CARDtober Challenge 1 Option 2: Card with Window

For those who may be intimidated by a box card challenge, I added a second, much easier option for fewer points (for those on teams, who are working to get points). I am not on a team this year, but I have been for past CARDtobers.

I used a Queen & Co. shaker die from their Fright Fest kit for the window frame in the front of the card. The inside cut out piece was my pattern for the opening.  I used one of their border dies to create the uneven ground of the graveyard. 

The ghosts are print & cut paper piecings by Stinkin' Cute Paper Piecings that I bought from the Silhouette Design Store.  The patterned paper is by Graphic 45.  I used 2 layers of fun foam to pop the top layer for a more dramatic depth so the little "Boo" ghost is recessed quite a bit.

CARDtober Challenge 1 Option 1: Halloween Box Card with Window

I am the host for the first CARDtober Challenge. I will be hosting every Thursday, where I post a challenge and a sample or two. My first challenge was to make a box card with a window opening.

I used a Queen & Co. shaker die for the window frame in the front of the box card. I traced the inside cut out of the die to create the opening. 

The ghosts are print & cut paper piecings by Stinkin' Cute Paper Piecings that I bought from the Silhouette Design Store.  The patterned paper is by Graphic 45.

The box card is a cutting file of my own design.

For those who need a tutorial, I posted a link to a great tutorial video:

Best Box Card Tutorial

My Favorite Things Saddle Up Box Card

I lived more than half of my life on the East Coast. Four years ago tomorrow, we left the home where we had lived for almost 34 years and headed to Texas.

I loved Virginia, but I love Texas, too. We are close enough to occasionally visit Fort Worth, and they have an old town section with a cattle pen maze (or did before COVID-19), a train, a cattle drive (before COVID), and other fun places to see. It's definitely Cowboy Country, and I love it. I don't own a cowboy hat or cowboy boots. I don't know if I ever will. I love this area, though. The people are wonderful. I pass ranches and farms on my way to the grocery store. I live in a small town where we don't even have a grocery store.

Anyway, when I found this stamp set, it immediately became one of my favorites. One of my Texas friends just had a birthday, so I made this box card for her.

The booth at the back is from a different MFT stamp set. The diagonal plaid papers were a Silhouette patterned paper that I used to make the front and flap panels into a print and cut file.

Queen & Co. Challenge Cut Something New Project 3

I got the idea to try cutting tulle and/or crepe paper streamer in the middle of the night. I made it this morning. I hope the photos do it justice.

The pumpkin stamps are from My Favorite Things "Witch Way to the Candy" set. The dies that I used are all Queen & Co. Foundation dies.

Getting the tulle and the crepe paper streamer material out of the die intact after cutting was a royal pain. I didn't succeed until I sandwiched the crepe streamer between waxed paper sheets before cutting.

I probably won't try this again, although I do like how the flower turned out. Unfortunately, as soon as it goes into an envelope, the tulle flower will get smashed, and the tulle tends to stick to itself, so it won't fluff back up without help.

Queen & Co. Challenge Die Cut Something New

The most recent challenge from Queen & Co. is to die cut something you have never die cut before.

My first project was a card. I have never die cut cork before, so I decided to create a cork message board on a card using their Foundation dies, and a tag die from their Love Jar kit. The middle tag was done with a stamp from their Bug Jar kit. The other two stamps that I used were dollar stamps that I bought from one of the big box craft stores years ago. I used Nuvo drops for the flower centers. Those are real, but very small applique pins holding the tags to the cork message board, although I also used adhesive on the back.

For my second project, I decided to die-cut HTV (heat transfer vinyl) and iron it onto a face mask, since masks are mandatory in my state (although I was wearing masks, even when they weren't, because I am very high risk). I've cut HTV with my electronic cutter, but I have never die cut it with dies. You do have to peel the plastic off first before die cutting it with dies, then make sure you die cut the correct side of the vinyl, carefully position the adhesive plastic back over, then place it and iron it on. It's a lot easier using an electronic cutter, but dies will work.

I used the Queen and Co. Hello die, from their Hello Sentiment Stacker set, and flower and leaf dies from Foundation sets.

Mini Slim Trifold Card

I used the Silhouette software to create this mini slim trifold card. It is inspired by the Taylored Expressions mini slim trifold cards, but with round windows rather than square. Theirs was sold out.

I used My Favorite Things "Witch Way to the Candy" stamp set. The bat is nearly exact on both sides, so he could be used on both the front and back of the window and still matched up.

Here is a closer up view of the front of the closed card.

 

Then below you can see all three parts of the card. The top image is same as the one above. The middle image shows the first panel open, with the second panel showing on the right.  The bottom image is the fully opened card.

Beach Bag Box Card

I am back to making box cards again. I love them. They take time to make, but those who receive them usually really like them.

I bought this design from the Silhouette Design Store. The designer is Lori Whitlock. I have downloaded a lot of her designs, but I have not actually made that many of them.

The design had a problem. It will not fold flat. I have been making box cards for years. I know how to make them so they fold flat. This was definitely a design flaw. I emailed her but never heard back from her. I posted about it on the RefuPeas board, and learned that others have had similar issues with her 3D files.

The sad thing is that a lot of people might buy and make this design, and think they did it wrong. They might be too discouraged to make box cards again.

I ended up tweaking the design until I got a box card that would fold flat, but I should not have had to do that.

It's cute, but I can't mail this particular one to anybody, which is more than a little disappointing.