Friday, January 22, 2021

Shutter Card

 

Lately I have heard many who are new at card making comments that they do not know where to start or that their cards do not look as nice as others do. Remember that we all started someplace. Honestly, in my opinion, some of the most beautiful cards I have seen are the simplest. Create cards out of love and they will be awesome!

Today I am sharing some birthday cards I made for upcoming birthdays. These three cards are all cut from the same file, which is posted here free under the name, “Shutter Card”. This card has been shared here before under the name Tri-fold Shutter card, but that file does not contain the mat layers.

This first card is quick and easy and yet has that wow factor. It was created from 1/2 sheet of 12”x12” white cardstock for the base, an 8 ½” sheet of patterned paper, and 3 4”x 6” pieces for the mats. I used a set of dies to cut out the words, “especially for you” and stamped the “Happy Birthday” sentiment. You fold the top row of scoring with the first one being a mountain fold, then a valley, then a mountain, and lastly a valley. The second row is a mountain and a valley fold. The bottom row is the same as the top. This card folds to a standard A2 size (4 ¼” x 5 ½”).

This second card uses metallics, shimmer, and glitter cardstock as well as embossing. It is a little more complex, but still not difficult. It was created with 1/2 a sheet of 12” x 12” white cardstock for the base. I used a gilding paste to add a slight sparkle around the folds and cut edges of the paper.  I cut mats and layers from remnants of matching glitter and mat metallic papers as well as some white shimmer paper. I embossed some of the pieces and layered them. I used dies to cut out the row of hearts the word “Celebrate” and the “Happy Birthday”. I stamped the center sentiment.

This third card has many of the same elements as the second card with the addition of the waterfall section in the center and the rounding of some of the corners. The mini waterfall card in the center is a die set. I may recreate this to be cut with the Cricut at some point in the future. I do have a file for a waterfall card that could be sized down to create a similar effect.

I hope this illustrates that the process of creating a card can be as simple or complex as you wish. When you start with an unusual card cutting file, you can look like a pro with extraordinarily little effort. Most importantly, enjoy the process and develop your own style!

2 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. HI Sharon. If you look in the colum to the left, there are links to other pages on this blog. Click on the one that says, "Card Making". That page has all the links. The one for this card is all the way to the bottom.

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