I’m so honored to be the guest designer for Paper Sweeties<\/a><\/span> to help introduce this month’s Paper Sweeties February Inspiration Challenge<\/a><\/span>! I took the patterns and the Primative feeling of the inspiration photo (below) to create the look of this twist pop card for a dear crafty friend who loves coffee and her kitties.<\/p>\n

<\/a>I used lots of papers for this card, but many of them were scraps from my scrap box (I love it when I can use up scraps!). The gingham and floral papers are from the Pebbles “Sunny Side” and Doodlebug “Lovebirds” collections were great for die cutting and paper piecing. I also used pale pink and cranberry pink shimmerz papers, a cross stitched heart patterned paper from the “2014 Best of” Amy Tangerine American Crafts paper pack, and white and forest green card stock for the card construction and matting.<\/p>\n

I had so much fun paper piecing and shading (with Copic W0, 1, 3 and 5) various images from the Paper Sweeties “But First, Coffee”<\/a><\/span> and “Coffee, Yes Please”<\/a><\/span> stamp sets. I also used the stitched heart die from the Paper Sweeties Sweet Cuts “Stitched Tags #1” Die Set<\/a><\/span> and the small heart and coffee sleeve from the Sweet Cuts “Coffee, Yes Please” Die Set<\/a><\/span> for layering and adding some kraft corrugated card stock for a bit of “realistic” color and texture.<\/p>\n

<\/a>For the card front, I Copic colored and paper pieced The Greeting Farm’s “Snuddle Anya” with coordinating patterned papers and the following Copic colors:
\nHair: E53, E35, V06 and E23
\nSkin: E50, E51, E11 and R20
\nShorts and barrette: R85 and R89
\nBunny slippers: R81, R83, R85 R89 and 0 colorless blender<\/p>\n

I also added two kitties representing my friend’s two grey and white pets by using the cat from The Greeting Farm Mini Remix Happy” stamp set<\/a><\/span> and doing a little mirrored stamping. The kitties are Copic colored with W0, W1, W3, W5 and R20 and a little bit of white furry details using a Sakura Gelly Roll Pen.<\/p>\n

I kept the front pretty simple since there was so much going on inside the card. I did some matting, added a paper doily to soften the background (plus I thought the doily was a nice allusion to a cozy tea party), and gave little Anya and the kitties a kind of “ground” to stand on by layering another scrap of the cross stitched heart patterned paper.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Because the twist pop mechanism gets a little bulky, I also added a sheer pink ribbon under the card front and the handmade by label on the back to create a ribbon closure.<\/p>\n

Now for the twist pop mechanism, here are the measurements, and if you want a step by step tutorial, please watch the video below:
\n1. Twist pop mechanism: 8 1\/2″ x 3″; scored at 2 3\/4″, 5 3\/4″, turn 90 degrees and score at 1 1\/2″; score an “X” through the middle and fold from sides into a house shape (video makes this much clearer)
\n2. Four panel pop up: 10″ x 3″; score at 2 1\/2″, 5″ and 7 1\/2″; fold like a gatefold card toward the middle
\n3. Top folding card base: 11″ x 4 1\/4″; score at 4 1\/4″ (slight improved alternative: 11 1\/8″ x 4 1\/2″; score at 5 1\/2″ 5 5\/8″ to create a small gusset at top of card for ease of folding down; this is not necessary, but I think would make a card that lies flat better)<\/p>\n

The following is a video share of the card including a tutorial on how to construct\u00a0a twist pop card:<\/p>\n