Happy Birthday Circle Card

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This Happy Birthday Circle Card is another one I saw done with dies on HSN Craft Day by Sara of Crafters Companion and had to try it.  I made a Bon Voyage card like this too but I am holding on to it until people start traveling again.  Who knows how long that will be.  I will put a link here when I post it.

I really like how this card turned out.  It is colorful and happy.  Anyone would love to get this card on their special day.  I classified this card as intermediate because of all the intricate cuts and little pieces.  But it isn’t that hard to make.

You will need:
        • Heavy 2 sided cardstock for the base
        • Various Cardstock scraps
        • Pen
        • Glue
        • Download File
Paper Selection

I did this card in pink and red with a patterned paper too.  But you can choose any color you want.  The base card needs to be two sided because you do see a little of both sides, but not much.  As you can see, patterns would work well with any part of this card as long as the pen showed up.  Just don’t use too many patterns.  This would get confusing.

The intricut cuts require a little heavier paper to be crisp.  So choose at least 100 lb weight paper for the pink (used for the circle with letters), the red (for the cake) and the balloons.

Cutting the card

Cut the card base and the Cricut will do the writing.  I used a black gel pen.  Did you know that you can use any pen in your Cricut?  You can see the trick here.  I used a font called Ambition Booker and you can get it from Creative Fabrica.  I have a membership there so I get it for free.  Check them out.  They have daily freebies and lots of graphics and fonts

There are lots of pieces with very intricate cuts.  Be careful taking them off the mat.

Assembling the Happy Birthday Circle Card

First re-crease all the folds.  This is essentially a gatefold card so make sure it folds properly.

Then glue all the embellishments together. It is pretty simple just make sure you get the right layers together on the balloons.  Look at the picture if you have trouble. Once the circles are together and the glue is dry, attach the right half of the circle to the right flap.  Do not put glue on the left half or this will glue your card shut.

And your Happy Birthday Circle  card is done.  It fits in an A7 envelope for mailing.

Standing Happy Birthday Circle Card
Happy Birthday Circle Card

Harlequin Flower Birthday Card

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Do you remember the honeycomb ornaments we made at Christmas (they are here)?  Part of this card is the same concept.  I put a flower honeycomb (or harlequin design) in the center of this card.  It works wonderfully!  I saw a similar one at Walmart but I like mine better.

This card is wonderfully three dimensional but it takes a little room for the harlequin flower so it is a little thicker than the average card.  It fits in an A7 envelope though.  I really need to learn how to make those 3-D envelopes.  I have the instructions but I am scared to try.  See I get scared too!

You will need:

        • Heavy  cardstock for the base 
        •  Scraps of cardstock
        • Glue
        • Glue gun
        • small scrap of ribbon
        • Download File

Paper Selection

The base card really needs to be heavy cardstock, at least 120 lb.  It can be patterned or solid but I would use solid because of the embellishments.  The embellishments would look nice in a patterned paper though.

The flower itself needs to be two sides and again I would stick with solid but two different colors alternated is nice.  I made one that way and really liked it.

Cutting the Card

All the green pieces are really thin and easy to tear.  Be careful with them.

If the base card is a solid color you won’t need the rectangle for the front and can just hide it before you cut the card out.

Assembly

First re-crease all the folds on the card and the flowers.  The base card has two fold lines in the center to give the flower stack more room.

Glue the green embellishment inside the card before you start on the flower.  Each edge goes up to the fold line which leaves a little gap in the center.  The rest of the embellishments can wait.

Assembling the Flower

This is the complicated part.  I included a lot of pictures from the ornament I made to help.  

The first step is to fold all the pieces in half.   Stack the pieces with the straight edges lined up.  The stack should look like this (again these pictures are from the ornament):

Gluing the “Spine”

Straighten the stack and hold it in one hand.  Apply glue from the glue gun to the folded side all the way to the edges and while still warm attach the ribbon.  You are binding the center like a book

Bend the “binding” to form a semicircle.  The ornament should sorta form the loose shape like this:

Gluing the Rest

Lie the flower flat again.  With liquid glue, alternate gluing the top center petal and the lower center petal on each layer to each other.  Try not to use too much glue.  If the glue squirts out it will bind the wrong layers together.  Fold the next “page” down and continue alternating top petal and bottom petal.  This is what creates the honeycomb.  After gluing the last “page” set the flower aside for about 30 minutes to dry.

When the glue is dry “fluff” the flower a little by opening the flower so that it relaxes the binding and the flower a little.  Next, place the flower “binding” next to one of the fold lines on the base card and close the card just to make sure the binding of the card is wide enough.  It should be, I used a thick paper to make my flower and it worked fine. 

 DO NOT GLUE THE BINDING TO THE BASECARD

Glue on side of the flower down to the inside of the base card.  Then put glue on the other side of the flower and close the card.  Let the glue dry.  This positions the flower properly in the card.  Once the glue is dry open the card and the flower should look like this

 

Add the rest of the embellishments to the front and inside of the card.  You can look at the pictures for placement.

And your Harlequin Flower Birthday Card is done.  Enjoy!

Square Twist Birthday Card

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This Square Twist Birthday Card is the latest in my obsession with twisted cards. I have a few more but here is the hexagon fold card I made before.  These cards are so thick that they need a card band to hold them closed.  So I designed one.

This card says Happy Birthday in four different languages (well 5 if you count English) French, Spanish, German and Swahili.

You will need:

        • Heavy  cardstock for the base 
        •  Scraps of cardstock
        • Pen
        • Glue
        • Download File

Paper Selection

Amazingly enough the base card paper does NOT have to be two sided.  It does have to be fairly heavy though (at least 100 lb weight).  You can make this card any color you like.  The base card might even be great in a patterned paper.  I’d stay away from glitter paper though, it seems to crack at the folds.

The embellishments can be either patterned or plain too.  Avoid large pattern though because some of the pieces are small.  But don’t do both the base and the embellishments in patterned paper, that is confusing.

Cutting the Card

Cut the card out and the Cricut will do the writing.  I used a purple gel pen.  The card uses a great font I found called Antiqueline.  It is free at dafont.  The rest is fairly simple.

Did you know that you can use almost any pen in your cricut?  Discover the secret trick here.

Assembling the Square Twist Card

The embellishments are easy to assemble.  It is the folding that is complicated.  None of the folds go from one edge to the other.  Start by re creasing all the folds.  Then following this picture, make the appropriate mountain and valley folds.

Folds of Square Twist Birthday Card

It will look a lot like the picture below, without the embellishments.

Next you should pinch two of  the mountain folds on the card diagonally across from each other.  Then twist them counter clockwise.  This SHOULD collapse the whole card into a square shape but it may take some help to get the other points to fold correctly.  Work the card a few times until it folds easily.  To open the card, pull on the top layer of two diagonally opposite corners.  The card pops open.

Lastly assemble and attach the embellishments.  Look at the picture and you will see where they go.  Fold the card band around the closed card and glue it closed in front.  Make sure not to get any glue on the card.  Attach the medallion to the band in the front, covering the joint.

The card fits in a six inch square envelope.  

And your Square Twist Birthday Card is done!