Clear Cards

Lately I have found myself playing around with clear cards. Have you ever tried using clear acrylic for your cards or mini albums? Talk about challenging yet so fun at the same time! Not only are you thinking about how the top layer is going to look, but also needing to remember the under layers as they show as well. Here are 2 birthday cards I created for some of my kids little buddies. The Olivia Card was created for a little 4-year-old sweetheart named Sarah. Her mother says she loves watching Olivia, so I thought I would make her a card to match her birthday presents. It was so fun creating this card, as I didn't stress and redesign it over and over again. I somehow let the pieces fall into place, and enjoy the way it turned out.

Here is how I created it...First I searched Google for images of Olivia. I found this sassy one and saved it to my computer. I then printed it out on white cardstock. After diecutting around her, I assembled assorted papers & ribbons I thought would emphasize and flatter Ms. Olivia. The base card is from CTMH. It is a round scalloped 4.5" clear card. It is covered with a clear film to protect it prior to using. Here is a great tip for you cardmakers out there: whenever you have a clear film, make sure to keep it as you decide how to assemble the design. I was able to put my "happy" stickers down on the clear film to determine placement without destroying the paper underneath. Once I knew what I wanted to do, it was pretty easy to peel the stickers from the film and place directly onto the card. Back to the project details...I traced around the scallops of the card onto the red dot paper. I then used the xyron to adhere the paper to the inside base of the card. This allowed a place for my kids to sign the card, and it not interfere with the overall design of the card...it was secretely hidden behind Olivia! I used a silver paint pen around the edges of the scallop. On the top flap of the card, I cut out a circle on the white/red paper and adhered to the card using foam dots. I tied red/white candy striped ribbon and blue/white postal string to the top half of the card and tied into a bow. After that, I glued Olivia down with foam dots and stuck the "happy" stickers accordingly to the very front. To dress Olivia up a little more, I stamped a crown from Autumn Leaves onto white cardststock and embossed it in silver. I found a round white metal rimmed tag that was perfect to complete the sentiment. One side I stamped BIRTHDAY, stuck on a candy striped thickers "2" and then wrote YOU in Sharpie.

Another card I created a week ago was for a 7-year-old "mad scientist" named Lorenzo. He had a super cool party at the Oklahoma Science Museum where all the kids were decked out in lab jackets and goggles! (His mama is a birthday party nut like myself! ) To stick with the theme, I found a great collage image on PowerPoint of all places! The galaxy, the telescope, the earth...perfect for what I wanted! I printed out the image, and adhered it to the inside of a square CTMH 4.5" clear card. On the outside, I traced around the galaxy using silver Stickles. Talk about giving it some sparkle! I then stamped BIRTHDAY accross the telescope, and hand wrote part of the message. I created "THIS" using red dymo tape. The "world" is Making Memories silver stickers. Something cool about this card is that the birthday $ is hidden at the back! When gluing the image to the inside, I only adhered it on 3 sides creating a pocket that the dollars slid into perfectly! I hope the kids enjoyed these little cards...surely not as much as I enjoyed making them! : )

Oh yes, have you heard of Twisted Sketches? If not, you should check them out! They have weekly challenges for both cards and layouts. Check out the "clear" card challenge they had last week, and see what other great sketches they have to spark your inner creativity! http://www.twistedsketches.com/