Winter Sled and Skates Lever Card

This adorable winter sled lever card is for everyone who loves sledding, skating, and a snowy February. I’ve never made a lever card before, and it was a lot of fun. 

As with many of my projects, I begin with a digital file on my Cricut and choose my papers. For this project, I resized the digital file smaller to fit into a standard A2 envelope. 

The following papers are from cutcardstock.com:

DCS Discount Card Stock: Red Pepper Card Stock

DCS Discount Card Stock: Blast Off Blue Card Stock

DCS Discount Card Stock: Aqua Card Stock

DCS Discount Card Stock: Vanilla Bean Brown Card Stock

DCS Discount Card Stock: Canvas Textured Lava Stone Gray

Silk Glitter Opulent Opal 12x12 Card Stock

Aside from cutting the images, my first step is assembling the smaller parts—for example, the sled and the skates. For the sled, I dry embossed a wood grain texture. I love using my embosser on die cuts. 

For the skates, I used white glitter card stock and gray card stock for the blades. I love how the glittery white paper contrasts with the textured dark color of the skates. I then attached the skates with dimensional foam adhesive. 

The second step was attaching the skates to the sled. I found white and silver twine in my ribbon stash. However, the thickness of the twine didn’t fit in the hole of the skates. So, I pulled off the silver thread and attached the skates to the sled. The last touch was adding a snowflake brad to the sled’s hole, which covers the knot of the silver thread. 

Third, the next step was to assemble the lever card base. You can see by the score marks where to fold the papers. Gluing them together was simple. As long as you line up the bases, they will form the lever part of the card. The frame of the card was the same cardstock as the skates. This ties in the skates with the frame.

And how cute would it be to use a white gel pen for the note inside the blue card stock? I’m leaving it blank until I have the perfect recipient in mind. 

What I love most about this card is the 3D part of it and the embellished die cuts. The dark blue card stock fits into the card “window,” giving it dimensionality. Also, the skates are hanging off the sled and when you hold the card, they have movement.

 I’d love it if you shared a similar project, whether a lever card or a wintery-themed card!

A Galentine's Valentine Envelope Box Card

Hi, I’m getting a head start on Valentine’s Cards — and I love giving them to my friends for Galantine’s Day. Galantine’s Day celebrates friendship on February 13th. It’s not just for single ladies but for every woman who wants to celebrate and uplift their female friends. 

For today’s project, I selected a variety of cutcardstock.com papers:

Silk Glitter Red Flash 4x6 Discount Card stock

Stardream Metallic Sparkly Soft White Eris

DCS Discount 8.5x11 Card Stock: Amaranth Pink

DCS Discount Card Stock: Textured Japanese Maple Red Card Stock

Basis 8.5x11 Soft Pink 80 lb Card Stock

First, I cut my images using my Cricut machine. I have a few tips that I’d like to share with you. 

Tip number 1: If your Cricut mat isn’t as sticky as it should be, use some tape along the sides to hold it in place. 

Tip number 2: Sort your cut-like images in small plastic bins. For example, I sorted the flower cuts apart from the larger the cuts. So when I assembled my flowers, I had all of the pieces in one place.  

Tip number 3: When you have cut-out words and you have letters like Ps and Ds, keep both cut out on the mat, and you won’t lose the insides of the letters and can better estimate where they should go on the cut-out words. 

My second step was assembling and gluing the flowers. I chose red glitter card stock for the top layers and pink card stock for the bottom layer. I love the combination of reds and pinks. Some of the flowers were cut in shimmery white cardstock, while one was cut in pink cardstock. 

The pink matches the envelope layer, so I didn’t want it to get “lost.” I outlined the flower in Stickles to set it apart and give it depth. I also used foam dimensional adhesive to make the top layer of the pink flower pop. I also embellished the flowers with pearls and rhinestones. 

The third step was assembling the box card envelope. Following the Cricut score marks, it was easy to fold the paper and glue it in the correct areas. I then added pink cardstock to the outside of the red base. I glued the tabs and inserted the pop-up portion of the card that says Happy Valentine’s Day. 

I hope that you enjoyed this how-to. Whether you give cards to children, your spouse or significant other, or your friends, there are so many people to share Valentine's cards. So make more! I’d love to see what you are making for this special day! Feel free to share!

Winter Snowflakes "Birthday Hugs" Card

Do you have a January birthday or a friend with a January birthday? Then you know the experience of drab winters and canceled birthday parties is real. On this cheery snowflake birthday card, I love the bright colors on the card and hope that you do, too. It’s perfect when a friend can use a little pick-me-up with a birthday wish.

First, I began by selecting my card stock papers. These are the cutcardstock.com papers that I used:

Silk Glitter Opulent Opal 12x12 Card Stock; Basis Navy 80lb Cardstock; DCS Discount 8.5x11 Card Stock: Amaranth Pink; and Classic Crest DTC Solar White 165 lb Card Stock.

I matted a layer of the bright pink paper to navy card stock. I love how navy pops, especially in bright colors. I then matted the two onto the white glitter paper. This makes a nice frame — and matches the cut snowflakes.

Second, I gathered my snowflake metal die cuts and a snowflake dry embossing folder. For the die-cut snowflakes, I used white glitter card stock for the focus of my design. I put the largest cut on the top center and surrounded it with smaller snowflakes. 

Third, on the pink card stock, I used a white gel pen. I colored some of the falling snow from the embossing folder. I did this mostly on the bottom of the card to give the look of fallen snow.

Then, for the card sentiment, I used navy ink that picks up on the navy card stock layer. I used another metal die cut, a banner shape, to cut close to the sentiment. I adhered it to a strip of navy card stock paper to make the sentiment pop against the pink. I then added dimensional adhesive foam dots to raise the height of the sentiment. 

I hope that you enjoyed this how-to. Are you busy making seasonal birthday cards? I’d love it if you shared what you made!

A Red Cardinal in a Snowy Crate Box Card

I’d love to show you a box card that I made with a stunning die-cut cardinal and dimensional pine needles on branches made with beautiful cutcardstock.com papers. Nothing says January winter like a cardinal that you spot in nature.  

Here are the card stock colors that I used from cutcardstock.com:

Silk Glitter Opulent Opal 12x12 Card Stock

Stardream Metallic Saturn 126lb 8.5 x 11 Card Stock 

DCS Discount Card Stock: Orange Zest Card Stock

DCS Discount Card Stock: Vanilla Bean Brown Card Stock

DCS Discount Card Stock: Canvas Textured Beetle Black

DCS Discount Card Stock: Canvas Textured Mantis Green Card Stock

Lessebo Colors Hunter Green 83lb Cardstock

DCS Discount Card Stock: Red Pepper Card Stock

First, I uploaded the design into Design Space and changed the colors to the cardstock colors I already had on hand. 

Second, I cut the images out on my Cricut. It is important to group like-color cuts together because it can become confusing if you don’t. For example, you don’t want too many shades of one color. This simplifies things.

Third, I layered the cuts. For example, I used dark green pine needles as the base, then the light bright green on top of the dark green needles, and shimmering branches. You can fluff out the needles to make the branches look more dimensional.

For the crate, I dry embossed the panels to look like real wood grain. Then I added white glitter card stock to the crates folded over a triangle in the front — for the box card’s snowy crate. 

Here’s a close-up of how the colors look against the glitter cardstock. I love how it came out.
 

The pine cone is made of shimmery brown cardstock — and if you pull the pine cone’s petals up, that adds more shimmer and makes the die-cut look more dimensional. 

The finished project can be folded on either side into an envelope that fits the final crate, cardinal, and pine needles, fitting perfectly inside the envelope.

This makes a great gift for those cold snowy days and if you are lucky, you can catch a glimpse of a cardinal in the snowy tree limbs during the day. Are you working on projects with any cardinals? Please share, as I'd love to see it!

Epiphany Lantern Lighting the Way

Today, I am featuring a Christmas-themed project after December 25. This lantern is made in time for the Epiphany, also known as Three Kings' Day, when the Wise Men, or Magi, visit baby Jesus. It's a Christian holiday celebrated on January 6th.

I began by selecting my cutcardstock.com colors.

DCS Discount Card Stock: Blast Off Blue Card Stock

Silk Glitter Black Prince Card Stock 12x12

Silk Glitter Opulent Opal 12x12 Card Stock

I use my Cricut Air for many of my projects, and this was no exception. I fell in love with this design and knew it would make a great centerpiece. There aren’t many layers involved in this project, but it looks like there are. 

What I love about this project is it tells a story. I chose a blue card stock base to represent the night sky, as the Wise men followed the North Star to see baby Jesus and bring him gifts fit for a king. I love the black glitter over the blue — it frames the image nicely and gives the lantern a silhouette even during daylight. Lastly, the lantern needed some “brightening up,” so I used the white glitter card stock to represent the starry night. The contrast works, making everything pop.

For the glitter papers, I used the Cricut glitter plus more pressure setting. This ensured that I got clean cuts in the paper, typically thicker card stock paper than non-glitter paper. The blue base was cut on an intricate cut with normal pressure. I prefer intricate cuts for most of my work because the cuts are always consistent. I keep my custom setting on intricate for that reason.

Assembling the lantern was easy because the design included cut score lines. They bend easily, allowing the glue to adhere to the next piece easily.

The best part about the lantern, aside from how it looks during the day, is how it looks in dim light with a tea light inside. 

I hope you enjoyed this project and will make something similar if you celebrate the Epiphany!