Flip-Flop Cards!!!

Just in time for Summer, a cute card idea!! These little dandies are so versatile (not to mention ADDICTING! I made SIX of them!!) They can be decorated generically to be used as notecards, or with theme-specific embellies to make a unique birthday invitation or thank you note. I decided to go with this style after a long debate on unique cards, but when I looked around on the Internet, I couldn't really find a template with a shape that suited my style well. I didn't want it to look like a "real" flip flop - long and narrow - but more the short, squat Japanese wedge-sandal type flip-flops. I set out to freehand a template that I could share with everyone else who is looking for a practical, card-sized flip-flop template out there! Here is the template, after scanning my black cut-outs, and then resizing them in white to provide a guideline for the inner template:



If you click the template, you will be able to see and print the full-sized document. Check in your browser's Print Preview setting to make sure that your template fills up the entire sheet of paper, then print as many copies as you think you will need! I have also included a link to the Envelope Template --> HERE <-- You can make this any size you want, including resizing the templates for the cards. The size for my examples was adjusted to be 9 1/2" wide. Courtesy of Mirkwood Designs. I reproduced it on true 8 1/2" x 11" so it prints at a size that fits the card, although it wasn't too far off to begin with. (Thanks to Ruthann Zaroff at Mirkwood Designs for the awesome template!!)

Once you've printed your templates, you can cut around the black part FIRST. This will be your cardstock base. I used a full sheet of cardstock for these projects, since the dimensions are slightly bigger than a half sheet, and the negative of the cutout you will make for this provides plenty of room to make a nice 5 1/2" x 6" (or smaller!) card. I folded the sheet of cardstock edge to edge, so I ended up with a folded 6" wide by 12" tall, and I used my bone folder to sturdy the crease. I laid the flip-flop template I wanted to use with the flattest side edge aligned with the crease, and overlapping just a TINY bit, then traced around and cut out (this ensured I would have enough of the crease along the edge for this to count as a card!) I also trimmed the excess from the side of the cardstock next to my cutout, leaving the bulk of the negative for the scrap pile, and I was left with two chunks of irregularly shaped cardstock. I cut 1/2" wide strips out of one of these, to make the straps for the flip-flops, and I reserved the rest for any matting or embellishing I might want to do on the face of the card later. When you're finished you should have a barenaked flip-flop shaped card!

From there, cut the white center out of the black template (this is why I included two - so you don't have to ruin one template to get the other!) Use the white template for the patterned paper that is the "background" canvas of your card. I tried to stick with something that had a subtle but still noticeable pattern - as so not to overpower any greetings or embellishments I might choose to put on the card. From here on out, it's all yours! Do it up however you'd like with flowers or other embellies and words (don't forget the words - or at least a monogram!) Also, a trick I did with the straps: when it came time to apply the straps, (which was right after I cut out the patterned paper, but before I adhered it to the cardstock) I laid them on the paper where I wanted them then I used my Exacto knife to cut slits right above the top and bottom edges of the slits, on the patterned paper. Then I folded each strip end over about 1/4" and put these "tabs" into the "slots" I'd made in the patterned, and stuck them to the back with photo corners. That gave the straps the little curvy raised arch that real flip flops have, and added a little extra dimension to the cards. THEN I glued the paper onto the card.

Have fun making these, and please make sure you link back to this blog if you decide to use my template! I would also love to see what you do with it, so if you make one, be sure to link it back here in the comments so we can all appreciate it! Thanks for checking out this tutorial and template! If you want to save the template to your hard drive rather than print it, just right click it and select "Save As..." or "Save Image As..." on the menu. Enjoy!!

MORE EXAMPLES:

"What's Up?!"	"You Rock"	"Delight"
"Thanks"	"School's Out"	"Celebrate"

Click to see a larger image!!

SUPPLIES:
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"You Rock!!" Card
* Cardstock - Paperbilities
* Patterned Paper - Creative Imaginations "Caution Girl"
* Flowers - Darice; Simply Clean Digi Scraps
* "Sweetie" Button - Target $1 Aisle
* Fiskars Small Heart Punch
* Zots Large Dots
* Karen Foster Scraparatus (for hole punching)
* "DYMO" font from DaFont.com (for Label)

"What's Up?!" Card
* Cardstock - Paperbilities
* Patterned Paper - Creative Imaginations "Caution Girl"
* Flowers - Darice; Simply Clean Digi Scraps
* "Hottie" Button - Target $1 Aisle
* Bling - Wal-Mart Craft Aisle
* Zots Large & Small Dots
* Karen Foster Scraparatus (for hole punching)
* "DYMO" font from DaFont.com (for Label)

"Delight" Card
* Cardstock - Paperbilities
* Patterned Paper - Reminisce
* "Delight" Metal Word & Silver Brad - Making Memories
* Coconut Drink - Dress-it-Up Buttons
* Sun Charm - American Traditional Designs
* Starfish & Beach Scene stickers - Miss Elizabeth's
* Cowrie Shells - Wal-Mart Craft Aisle
* Flowers - Darice; Simply Clean Digi Scraps
* Zots Large Dots
* Karen Foster Scraparatus (for hole punching)

"Thanks" Card
*** MADE FOR WHAT'S SCRAPPENING? JUNE '07 GUEST DT ***
* Cardstock - Bazzill
* Patterned Paper - Heidi Grace; Miss Elizabeth's; ProvoCraft
* Flowers - Darice; Simply Clean Digi Scraps
* Brad - Eyelet Outlet
* Font - DYMO

"School's Out" Card
*** MADE FOR WHAT'S SCRAPPENING? JUNE '07 GUEST DT ***
* Cardstock - Bazzill
* Patterned Paper - Heidi Grace; Daisy D's; ProvoCraft
* Flowers - Archiver's; Simply Clean Digi Scraps
* Font - DYMO

"Celebrate" Card
* Cardstock - Paperbilities
* Patterned Paper - Imaginisce "Let's Pretend"
* Green Holo Vellum - Miss Elizabeth's
* Flowers - Darice; Imaginisce
* Confetti Streamer Embellies - Dress-it-Up Buttons
* Balloons Charm - American Traditional Designs
* Brad - Making Memories
* Zots Large & Small Dots
* Karen Foster Scraparatus (for hole punching)
* "DYMO" font from DaFont.com (for Label)

"Flip-Flop" Card Template (c) 2007 - Shaunna Farral
"Basic Envelope" Template (c) 1999-2006 Mirkwood Designs, a division of ruthannzaroff.com

My First Tutorial - Shaker Shadowbox Altered Mini-Class

Shaker Shadowbox Tutorial
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by Shaunna

I started thinking about things I could alter, and as I looked around at what I had sitting out, I noticed an empty Valentine's chocolate box. Hmm.... What could I do with that? I wanted to make something unique and something useful out of this thing I was otherwise going to throw away - so I headed to my scrap room.

I have been wanting to make a shaker box for a long time now, and I've never seen it done within a shadow box. A HUGE shaker, with the bonus benefit of being a picture frame for a gift or for decor; an interactive picture frame. This is what I ended up with:

Wanna know how I did it? Well, I decided to make a tutorial along the way to share with everyone! Please bear with me, as this is my first tutorial and I am not always the best at explaining things. My pictures aren't the greatest quality, but good enough to be able to follow along. You can use any hollow box that's at least 1" tall or deeper - not too deep, though - you don't want it to be so shadowy you can't see anything in it! I used a "Choxie" chocolate box from Target - I especially liked that this one had a little bit of an odd curve in the heart shape, which will make it especially good as a display - it will stand up pretty well on its own. If you use a thinner box (the standard one that assorted chocolates come in, persay), you will probably have to add a stand to the back with chipboard or attach some ribbon so it can be hung on a wall. Here is a list of supplies you will need to complete this project:

• An empty hollow box (like a Valentine's chocolate box)
• 3 sheets of 12x12" coordinating patterned paper + scraps
• A piece of clear plastic film big enough to cover the lid of your box (you can use the plastic wrapper from a 12x12 pack of paper or kit, it works great!)
• At least 8" of ribbon
• Stickers / rub-ons to decorate inside & out
• Misc "shaker" embellies (buttons, die-cuts, punches, charms, etc.)
• Adhesive of choice
• Scissors, paper trimmer, and heavy duty cutting blade
• Ink/paint, if desired
• One 3x5" photo of choice
• Two small photos (no more than 2" at widest or tallest point)

OK, first thing's first. If you're going to set it on a table and you need a stand, then read on... if not, skip this section and go to the next paragraph. My best suggestion would be to trace the fold-out stand from picture frame you already have onto chipboard - don't forget to leave a little extra at the top so you can fold and attach to the back of the box! Mimic the design of the picture frame so you will end up with a stand. Brads would be great for attaching this to the box - and the backs would be covered with paper from the inside! When you've completed your stand, move on to the next step.

Decide which patterned paper you want to use for the inside of the box. Turn it upside-down and place your box on top of it, so that you use as little of the paper as possible, but still get the full outline.

Trace around the heart with a pencil and cut it out - when you cut, cut slightly inside the pencil line as it will need to be just slightly shorter than the actual box to fit inside without a hitch. You may have to trim it a few times to get it to fit correctly. Don't worry if it's not perfect - most often, no one will see the inside of the box, so you're in the clear. Glue the heart shape down. If you want, you can use the rest of the paper to fill in around the edges. Set the paper inside the box so it is even, and make a mark on the back where the box stops.

Cut several strips of this size from the remaining paper. Adhere the strips to the inside of the box one at a time. Overlap one strip with the next and continue this way until you have filled in the entire inside. Trim off any excess from the top.

To finish covering the bottom of the box, take a second piece of paper and do the same thing with the outside as you did on the inside - make a mark and cut strips, then adhere. The bottom half of your box should now be entirely covered with patterned paper, except the very bottom. Like this:

Now the hardest part. Take the lid of the box and use a ruler and your eyeball (or a template if you have one that fits) to make an outline around the inside of the box, about 1" from the edge. You will then have a "frame" for your window.

Using a sharp tool or scissors, cut on the outline you made to create a cutout of the shape in the middle of the lid. This cutout's border does not have to be 1", it can be whatever size you want, just remember the contents of your box! When you're finished cutting you should have something like this:

Now, get your third piece of patterned paper, and flip the lid over and stick it to the backside of the patterned paper (so the pattern will be on the front.) Again, try to take up as little space as possible on the paper! Trace around the outside and the inside window of your box, so you have the outline of your shape. Cut the main shape out of the paper, then using your cutter or scissors again, cut the shape from the center of the lid, and try to keep it as intact as possible so you can use it to embellish your box or add to your scrap pile. Do not glue yet! You should end up with two pieces:

Get out your clear film. Apply a generous amount of adhesive all over the top of the box lid, on the "frame" you made. Lay the plastic over the box and smooth it out well. Cut away the excess plastic hanging over the edges of the box. Apply adhesive to the back of the paper outline and stick it down on top of the film, covering the box as closely as possible. Continue covering the edges of lid of the box the same as you did the inside and outside, if you want. If you are using a standard candy box, the lid and bottom will overlap, so you will not have to cover both parts - only the one that will be facing out - which is most likely the top part. If you already covered the bottom, though, that's OK! You should end up with a box that is completely covered with patterned paper and a window in the lid. If that's what you have, then you're doing this right - and I'm doing a good job of explaining it! Now if you want, you can ink the edges of the box or distress them so it has time to dry.

Next, mat the pictures on the remainder of what you used for the outside bottom (sheet #2) or another coordinating scrap. Ink / distress the edges as desired. You can also add a rub-on to the large photo if you have one that is appropriate. You can glue the shape you cut from the lid paper into the bottom of the box if you want; do any inking or distressing you want to it first! Then add only the large photo to the box, lining it up the way it would be straightest when viewed in the frame, and also setting it high enough that it will not be covered by your shaker embellishments when they are resting in the bottom of the frame.

Embellish the inside of the box - LIGHTLY - as desired. I added a few simple stickers. You don't want to overdo it because you will have a bunch of little shaker contents floating around in there, and you don't want things to get caught or be too overwhelming!

Next, use the strip of ribbon in any way you choose to embellish the corner of the box.

I cut mine in two equal pieces, then attached them to the lid so they wrapped around the bottom edge just a little. Then I tied them together in the middle, and tied another smaller piece of ribbon in a knot around them, and secured it all with a decorative straight pin. Finish embellishing the lid of the box any way you want. I chose to make a small chipboard tag and hung it on the straight pin, and added a few flowers and a nice title:

Now your lid is finished! Almost done! Gather up a handful of small miscellaneous shaker embellishments, and the two small photos you have already cut and matted. I chose a few buttons, a few die cuts and word stickers that I matted on scraps, and a few small charms.

Now take all this stuff and dump it into the box. Add or remove things until you feel like there is a good balance - shake them around so you get the effect that will be seen when someone else looks at this. When you are happy with the embellishments, place the lid over the bottom, and you're done! Now shake it around and watch the magic (LOL!).When it is freestanding, all of the embellishments should fall to the bottom and reveal the big picture in the background. And you're done! Now stand back and admire your hard work!

Of course, you can't see the shaker element in my example, but you will definitely be able to in your own creation! This is a fun way to be able to display more than one picture at a time, and I am extremely happy with the way this project turned out! I hope you will be too! I hope everything was easy enough for all to understand, and I would love to see anyone else's take on my design!

Thanks so much for taking this mini-class! I hope you had as much fun making my creation as I did! Happy Scrapping!!

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SUPPLY LIST:

PAPER
* KI Memories "Unconditional" collection - "Petite Pop" 12x12
* KI Memories "Unconditional" collection - "Wide Rule" 12x12
* DCWV Glitter Stack - Black Diamonds & Dots 8x8
* Provo Craft "Life Happens" Stack - Pink Alpha 8x8

STICKERS
* EK Success Inspirables (pink circle w/ heart)
* EK Success Vellum quote (Love)
* Carolee's Creations Word Play (Now & Forever collection)
* Mark Richards crystal "Love" sticker

ALPHAS
* Making Memories white velvet alpha
* EK Success black punch label alpha

EMBELLIES
* Rub on - DCWV "Love" Colored Rub-On Stack
* Pin - EK Success Rebecca Sower Nostalgiques
* Chipboard heart - Fancy Pants Big Board Chipboard Frames & Tags
* Flowers - Prima (pink) & Creative Elements (white)
* Die Cuts - My Mind's Eye, Going in Circles kit "Love"
* Charm - Making Memories "Ace of Hearts" metal charm
* Misc. buttons from Wal-Mart

TOOLS
* Magenta fine tip Sharpie
* Ink it Up Ink (black, cranberry & pink)
* Scotch glue stick
* Fiskars adhesive photo corners
* Zots
* Making Memories distressing file
* Fiskars 12" paper trimmer
* X-acto Gripper knife
* "Choxie" by Target Chocolate box

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(c) 2007 - Shaunna Farral
* I hold copyright for all images and instructions contained in this tutorial.