Interactive cards

Just Because You’re Sweet!

| ullycatdesigns

This card was made for Craft Roulette #162 whose parameters included a matchbook card, flowering field colors, a bird and woodgrain.

For the pop-up card on the purchased printed cardbase, I used Karen Burniston’s Frame Pull Pop-Up die set and branches and leaves from her Tree Pop-Up die set.

I followed the basic assembly video instructions for the Frame pull Pop-up using the packaging image as my design inspiration. Before I attached the mechanism to the card, I glued an inch long strip to the bottom and folded it over to form the lip of the matchbook.

Because the green background seemed bland, I covered it with a glitter gloss for some sparkle.

The blue birds were colored with markers while the tree leaves were cut from spotted green paper. I used some pink border scraps for the pink inside the woodgrain frames. The frames were embossed then die-cut and finally inked with a darker brown ink using the stenciling feature on the dies.

The sentiment comes from two of Karen Burniston’s die sets – Word Set 15- Just Because and You’re Sweet!

For the envelope’s back flap, I used a flower from a Bright Rosa stamp set stamped with pink 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

  • Bright Rosa by Paula Pascual – Fern Die and Stamps – from Simply Cards & Papercrafts Magazine issue 202

Papers

  • Lawn Fawn – 6×6 Double-Sided Paper Pad – Spiffy Speckles
  • Green, Blue and Brown Cardstock
  • Green Spotted Scrap
  • Printed A2 Cardbase and Envelope

Ink

  • Ranger – Tim Holtz – Distress Ink- Walnut Stain
  • Simon Says Stamp – Pawsitively Saturated Ink – Sweets
  • Sharpie – Ultra Fine Tipped Marker- Racey Red and Orange
  • Staples – Liquid Stix – Neon Orange Chisel Nose Highlighter
  • Nuvo – Aqua Shimmer Bruch Pen – Glitter Gloss

Adhesives

Tools

  • Die Cutting Machine
  • We R Memories – QuickStick
  • We R Memories – Scoring Board and Trimmer
  • Stamping Platform
  • LDRS – Stampendable Stamping Tool
  • Stamping Cloth
  • Sponge Dauber
  • Craft Mat
  • Scissors
  • Ruler

Vintage Christmas Cards – NO L Tree

| ullycatdesigns

Recently I came across some family Christmas cards I had designed with the help of my father who owned a letterpress printing press and had cuts (think metal stamps on wooden blocks similar to rubber stamps on wood blocks) made of my drawings. The printing press held an 8×10-inch galley or frame which held the cuts and metal type (letters). Paper was hand-fed into the press which had an electric motor connected with a leather belt which turned the press wheel. From about age 8 and on I earned pocket money running the press to add people’s names to their store-bought Christmas cards, “From the Desk of” notepads and other small print jobs from family and friends.

The five cards that I am sharing this week were created before the computer drawing program Auto-CAD was widely available to individuals. (I know we didn’t have access to digital type fonts that Apple computers offered around that time.) I used rulers, India ink pens and protractors to draw the pop-ups.

The NO L Tree card was a mash-up of another Christmas card my parents had done in the 1950s spelling out the alphabet but leaving a space where the “L” would have been, and a 3D triangle tree that I had made as a child which was made of two triangles cut with slits that allowed them to slide together. My father suggested having the sentiment in red ink be on two quadrants while the green alphabet be on the remaining two quadrants. We decided on different type fonts for the two sides.

Hand setting the type was a little challenging, but after several test runs, we found the proper placement. I think we created a cardboard template to trace the tree lines inside the card with a black pen.

Instructions on how to assemble the tree as well as the card title/subtitle and card credits were all made with hand-set type. To print one card, it took two runs of green ink, two runs of red ink and one run of black ink for a total of five runs and one hand tracing of the triangle lines. We would print 200+ cards each year and start printing in October.

My siblings and I think this card was made around 1980-1981.

Here are other vintage Christmas cards:

  • NO L Tree

Mother’s Day Keepsake Card

| ullycatdesigns

Recently I received a commission to make a Mother’s Day card that was to have all four of her children’s birthdays and names on it. The recipient likes gardening, traditionally receives flowers on Mother’s Day to plant in her garden and may soon be moving to a new home.

I began by looking through my paper stash and settled on a Graphic 45 paper collection that featured flowers of the months.  Karen Burniston’s Waterfall Card dies made it easy to create four different waterfall panels. It was the backgrounds panels for the card that were a bit more difficult since I had already cut into the papers for other projects. I ended up piecing together stripes of the flowers from the various months needed for the front of the card and a patchwork for the inside top panel. For the inside bottom panel that the waterfall rests on, I made stripes of the ribbon from the various flower papers. The card back is a whole piece of flowered cardstock.

Having reviewed the waterfall assembly video, I knew that a 5×7 (A7 size) card base with a top fold could accommodate the waterfall. For the hidden message of “love you,” I used the words from Karen Burniston’s Words Set 13 to die-cut into the decorative panel that goes to the pull strip. The background papers had all been adhered to the purchased card base when I die cut the finger semi-circle into the card base bottom panel. Having assembled the waterfall mechanism, I then stapled it onto the card base as shown in the assembly video.

For the customization of the names and birthdays, I used the postage stamp ephemera pieces from the paper collection for the month and then added the names and dates using Karen Burniston’s Mini Alphabet and Numbers die set.

Card Back

Ribbon can hide a multiple of small mistakes and liven up a card. On this card it softens the staples on the back of the card and brightens up the card front. The front sentiment is Karen Burniston’s “Happy Mother’s Day” which includes a shadow background die in the set. The white label inside can be used for a personal message and is cut using the largest of the fancy labels in the Crosshatch Rectangles and Labels die set.

The envelope uses more of the flowered paper for the back flap.

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Graphic 45 – 12×12 Double-Sided Paper – Flower Market Collection
  • DCWV – Textured Cardstock Stack 12×12 – Brights
  • Black Cardstock
  • Park Lane Paperie – A7 Card Base and Envelope – White

Pens

  • Pigma Micronn – Archival Ink – 01 Tip – Black
  • Sharpie – Permanent Marker -Ultra Fine Point – Black

Adhesives

Tools

Miscellaneous

  • Yellow Organza 3/4-Inch Wide Ribbon

Rainbow Flowers Birthday

| ullycatdesigns

April showers bring May flowers and this birthday card delivers on a rainbow of colorful wishes and flowers.

This pop-up twist and pivot card features dies by Karen Burniston and papers by Honey Bee Stamps. A white cardstock rectangle of 10 x 6 3/8-inches folded in half was used to create a 5 x 6 3/8- inches top-fold cardbase.

To create the twist and pivot panels, I first watched several assembly videos to understand how to combine the two mechanical mechanisms. (The flower and train pivot panels are similar and the directions for adding the pivot panels to the twist panel pop-up starts about two-thirds through in this assembly video. The assembly video for the Twist Panel Pop-up is here towards the bottom of the page.)

Pop-Up Panels: Because I was limited to using paper from a single 6×6-inch paper pad, I found that the largest die was the flower pivot panel which had to be cut diagonally from the square of double-sided paper. Once this was cut, all other pieces had to be cut based off the direction of the stripes. Two dotted 6×6 squares were joined together with clear removable tape on their backsides and die-cut using the X mechanism die from the twist panel pop-up set.  I used the excess strip of 1-inch cut from both the square dot panels to fill-in the holes where the mechanism folds up. Next, I glued the dotted panels into the card base with the clear tape joint going into the fold. The arms of the mechanism were die-cut from purple and glued to the X mechanism.

Flowers: There are dies in the flower pivot panel that can create three different large flower heads and one smaller flower. I created six of the white daisy, three of the yellow flower, three of the red flower, four of the purple flower and one small purple flower with leaves. I attached the two panels die-cut from the twist panel set to the flower pivot panel as shown in the assembly video. Decorating all the panels when they are flat is the easiest. Once decorated, attach panels as directed in the twist panel assembly video.

Decorations: The card front and back panels were covered with single sheets of patterned paper. The front features rain and clouds cut from the back of the double-sided paper while the back features a stained glass effect sunset. Grass edging was cut from the excess green strip cut from the back panel paper and used with the extra flowers to decorate the front and back of the card.

Sentiments: A large shadowed “Happy Birthday” was die cut from red and yellow to standout on the dark front. Stamped Funny Bones sentiments from Riley and Company grace the inside of the card and the envelope’s back flap.

Envelope: The tiny purple flower with leaves finishes the envelope flap. The card fits into an A7 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

Stamps

  • Riley & Company – Funny Bones – A Year Older-RWD-1144
  • Riley & Company – Funny Bones – This Is An Annual Reminder -RWD-1142

Papers

  • Honey Bee Stamps -6×6 Double-Sided Cardstock Pad- Over the Rainbow
  • White cardstock 10 x 6 3/8-inches
  • A7 white Envelope

Ink

  • Simon Says Stamp – Premium Dye Ink – Slate

Adhesives

Tools

  • Die Cutting Machine
  • Stamping Platform
  • LDRS – Stampendable Stamping Tool
  • Stamping Cloth
  • Ruler
  • Scissors
  • Pencil

A Poppin’ Birthday Card From Cats

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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

Stamps

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

Papers

Ink

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

Adhesives

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

Happy Birthday Baseball Pop-Up Card

| ullycatdesigns

This is a 65th birthday card for a baseball pitching coach using Karen Burniston’s Paper Frames Pop-Up, Sports Charms, Big Birthday Charms, Numbers and “Celebrate!” and “Happy Birthday” sentiment dies.

Watch the assembly video for the Paper Frames Pop-Up before starting. I used a purchased A7 (5×7 inches) card base and envelope for this card and covered the inside panels with decorative paper (4 7/8x 7-inches) and the outside panels with colored cardstock and journaling cards.

The Paper Frames Pop-Up is designed to be opened horizontally, but having seen a card made by Nicky Foden that used the frames opening vertically, I decided to try the vertical top fold cardbase with vertical frames. (Installation is the same as the assembly video, but I found that the weight of the frames didn’t allow for a full pop-up of the frames, so I added strips of the navy-blue patterned cardstock behind the four arms near the top and bottom tabs that are glued to the cardbase.)

The decorative panels on the pop-up frames use the Numbers die set which has the “th” in it, and the cake slice is from the Big Birthday Charms set. The red streamers around the pop-up frames are also from the Big Birthday Charms. “Happy Birthday” was die cut in red. The white baseball cap is a die cut by Waffle Flower and serves as a place to write a personal message.

From the Sports Charms set, I die-cut and stenciled 11 of the baseball charms and snipped off their charm loops. Along with the larger baseball die cut using a Waffle Flower die set, ten of the baseball charms were glued to the card front. “Celebrate!” was die cut from some of the solid color red cardstock that is part of the Echo Park Baseball paper collection.

The last baseball charm is 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

Papers

  • Echo Park –- 12 x 12 Double-Sided Cardstock – Baseball Collection by Steven Duncan
  • American Crafts – 12 x 12 Single-Sided Paper – #341325 Baseballs
  • Brown, White and Silver Cardstock Scraps
  • Park Lane Paperie – A7 Cardbase and Envelope – White

Pens/Inks

  • Pigma – Mircon 01 – Black
  • Sharpie – Permanent Marker – Ultra Fine Point – Red
  • Sharpie – Permanent Marker – Fine Point – Yellow
  • Staples – Liquid Stix Highlighter – Orange
  • Ranger – Tim Holtz Distress Oxide – Tea Dye and Barn Door

Adhesives

Miscellaneous

  • Pokey Tool
  • Die Cutting Machine
  • Scrapbook.com – Magic Mat
  • Scissors

Easter Bunny Accordion Style

| ullycatdesigns

I’ve been experimenting with taking Karen Burniston’s Landscape Rectangle Accordion and cutting the pivot panel into a smaller string of shapes. For this card I used dies from her crosshatch circle and oval sets.

I made a template from heavy cardstock (110 lb) by first cutting a panel and then tracing around the dies to create a pattern. For the pattern, I used the second smallest oval for the center and the two smallest circles. (Make sure you don’t cut away the pivot mechanism at the top and bottom of the panel. The center point of the rectangle is the scored fold-line.) I fussy cut the pattern and then used it to trace onto my die-cut panels of double-sided medium-weight, patterned cardstock.

Now for the fun part – deciding what decorations to add. I pulled all my Easter and Spring dies out and tired various layouts to see what would fit.

after deciding to add a frame to dangle a charm from, I used the smallest crosshatch oval to die-cut the opening. Because the frame top was so thin, I used a needle and thread to create a string to dangle an egg charm. (The charm is made from two charms glued together.) The knotted thread ends were finished with dots of glue. (In hindsight, I would probably make the opening with a smaller circle so that the frame would be wider near the pivot points. See below, photos of another card that I cut a circle aperture.)

For the sentiment (in the Easter Charms Set), I traced around the outside of the die and fussy out to create a shadow for the words. I cut two of the sentiment and glued them together before attaching them to the shadow. To add some pizazz to words, I coated it with a glitter gloss and popped it up on foam squares over the flowers.

The flowers come from two different die sets, but the flowers are all the same. (This makes for quicker die-cutting when you two of the same die.) I find putting two flowers of similar colors together you get a fuller, more pleasing flower. I shaped my flowers using my fingers to curl the petal ends down while pushing the flower center down as well.

I mostly followed the packaging examples for the eggs, bunnies and chicks, but you can view the assembly video for the Easter Charms. I coated the chocolate bunny with a glossy clear gel after I had used the die to ink in the bunny’s eye with a white gel pen. I also added a tiny red grosgrain ribbon at his neck. For the Easter Bunny, I used a grey suede paper so he was fuzzy to the touch. (Here is the assembly video for the Spring Animals.)

After all the panels were decorated, I attached the frames and panels using there tabs as directed in their assembly video.

As you plan where your decorations will go, think about how thick they will be, if they will be attached using foam squares and if they will become catchpoints for the pivot mechanism or folds where the panels are joined. (I popped up a purple flower at an inside fold that some of the petals ended up creased and folded back.) I chose to keep the middle section as flat as I could, only popping up items on the outside panels/last panel.

The front panel introduces the Easter bunny theme while the back panel has a matted label popped up on foam squares for a personal message.

The card folds to fit into an A6 (4×6 inches) or larger envelope. It may require extra postage because of its thickness to post in the USA.

Below are photos of a similar string accordion card using the same papers, but with a religious theme and a circle aperture rather than an oval aperture in the center panel.

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

For more Accordion Fold cards click here.

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Dare2BArtzy – 12×12 Double-Sided Paper – Honey Bloomz by Andie Hanna – Buds & Bloomz-PP1049
  • Hot Off The Press – 8.5×11 Faux Suede Paper – Smoke Suede – HOTP-10434
  • Colored Cardstock and Paper Scraps
  • A6 Envelope – Ivory

Pens/Gels

  • Gelly Roll – Gel Pen – White
  • Pigma – Mircon 01 – Black
  • Pigma – Mircon 05 – Brown
  • INC – Scented Gel Pen .08 – Grape
  • Orange and Pink Fine-Tipped Makers
  • Nuvo – Aqua Shimmer Brush Pen – Glitter Gloss
  • Ranger – Glossy Accents

Miscellaneous

Cottontail Farms

| ullycatdesigns

It’s time for the Karen Burniston April 2023 Design Team Challenge with the theme of BUNNIES.

Ever wonder where chocolate bunnies come from? A chocolate bunny farm – of course!

This is a fun, tongue in cheek sort of card using Karen Burniston’s Barn Pop-Up Stand, Easter Charms, Farm Edges, a Bam Box and a fancy label from the Rectangles and Labels – Crosshatch die sets. My inspiration comes from the Echo Park papers and sentiments, chocolate adverts and the on-going tradition in the Sally Worth comic strip where the mother always eats the daughter’s chocolate bunny ears before the daughter has a chance to unwrap the bunny.

I recommend watching the assembly video for the barn pop-up before starting. My woodgrain paper was only one-sided, so I cut four barns and glued two together for woodgrain inside and out. (Because I had limited woodgrain paper, I had to piece together the backside of the barn front before cutting the door openings into it.) I also cut two fences from the Farm Edges die set which were folded in half and one fence post trimmed off each side to make them fit inside the card when glued to the inside of the barn.

After laying out the placement of the white bunnies on green grass paper, I used clear removable tape to hold them together when I die-cut them for the pop-up stand tabs. Make sure you get your die perfectly centered over the fold line. (I was just a little off-kilter on my die placement and this messed-up the right front tab that attaches to the barn back. You can see this pink tab poking through on a few of the photos. I ended-up cutting off the tab as the other three tabs where functioning.)

For the chocolate bunnies, I cut seven from brown cardstock using the bunny die in the Easter Charms. The die has a stencil hole for marking the eye with a white gel pen.

Two chocolate bunnies are on the front of the card surrounding the “Cottontail Farms – Every Bunny Welcome” sign. Another two chocolate bunnies are in the fenced in paddocks by the barn inside, while a third bunny is loose in the yard popped-up on a Bam Box with a piece of grass from the barn die set. The sixth chocolate bunny is on the back of the card with one of its ears having been nibbled on.

Decorating touches include carrot ribbon that wrapped about the card base on the front and back with the ends covered on the inside with a sentiment “I’m just here for the chocolate bunny” and a white fancy label for a personal message.

The last bunny is on the envelope flap with a pink ribbon and carrots fussy cut from extra cardbase paper. I like to enclose instructions on how to close the Bam Box. You can download the instructions below.

bam-boxes-sheetDownload

For more Bam Box projects click here.

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

  • Photoplay – 12×12 Double-Sided Cardstock – Bunnies & Blooms – Spring Carrots
  • Echo Park – 6×6 Paper Pad – Double-Sided Cardstock – It’s Easter Time
  • Ms. Sparkle & Co. – 5.5×7.5 Paper Pad – Woodgrain Color – Yellow
  • Colored Cardstock and Paper Scraps
  • A7 Envelope – White

Pens/Gels

Adhesives

Miscellaneous

  • Pokey Tool
  • Die Cutting Machine
  • Scrapbook.com – Magic Mat
  • Scissors
  • Time & Place – Easter Ribbon – 7/8-inch wide

Enjoying The Little Things

| ullycatdesigns

Spring greenery and the mention of fairies, sprits, leprechauns and other wee creatures of mischief and fortune is what this card is about. It uses papers from the Graphic 45’s Little Things collection and dies by Karen Burniston including the new Rectangles and Labels Crosshatch set for creating backgrounds.

The card uses a pre-made 5×7-inch cardbase that decorative papers have been adhered. For the card front a card topper and two layers of decorative papers were used.

On the inside of the card, I covered the cardbase with a green dotted paper (5×7-inch) and then cut the floral papers (6×4.5-inches). I wanted a scalloped edge on the floral paper, but the scalloped rectangle in the die set is slightly smaller than 6×4-inches, so I had to cut the edges in a modified way. I placed one edge under the die and the other over the top of the die to cut. Unfortunately, I messed-up and cut two edges, which meant I had to piece the paper when I adhered it. The edge of the floral paper that abuts the center fold is not scalloped.

Before cutting or assembling the mushroom house, I watched the assembly video for both the Tiny House and Mushroom Roof. I decorated the white house piece first before assembling the house using windows and door from the mushroom set. I had a thin strip of the green dotted paper that I placed as grass edging the bottom of the house. The paper collection has a red dotted mushroom paper that was perfect for the roof.

I wanted the “Happy Birthday” to match as close as possible to the lettering font used on the card front, so I used a PoppyStamp word die, cut twice from blue cardstock scraps and glued together before adhering to the card.

For the pond label, I cut the crosshatch label from the new Rectangle and Labels die set and inked the edges with a dark blue ink. The clover leaf and ferns were fussy cut from the decorative papers.

One of the coordinating papers was used on the card back while a large sentiment was cut from the paper set for the back of the envelope flap.

Thank you for reading this blog post. I hope it gave you inspiration and a smile. Please like and leave comments 😊

Materials Used:

Dies

Papers

  • Graphic 45 – 12×12 Double-Sided Papers – Little Things Collection
  • Blue, Brown and Yellow Cardstock Scraps
  • Park Lane – A7 White Card and Envelope

Ink

  • Ranger – Tim Holtz Distress Ink – Prize Ribbon

Miscellaneous