutral PH Adhesive by LINECO
  • Fine-Tip Glue Bottle
  • Scrappy Tape – Double-Sided Tape -1/2-inch wide

Tools

  • Die Cutting Machine
  • Stamping Platform
  • LDRS – Stampendable Stamping Tool
  • Stamping Cloth
  • Sponge Dauber
  • Craft Mat
  • Scissors

A Fancy Fold Pop-Up Birthday Celebration Card

| ullycatdesigns

This card was made for Craft Roulette #183 whose parameters included a card with ribbon, circus colors, September and hand cut.

I made this card for a family member whose birthday is in September using a fancy fold display template that I had seen in a Die-cutting Essentials magazine a few years ago. I modified the template for an 8.5×11 inch piece of cardstock and to allow for the Karen Burniston Stocking Pop-Up mechanism that I wanted to use in it.

Cardbase

Cardbase: I started with an 8.5×10 inch piece of heavy yellow cardstock. Using a pencil and a T-ruler to mark where horizontal slots need to be cut as well as vertical scoring for the various folds. See photo for measurements. Measure the various sections and cut decorative paper 1/4 inch smaller than the measurement for each section. Glue in place before moving onto the mechanism. (I forgot and had to remove and then re-glue the mechanism.)

Lower Mechanism
Tombstone piece on lower mechanism

Pop-Up Mechanism: (Watch the assembly video for the Stocking Pop-Up located at the bottom of the linked page before starting this portion of the card.) Play with the placement of the mechanism and noise maker using a temporary tape runner before committing to permanent glue. Make sure the noisemaker doesn’t create any catchpoints with the cardbase folds. Add ribbon to the pop-up “tombstone” shape using liquid glue and glue dots before attaching the top cover piece.

Sentiments: I used Chloe’s Happy Birthday dies for the white shadow behind the script words. I sketched out the word “YAY!” on green cardstock and fussy cut the pieces out.

Envelope: The card, when folded, fits into a #10 business envelope but will require extra USA postage for the weight and thickness.

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • American Crafts – 12×12 Patterned Paper – Balloons – 320270
  • Yellow 8.5×11 Heavy Weight Cardstock
  • Pink 5.5×8.5 Lightweight Cardstock
  • Colored Cardstock Scraps
  • #10 Business Envelope – White

Adhesives

Tools

  • Die Cutting Machine
  • Craft Knife
  • T-Ruler
  • Teflon Pencil Folder
  • Pencil
  • Sand Eraser

Miscellaneous

  • Ribbon Scraps

Seas The Day

| ullycatdesigns

I am always needing masculine birthday cards, so having an underwater sea turtle card that has some pop-up motion is a good thing.

This card uses a new pop-up mechanism in Karen Burniston’s September 2023 release – Stocking Pop-Up. I also used Karen’s Sea Animals, and a variety of her word and alphabet sets.

Cardbase: I started with an A5 (148 x 210mm or 5.875 x 8.25 inches) piece of heavy sea blue cardstock and folded in in half to form card that is (148 x 105mm or 5.875 x 4.125 inches) with a side fold. I had two sheets of the same A5 size printed underwater background. One I cut in half for the two panels inside. From the matching sheet I cut the decorative panels needed for the pop-up mechanism and used the remaining paper to cover the top half of the card front and the final two scraps to cover the card back. Any exposed areas on the outside of the card were covered with printed wave vellum.

Turtle Pop-Up: While the Stocking Pop-Up comes with a large stocking and Christmas decorations, you don’t need them to make the pop-up mechanism. I cut the large rectangular cover piece, the tombstone piece with baby tombstone and the triangular shaped piece with tabs from sea blue cardstock. I followed the directions on the packaging to assemble on to the card. (I practiced with some scrap cardstock first to get the placement right.) I assembled up to the point where I needed to glue the second tab of the large cover piece to the card. This so I could easily adhere the turtle to the mechanism.

Once I had the turtle from the Sea Animals die set assembled, I glued it to the large tombstone matching the upper edge of the turtle shell to the curve of the tombstone, so the arms and head of the turtle are above the tombstone. Next, I trimmed the tombstone down to fit the turtle’s shell.

Decorations: Plastic droplets were used on the card front along with trails of glitter gloss to simulate bubbles. A strip of vellum printed with waves adds to the sense of underwater motion.

The back of the card uses scraps of the underwater paper with a turtle swimming upward. A tiny shaker element is under the vellum piece with tiny yellow and orange fish and clear sequins.

Sentiments: Three different die sets were used to create “Seas the Day.” The Mini Alphabet was uses for “Seas.” The “the” comes from Word Set 11 and “Day” is from Word Set 17. Both the Happy Birthday die and its shadow die were used. The shadow was cut from shimmer cardstock and the “Happy Birthday” was coated with glitter gloss.

Envelope: The A6 white envelope has a school of fish stamped on its back flap in blue ink.

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

Materials Used:

Dies

Stamps

  • Papercraft Society – Sam Calcott’s Underwater & Nautical Box – Clear Stamps

Papers

  • Papercraft Society – Sam Calcott’s Underwater & Nautical Box – A5 Size Papers -Underwater Background, Wave Vellum and Blue(s) Cardstock
  • Craft Consortium – A4 Size Double-Sided 200gsm Papers – Gardeners Delight – Greens & Browns
  • Recollections – 8.5×11 White Gold Shimmer Cardstock
  • Dark Green Foil Cardstock
  • White, and Black Cardstock
  • A6 Envelope – White

Ink

  • Papercraft Society – Sam Calcott’s Underwater & Nautical Box – Mini Ink Pad – Aquamarine
  • Pigma – Mircon 01 Fine Tip Pen – Black
  • Nuvo – Aqua Shimmer – Glitter Gloss

Adhesives

Tools

  • Die Cutting Machine
  • Bone Folder
  • Stamping Platform
  • LDRS – Stampendable Stamping Tool
  • Stamping Cloth
  • Scissors

Miscellaneous

  • Kat Scrappiness – Sparkling Clear Droplets- Sampler Pack
  • Picket Fence Studios – Sequin Mix – Fishy Wishes