It’s time to think about our supply of Birthday cards – with Dainty Flowers DSP

I may have mentioned that one of my resolutions for this year is to get my own card sending under control.  Long ago, I had a card book that had envelopes attached to each month.  The idea was to record birthdays and anniversaries and tuck any cards in that I had purchased in advance. 

Well guess what?  Stampin’ Up! has that exact thing offered in the Birthday Card Organizer Kit.  There are supplies that are also included that will complete up to 12 cards too – everything pre-cut and ready to go!  And thankfully, it is still available!

But I know I have a lot more than 12 cards that I will need.  So, I have decided to get to it and create my cards and put them in the Organizer!  (I feel so accomplished…)

This is one of the few slimline cards that I have made.  I like this size card although they are pretty supply intensive and sometimes even a challenge since most of our tools are designed for A2 cards and even 5” x 7”.  But we shall persevere!

The card cuts are easy and are the typical layering dimensions that all slimline cards tend to use:

I started this card with the decorative panel on the front.  I wanted a deeply embossed pattern for the white half of the triangle and chose the Stampin’ Up! 3D Hive embossing folder.  But as I mentioned above, most of our tools are designed for smaller cards.  So, it is important to be able to adapt our tools to fit the application.

To do that, I placed one of the 3-1/2 x 8-1/2” Basic White panels into the 3D Hive embossing folder.  I ran it through my Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine – but not all the way through.  I did not want the end of the folder clunking through the press and creating a line on the piece of cardstock that was hanging out.

Instead, I backed it up and rearranged the plain end of the cardstock into the folder.  Because this is a 3D imprint, the pattern is so heavily embossed that it was easy to feel when the cardstock is aligned correctly in the folder.  I then ran the embossing folder through the machine, again about ¾ of the way through.

When I opened the folder, there was a perfect, extra-large 3D Hive patterned card panel!

To get the triangle cut, I placed the embossed panel into my Stampin’ Up! Paper Trimmer with one corner aligned with the cutting “ditch”.  I then slid the panel so that the diagonal corner was in the ditch too.

One tip:  when you are cutting cardstock like this, it is very easy for the weak point (in this case the corners) to pull or shredded.  To avoid that, place the cutting blade in the center of the panel before you snap it in place to cut.  Then slide the blade up and away from the top corner – followed by a downward stroke to cut the lower half of the panel.  Voila!  No shredded corners!

You will repeat this same cutting technique with the Floral Design paper from the Dainty Flowers DSP pack.  And you are ready to go!

I mounted one of the triangles on the Basic White base panel and aligned the DSP up against it.  Using a ¼” (or even 1/8”) strip of Stampin’ Up! Gold Foil, I drew a thin line of all purpose glue on the seam and placed it so that all the sins were hidden!

Because I have a ton of Gold Foil scraps hanging around from Christmas cards, I decided that the focal point for this card would come from the large floral design from Artistic Dies.  (This die set is also part of the Artistically Inked Bundle – which is one of my all-time favorites and should be called a “Classic”.)

I heat embossed the Birthday wishes greeting from the Stampin’ Up! Amazing Year stamp set using Versamark Ink and the white embossing powder from the Basics Embossing Powders set.  I used Starry Night Cardstock as the background so that the sentiment would pop.

The inside of the card did not need extra panels because I used the Basic White Thick cardstock for the base.  I stamped another sentiment from the Amazing Year set in Starry Night ink for a crisp look and a lot of space to write a note.

With the floral medallion ready, I adhered it to the card face and placed the birthday wishes sentiments in the middle using Stampin’ Dimensionals.  With some Stampin’ Up! Gold Faceted Adhesive backed Sequins to add some bling, I have one more contribution to this year’s Birthday Card Organizer!

I am sure that you noticed that there was another set of decorative panel pieces left over from this card!  Why not make another version of it with the 2 decorative triangles transposed?

And that’s just what I did!  I made a card to send to my friend as a “just because”!

I have entered this card into the Can You Handle the Pressure? – Anything goes with a Twist of Dots Challenge.  You may be aware that I just love challenges.  Surprisingly, this particular card design was already a sketch in my idea book – but the challenge inspired me to move it up on the calendar!

Thanks so much for checking in on today’s card!  If you have any question or wonder about how to do something, please ask!  I love sharing anything that I know about stamping and cardmaking.  I have been doing this for ages…and scrapbooking and jewelry making and wreath-making…sewing, embroidering…lots of stuff.  Just ask because I love to share!!

Not knitting though.  Unless you are interested in knitting chain maille, I am NOT your girl about that stuff…

Here is the brief list of things that I used for this card: