Masculine Star Birthday cards

I am so excited about these cards! Not the cards themselves, but the formula for cutting the papers is what has me so happy. I wish I'd had THIS brainstorm years ago!

I cut a 2" strip from the dark patterned  12 x 12" paper, which gave me a 2 x 12" strip. That was cut into 3 pieces 4" long, so I had three 2 x 4" strips.  Each of those three strips were attached to the bottom of A2 kraft card stock cards, leaving an equal distance between each side and the bottom.

From the lighter patterned paper, I cut a 4" strip from the 12 x 12" piece, then cut that in 3 ... so I had three 4" square pieces of patterned paper. Each of those was attached to the top of the kraft card stock bases, leaving equal distance between each side and the top.

Ta Da ... a perfectly layered panel with NO LITTLE PAPER PIECES LEFTOVER!!!   I think that's the best part, ha ha.

Now for the details ... the patterned paper is by Stampin' UP, as is the textured embossing folder I used on the bottom stars and the star brads themselves. Also by Stampin' Up are the words (Teeny Tiny Greetings) and the Word Window Punch.  The plaid embossing folder on the top stars, and the star die are by Sizzix. 

Once I had everything attached, I decided I wanted to add twine. So I notched the spine and the front flap of the cards slightly with a hole punch, and threaded the twine through to tie on. Worked like a charm.  Whew!  The star brads (from the clearance rack) are silver, so I used a Copic marker to colour them in. The top stars are attached with foam tape. Edges of the patterned paper and the stars were inked with brown before attaching.

I cut a panel of tan card stock for the inside of the cards, embossed the top inch or so with the SU textile embossing folder, added the birthday verse (Hero Arts) and attached it inside the card. Two of these are going for my Christmas Craft Sale stock as people are always looking for masculine cards.

This paper cutting formula worked so well, I pulled out two coordinating sheets of Christmas paper and repeated my cuts. Very quickly I had 6 Christmas cards put together. I'll take pictures of those and share them next week.

Thanks so much for stopping by today!