Try it Out Thursday: Getting creative with Stampin’ Up!’s Punches

Today’s Try it Out Thursday is a part one of two, as today I’m going to show you how to use some of Stampin’ Up!’s punches to create a 3" x 3" scalloped note card (they fit perfectly into Stampin’ Up!’s small square envelopes), and next week on my Stampin’ Up! Tutorial Tuesday, I’m going to show you how to make this cute little box to hold them in. I actually created these cards for my Diva night tonight.  Diva night is a special night once a quarter where I treat the girl’s on my team who have achieved at least $1000 in sales in any month in the previous Stampin’ Up! quarter, to a night of chocolate and a special stamped project.

Before I dive into the tutorial I’ll show you a couple different views of the projects: This is a close up of one of the scalloped note cards with it’s decorated envelope.  As you can see, I used the Afternoon Tea designer paper (DP) and the Live your Dream stamp set from the Occasions Mini Catalogue (which by the way has been extended until the end of June!)

I also do want to mention that you cannot mail 3" x 3" note cards – at least I know you can’t in Canada and the US – they are too small and fall below the minimum accepted size according to postal regulations.  So these would be little cards you tuck into a gift, or hand someone in person.

The next picture shows you the card standing open:

The final picture gives you a close up shot of the back of the box – so you can see the way it opens.  Now you’ll notice I used the retired copper cord to fasten it shut – I actually wanted to use Stampin’ Up!’s linen thread which is current, but go figure I couldn’t find it anywhere in my stash.

Okay, now that you’ve seen the projects up close, here’s how I made the card:

Step 1: Take a 4" x 8" piece of DP and fold in half, burnishing the fold with your bone folder.

Step 2: Take your 1 3/8" circle punch and with the fold oriented at the bottom, push the punch up as far as it goes and punch through the two layers of DP.

Step 3: Rotate your paper so that the fold is now at the top.  Take your slit punch and slide it in from the underside of the paper (hold it underneath the hole, angle it upwards and then slide onto the paper).  You want your punch pushed in as far as it goes.  Notice that the punch actually slides in further than the edge of the paper, so that you can see the edge of the paper in the "window" of your punch.  This is what will create the "fold" for your card.

Step 4: Once you’ve punched the first slit, you are now going to slide your punch towards the right.  You want to align it so that the LEFT inner edge of the punch "window" lines up with the RIGHT edge of the previous slit you punched.  If you find this description confusing, check out this tutorial on creating a scalloped border – it is essentially the same thing except you are doing it around a circle. Continue around the circle until you are all done. When you get to the very end, you may notice that the last scallop overlaps a little bit – that is totally fine and won’t show. 

*Note that while you can fairly easily punch through 2 layers of DP, it is VERY hard to punch through 2 layers of cardstock (CS)  with the slit punch – I tried it and my slit punch kept getting stuck.

Step 5: This is what your scalloped 3" x 3" note lnow ooks like opened up. You can see the scallop where it folds.  I do want to mention that because there is such a small fold holding it together you do have to be gentle when handling it, especially once you’ve layered the CS on to it and have that extra weight.

Step 6: Take your circular coluzzle template, cutting blade and mat.  Align your template onto a piece of chocolate chip CS.  Cut the FOURTH circle from the middle. You are going to need to cut 2 of these, and 2 soft sky circles in the same way. You are also going to want to cut a whisper white CS circle using the THIRD circle from the middle.

Step 7: Using your adhesive, attach the Soft Sky CS circles to the inner front and inner back of the scalloped note card as shown in the picture below. Although I didn’t try it, you could probably reinforce the fold to make it stronger by putting a little scored strip of CS there or using your word window punch to punch a little piece, scoring it, and sticking it there as well (making sure the ends are hidden underneath your CS of course.

Step 8: Stamp your small flower image from the Live Your Dream Stamp set in Soft Sky Classic ink onto the white CS circle, and then stamp the "thanks" in chocolate chip ink on top. Mount the white CS circle to the Chocolate chip CS circle.  Take a 3 1/2" piece of the chocolate chip twill ribbon (from the mini catalog), lay it across the front of the card (from top to bottom as shown), bring the ends around back and stick to the back of the card using your double sided adhesive.

Step 9: Take another 3 1/2" piece of chocolate chip twill ribbon, slide it underneath the first ribbon then tie it in a half knot (left over right and then pull really tight).  Trim the ends. Mount to the front of the scalloped note. Mount the second chocolate chip circle to the back of the card. You are done!

Next week for Tutorial Tuesday I am going to upload the template for the 3 1/2" x 3 1/2" box I created and show you a quick step-by-step tutorial – so stay tuned!

*If you are a Stampin’ Up! Demo, be sure to visit  the Demo to Demo blog for details on an exciting free offer for Stampin’ Up! demonstrators only!