Welcome to the February NC Demos Blog Hop!  This month’s theme is focused on a favorite color combination with at least one of the 2021-2023 In Colors.  It’s only fitting to highlight these beautiful In Colors since they will be retiring when the new Annual Catalog goes live in May.

If you just came from Tracie’s post, I’m sure you’ll agree with me that her project was amazing (as always!).  Thanks so much for stopping by to see what I’m sharing this month.

All five of the 2021-2023 In Colors are just beautiful, in my opinion.  But, I have to admit that I have two favorites – Evening Evergreen and Soft Succulent.  There is just something about a gorgeous green color that I find incredibly relaxing.  And, when you have an opportunity to use the two greens together, that’s even better!  I thought the lovely Blushing Bride color would also be perfect to add to the green combination.  These three colors are included in the gorgeous Texture Chic Designer Series Paper.  The result is the shadowbox card pictured below.

Here are two additional views of the card – one with a top view and one with a side view.  These pictures help show the dimension of the card.

Shadowbox cards are really fun to make!  They are one of those mantel worthy cards that will be proudly displayed by your family and friends.

Below is a link to a video that will show you how to make the shadowbox card.  I do have to confess that the Designer Series Paper (DSP) that I used in the video is no longer available.  It was one of the freebies during Sale-a-Bration and was so popular that it sold out!  The instructions in the video will show you step-by-step how to make the card from any DSP that you choose.

If you prefer the written directions, you’ll find them just below the video link.

Here are the basic directions for the card –

• Cut your DSP into two pieces. The first piece measures 4 ¼” x 11”.  The second measures 4 ¼” x 1”.  If you’re DSP has a pattern, make sure that the pattern is horizontal on the piece that you cut.  For the card pictured above, I used a piece of DSP from the gorgeous Texture Chic collection.
• Place your DSP piece (4 ¼” x 11”) in your Simply Scored tool with the 11” side at the top. Score at ½”, 1”, 4 ½”, 5”, 5 ½”, 6”, 6 ½”, 10”, and 10 ½”.  Fold the piece in half at the 5 ½” score to see how the card will be a landscape design.  Use the picture of the finished card to help you burnish the score lines.  Use your Bone Folder to burnish.
• The folds are – ½” (valley), 1” (mountain), 4 ½” (mountain), 5” (valley), 5 ½” (mountain), 6” (valley), 6 ½” (mountain), 10” (mountain), 10 ½” (valley).
• Lay the DSP piece flat, and put the oval die from the Framed Florets Dies between the 1” and 4 ½” burnished score lines. Run the piece through your Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine to create the window for the front of your card.  Save the oval DSP piece that will be cut out.  You will use that later in the project.
• Use the same oval die to cut a frame from the piece of Evening Evergreen cardstock. This frame will go inside your card.
• Adhere the card base together to form the shadowbox. One “end” will be formed by folding the card base in half at the scored 5 ½” line.  Glue that “end” together by putting adhesive between the 5 ½” score line and the 6” score line.  The second “end” will be formed by putting the two open sides together.  Put adhesive between the left side of your card base and the ½” score line, and glue to the other end between the 10 ½” score line and the end of the DSP piece.  Look at the picture to give you a good example of how the finished shadowbox card base looks.
• Press the card base down flat with the opening on top. This will give you the perfect way to add your Evening Evergreen die cut frame inside your card.  Use the open die cut area as your guide to align the frame, and adhere the frame to the back of the inside of the card.  Notice that the opposite side of the DSP is beautifully highlighted inside your card!
• If you want, use the second piece of DSP or cardstock (4 ½” x 1”) to decorate the sides of the card front. To do this, simply decide on the width that you would like to have accenting the glued ends of your card.  The example has two pieces of 1/8” x 1” pieces of the DSP.  This accent helps pull the overall design of the card together.  On the card pictured above, I used a piece of Basic White cardstock that I “colored” with Evening Evergreen ink.  I think the result is fun since it doesn’t have a fully inked result and matches the tone of the inside DSP pattern.  Truth be told – I didn’t have any more Evening Evergreen cardstock on hand and needed to create a piece that looked similar 🙂
• To create the decoration for the inside of your card, use select dies from the Meadow Dies collection to cut pieces of foliage.  I used the “extra” DSP piece from cutting the oval window in the front of my card for one piece of foliage.  For the second piece, I used a scrap of the Dainty Flowers DSP that had a hint of Soft Succulent.
• Layer the cut foliage pieces over each other, and adhere them to the inside of your card. Tie a double bow using the gold trim from the Simply Elegant set.  Adhere the bow to the stems of the foliage with a Glue Dot.
• Use the piece of DSP that was leftover from die cutting your frame for the card front to stamp your greeting. The example uses the “celebrate you” stamp from the Dainty Delight stamp set and Evening Evergreen ink.  Punch out the sentiment using the Double Oval Punch.
• Use the Double Oval Punch for a scalloped oval from a piece of Evening Evergreen cardstock. Adhere your two punched pieces together and attach the combined piece to the front of your card.
• Finish the card by adding some bling! The example has a few Brushed Brass Butterflies and a few Brushed Metallic Adhesive Backed Dots.

I really hope that you’ll give the shadowbox card design a try.  It is a lot of fun to make and pretty straight forward.  The main products that I used to card are shown below.  Click on any picture, and you’ll go directly to my online store.

Be sure to hop on over to Tonya’s post.  I know she has an amazing project to share with us.  You can also see the participants in this month’s blog hop below.  You’ll definitely want to make sure that you see everyone’s projects.

Inky hugs,
Laurie

February NC Demos Blog Hoppers
Tina Lesson
Jo Anne Hewins
Toni Campana
Kristine Vicente
Kelly Taranto
Tracie Evans Langley
Laurie Meier <— YOU ARE HERE
Tonya Bowers

Main Products Used to Make the Pictured Shadowbox Card:

Dainty Delight Cling Stamp Set (English) [161078] $25.00	Framed Florets Dies [160623] $37.00	Double Oval Punch [154242] $19.00
Meadow Dies [155852] $38.00	Texture Chic 12″ X 12″ (30.5 X 30.5 Cm) Specialty Designer Series Paper [158808] $15.00	Evening Evergreen 8 1/2″ X 11″ Cardstock [155574] $9.25
Evening Evergreen Classic Stampin’ Pad [155576] $8.00	Simply Elegant Trim [155766] $7.50	Brushed Brass Butterflies [158136] $10.00
Brushed Metallic Adhesive Backed Dots [156506] $9.00	Multipurpose Liquid Glue [110755] $4.00	Mini Glue Dots [103683] $5.25
Take Your Pick [144107] $10.00	Paper Trimmer [152392] $25.00	Simply Scored [122334] $30.00
Stamparatus [146276] $49.00

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