Over the weekend, I attended a triple birthday party for three of my nieces. So, being the last-minute type of girl that I am, I sat down Saturday to create some cards for their big day! Of course, "Aunt Angie" has become well-known for her hand-made cards among the family, but I was feeling more pressure than usual to make something extra-special.
A while back, when I was feeling particularly creative, I gave one of the girls an interactive card. So naturally, in the spirit of fairness, I wanted to create something equally cool for each of the kids this year (I have eight nieces, and one nephew). Creating three Too Cool kids cards in one day? This was going to be a challenge! I was up for it.
Sophie was turning 5, so I wanted to make a card that was bright and fun. Something that would catch her eye, since she would be in the midst of unwrapping a gazillion presents that were much more awesome than a stupid card.
I came up with the Fluttering Butterflies Pop-Up Card. Not sure where I saw it, but I remembered seeing a card with butterflies floating on strips of acetate on the inside. I thought it would be pretty simple to re-create on my own…it was!
The outside of the card was created by random stamping with flowers from the Simply Said, Flight of the Butterfly and Wings of Friendship sets. I used five soon-to-be retiring colors: Summer Sun, Pixie Pink, Green Galore, Lavender Lace and Ballet Blue (they'll be gone after June 30).
I used the Clearly Thanks Window Sheets to create the polka dot overlay on the center Lavender Lace strip. I don't use these sheets enough—the four panels of images make excellent background overlays for your card fronts!
The only thing that's tricky about Window Sheets is coming up with ways to attach them without seeing the adhesive through them. In this card, I used one strip of SNAIL on the back, then covered it with the gable green grosgrain ribbon.
The medallion was stamped with the Think Happy Thoughts set and mounted on a Scallop Circle punch.
I added one little butterfly, created with the Beautiful Wings Embosslit, to give at hint at what was inside…
…awesome fluttering butterflies!
Love it, love it, love it! If this doesn't make you want to run out and purchase the Beautiful Wings Embosslit, then nothing will!
Fluttering Butterflies Pop-Up How-Tos
- Cut two layers for the inside of your card. I used pieces that were 5" tall and 4-1/4" wide, which allowed me to have room for my pink Scallop Edge Border. I scored each piece 1/2" in from the center, creating the middle flap that will hold the pop-ups.
- Cut 1/4" strips of the Clearly Thanks Window Sheets (you could also use the Medium Window Sheets or .007 thick acetate). I started by cutting them all about 3-1/2" long. Cut as many strips as you want; I made 12.
- Add some Sticky Strip tape to the inside of one of the flaps, then lay your window sheet strips along the tape. I spaced mine apart about 1/16" of an inch.
- Add another piece of Sticky Strip over the top of the strips to hold them in place and allow you to adhere the flap of the other inside sheet to it.
- Use you bone folder to flatten the folds, so your card will fold easier. I adhered this entire piece to the card inside with SNAIL. TIP: I adhered one side of the piece first, then keeping it closed, closed the other side of the card on top of it. Adhering it as you close the card may not provide enough "give"
to open the card fully (I've opened it as far as it will open in the
second photo above). However, if you adhere the whole inside piece on an opened card, it may not shut without buckling at the fold. It ain't perfect engineering…what do you do. - Cut the window sheet strips at staggered lengths, and attach your butterflies with Glue Dots to the ends. Then, I bent the strips at their bases, either back or forth, so the butterflies would look like they were flying, rather than being in a police lineup!
I can't say that Sophie loved, or even liked, her card. Truth be told, she hadn't even looked at it by the time I left. She was way too busy ripping off wrapping paper and I had to dig my beautiful card out from under the mess before it got crammed into the large Kohls bag that was being used to collect the discarded trimmings. I saved it, though, and my nephew, Marcus, who is 10 and has been the recipient of my Too Cool cards, opened it up to see what I had created this time. He was impressed, and tried to show Sophie what she was missing, "Look what aunt Angie made!"
She didn't look. I think she made a "hmmph" sound instead.
This is Sophie in the midst of her unwrapping frenzy, and with her specially-requested rainbow angel food cake.
Well, I may not have succeeded at getting praise from a spunky 5-year-old, but at least my boy Marcus had my well-deserved accolades covered! Maybe I should teach him some stamping tricks.
Also, I made a mental note: next time, try adding flashing lights, sound effects, and possibly the smell of cotton candy to Sophie's card. Yep, that oughta do it.
Angie