It's an early Easter this year! We don't have to wait for April as Easter falls on the last weekend of March. This means that it can also sneak up on you and it's coming up quicker than you might think.
Do you make cards for Easter? I have a sweet window design to share with you today. It's actually more of a Spring theme with an Easter sentiment but you'll definitely see touches of Easter in the oval (egg) shaped window and the pretty lavendar and soft yellow color scheme.
Window cards are a little more work than regular card designs and so I don't make them as often as I should. I confess to being a very lazy crafter. I had so much fun creating this one though that another will be on my to-do list very, very soon.
What originally inspired this design was a sheet of Secret Garden 12x12 paper from Graphic 45. This particular one is called Springtime and one side is patterned and the other has the most gorgeous little images that can be cut apart as images, accents and journaling card type embellishments. It's seriously amazing just how many projects could be made from one single sheet.
And HELLO?! It's only a dollar. I just couldn't resist.
To go along with it I also purchased the Secret Garden Chipboard pieces. I wanted to use this particular frame for it's oval shape and it would make a great focal point for my card design. It's pretty basic. You just punch it out of the chipboard sheet. So why the image? I wanted to show you a little trick.
See the little paper "spurs" that are left after you punch it out? You want to get rid of those for a nice finish on your project. To do that, simply file off the extra paper bits with a Sanding Block or the Basic Grey Precision File Set.
As a picture is worth a thousand words...I have lots of step outs for you today. This first one is basically how I start designing a project. I lay some of the pieces together to see how the design layout will work. You'll notice that some of the pieces I started with didn't make the final cut. That's OK. Just go with the flow.
Here's where I start putting the card layers together. And actually, it's also where I decided that this card needed a window and not just another layer.
Once the layers are all adhered together I planned out exactly where my window needed to be and then traced the inside of the oval onto the card front in pencil. As this is just a touch smaller in size than what I want the opening to be I just cut a very tiny amount outside the circle.
I wish I'd had an oval die that matching up in size perfectly but I didn't so hand-cutting was the only option. This is good to know though so that you make a window and size and shape that you desire.
Because there are so many layers of paper and cardstock, you may have to cut the oval out a few times with your craft knife. The first time I cut it only removed the top layer of patterned paper as you can see in the above shot. You'll find that after you cut one oval, the next layers go really quickly.
To get a nice smooth edge to all those layers of cut paper, I pulled out my Precision File set again and just filed them smooth. This makes it almost look as if it were die cut.
Place your frame on and you have a nice window card design.
You can leave it open or you can also put in a piece of Crystal Clear Plastic to make it easier to adhere your embellishments.
It's always nice to finish the inside of a card but it's really essential with a window card design. Here's the beautiful image panel that I finally decided on adhere to the inside of the card. I'm very fond of florals and birds and so that's what I went with.
To finish off the inside of the card, stamp the sentiment and add a few little flowers and pearls as an accent.
The card front needs some embellishing too. I adore the new Maya Road Wood Birdcages and this one worked perfectly for the front of this card. Add in a few more pins and accents and it's complete!
Thanks for stopping by the CLASSroom and have a lovely weekend!
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