Shaped Card Tutorial

Reprinted from Do More With Less

My favorite technique is making shaped cards using Spellbinders dies as the base. This technique is pretty simple once you get the hang of it and you can create a variety of unique and beautiful cards.

Step 1
To create the base of the card, fold a piece of paper in half and place it over the die of your choice. I am using a Decorative Labels 8 die. For dies with intricate edges, you may want to use a piece of wax paper between the die and paper so that the paper will release easily. Also, since the paper is doubled over, you may have to run the die through the machine a couple of times to make sure the pieces cut all the way through. Now make sure you move the paper below the top edge of the die so that the fold does not cut. Run the die through your die cutting machine.

It will look like this after you run it through your machine a couple of times. You do not need to emboss it since this layer will be covered up.

Step 2
Remove the paper from the die and punch out any cut pieces. you will have a card with the fold intact, but it doesn't look complete since the top edge has been cut off.

Step 3
Your next step is to cut a single piece of cardstock with the die as you normally would and then emboss it. Now you want to adhere this piece to the base. With intricate dies, I've found that the easiest way is to attach it is to use sticky dot sheets, but you could also use a Xyron or glue.

Step 4
Adhere the top piece to the base to cover the fold. With the cut edge covered you have a unique shaped card base.

I love to layer Spellbinders to create different looks. I used paper from Prima's Nature's Garden stack for this card. On top of the base, I adhered a Labels 8 die cut. The next layer is a Spellbinders Floral Oval die.

Another technique I like to use is to make the card interactive. The Floral Oval die is attached to the base with a brad to reveal a hidden sentiment.

A Fancy Framed Tags 2 die was used for the JustRite sentiment. The butterfly is a Winged Things die, cut twice and popped up with foam tape for dimension. Rock Candy Stickles was added to the top for a subtle sparkle.