Christmas Owl Meets Make My Monday Challenge # 137

Welcome to another Make My Monday Challenge! Pamela chose this challenge’s theme: Christmas. I am nowhere near finished my Christmas cards, and I really need to get them in the mail ASAP. That means I now need to start mass-producing cards instead of making individual ones.

Here’s my fun fold card for this challenge:

Here are the inside panels:

The two inside panels with the text comes from the Wonders of the Season Specialty DSP, and it’s actually a story. There’s a spectacular gold and white foil pattern on the reverse side.

Fun Fold Directions – Short and Sweet

This easy-peasy fun fold starts with a cardstock base measuring 5-1/2 inches by 8-1/2 inches. It’s scored at 4-1/4 inches and 2-1/8 inches. Fold the front back at the score line and burnish the fold. That’s all it takes. From there, the card can be customized any way you want.

Shaker Card Made Easy

I really haven’t made many shaker cards in the past at all. Now, with a new, and much easier, technique I’ve been making quite a few of them.

So, what makes shaker cards so easy? Clear envelopes. Winner, winner!

Here’s the Stampin’ Up! catalog picture for the clear envelopes.

These clear beauties make the whole process a snap!

First, decide on the layout and measurements of your focal piece, which will form the base of your shaker card.
For this card, I used the largest Stitched Shapes square die for the white cardstock. The Seaside Spray square, from the Layered Squares die set, measures 3-1/2 inches by 3-1/2 inches.
I stamped this adorable owl from the Peek-a-Hoot stamp set on the white cardstock and on a scrap piece. After cropping the owl using the coordinating die set, I colored the branch on the white background. I used the light Smoky Slate blend for the owl’s body, dark Smoky Slate blend for the eyelids and talons.
The dark Seaside Spray blend and the dark Misty Moonlight blend was used for the present.
There’s a snowflake stamp in the Snowman Season stamp set. I used it to stamp Seaside Spray snowflakes twice before reinking. The Merry Christmas sentiment comes from the Peek-a-Hoot stamp set.

On to the Shaker Envelope

I will be the first to admit that I learn something new every time I make another shaker. Therefore, the following steps are by no means the be-all and end-all for directions, and if you have an easier way to do this, please share in the comments below.
I’ve found that I need to make sure I don’t get the insides going behind the base of the shaker. Therefore, this step of the process, for me, is still a work in progress.
I place a strip of Tear and Tape across the top and what will be the open side of the back of the base. This is where it gets tricky, but it’s the only tricky part. After removing the back pieces of the tear-and-tape, carefully, very, very carefully, insert the assembled base into the clear envelope. It needs to go all the way down to the very corner of the envelope and fit along the bottom of the envelope.
Next, trim the clear envelope on the TOP only. I have been giving myself about an inch excess on the top of the base. In addition, I haven’t been brave enough to trim the excess on the sides.
I’ve been using tear and tape when folding in the excess parts of the clear envelope, kind of like a present.

The Fun Part

Now for the fun part. I saw a video about 6 weeks ago and the demonstrator, Connie Stewart said she uses Kosher Salt for the inside of the shaker. You can see her video here. I’ve been using Kosher Salt and Dazzling Diamonds glitter. I added some snowflake sequins as well. It doesn’t take a lot of the “snow” at all. I’ve got about 1/2 tsp in my shaker and it’s almost too much.
Finally, fold down the top of the clear envelope, again like the end of a present, and use more tear and tape.
Since this shaker would have half of the back showing inside the fun fold, it needed to be a lot neater than if i had attached it all to the front of a card. Therefore, I simply trimmed a piece of Seaside Spray to 3-1/2 inches square and attached it to the back of the clear envelope.

Thank you so much for stopping by today.

I’d love to hear what you think, and greatly appreciate every comment.

Have a Peachy Day!

Sue

Colors Used:

Supplies Used:

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