For someone who loves to make cards, I am terrible about actually remembering to send them. I owed my mother-in-law a thank you card, and it was also very close to her wedding anniversary and Valentine's Day, so I decided to make one card to cover everything. Alphabet dies are perfect when you need a truly custom card.
Supplies:
- Cardstock Warehouse Cardstock Papers
- Razzle Berry Pink Pop-Tone 65lb
- Cotton Candy Pop-Tone 65lb
- Lemon Drop Pop-Tone 65lb
- Banana Split Pop-Tone 65lb
- Gumdrop Green Pop-Tone 65lb
- Sour Apple Pop-Tone 65lb
- Blu Raspberry Pop-Tone 65lb
- Sno Cone Pop-Tone 65lb
- Grape Jelly Pop-Tone 65lb
- Grapesicle Pop-Tone 65lb
- Bianco Pergamenata 59lb Cover
- Gold Touch MirriSparkle 100lb
- Aquamarine Stardream 105lb
- Outline Double Alphabet Dies
Embossing Folder (optional) - Liquid Glue
- Scor-tape
- Bone Folder & Scoring Board
- Rhinestone placement tool (optional)
First you'll need to choose the colors for your card base. I chose an Aquamarine Stardream base, a Gold Touch MirriSparkle mat, and a Bianco Pergamenata embossed piece. My card base is a folded A7 (5x7 when folded, 10x7 before scoring and folding), the mat is 4.75x6.75, and the inner piece is 4.5x6.5. I ran the Bianco Pergamenata piece through a heart embossing folder. Set this piece aside, and glue the Gold Touch MirriSparkle on top of the Aguamarine Stardream base and set it aside. I set the parchment piece on top to make sure it fit, but did not glue it down yet.
Now it's time to plan out and cut the alphabet letters. I chose 5 color sets, Razzleberry with Cotton Candy, Lemon Drop with Banana Split, Gumdrop with Sour Apple, and Blu Raspberry with Sno Cone. I love this alphabet die set because you can cut the letters in two colors and create beautiful outlined letters by putting those colors together.
I wrote out the phrase I wanted to put on my card, then planned what color each letter should be. Then the fun part- cutting the letters!
One of the reasons I chose the parchment for my embossed piece is because it is slightly see-through, which makes it much easier to line up your letters. I measured how tall the letters are and used that number to evenly space the lines. The letters are 2cm tall, and I put 1cm of space between each line. I cut a piece of Grapesicle scrap down to 3.5x6.5 and then cut some parchment scraps into five 2cm tall strips. I drew a line through the center horizontally and vertically of one of the pieces of parchment, and also the Grapesicle sheet. I then adhered the parchment strip to the center of the Grapesicle sheet. Lastly, I measured 1cm above and below and glued two more strips. I repeated this one more time until I had a template for lining up my letters. If you're less of a perfectionist than I am, you can simply eyeball where to put your letters. I lined this guide up under my parchment and adhered it with some washi tape. Now you can line a ruler up with the bottom of the strips to line your letters up perfectly!
Now it's time to actually glue the letters on. I decided to use the darker papers for the outline, and the lighters papers for the inside of the letters. I used my ruler to keep things straight, and my Zig Glue Pen to adhere the pieces. I started with the middle letter and worked my way out to make sure they were centered.
Once I had all the outlines adhered, I added the centers to all the letters. Then I added in the darker centers of the Ps, As, and R. I found it was easier to add the glue to the center of paper in the middle of the letters instead of the back of the letter pieces. I used my rhinestone placement tool to put the letters on.
Once all my letters were glued on, I attached the parchment sheet on top of the Gold Touch MirriSparkle with Scor-tape. I decided not to add any other embellishments because I wanted the letters to be the focus of the card.
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Happy Crafting!
Erica (@wanderfuldesign)