Fall Fiesta Greeting Card that becomes an Office Decoration

Hello everyone!

Tis the season for making greeting cards! Today I'm breaking from the marathon of Christmas card making with a Fall card that has a little something extra. I had made an Easter card of which the front lifted off to become a decoration, so I decided to do another one similar to that. I think this would be a cute card for someone who works in an office cubical and likes to decorate. The front section has a magnetic back so it can be placed on a filing cabinet or break-room refrigerator, but it also has a loop for hanging with a thumb-tack. I styled the front using a challenge sketch from Sketches4All.   To make the swirly background I die-cut two frames using the largest frame from the Spellbinders Card Creator - Reflective Moment dies. I had to make two because the frame is different on the top than it is on the bottom, so when placed on its side it's not symmetrical. To make a symmetrical background I cut both of the die-cuts in half and used just the bottoms halves of each die-cut. 

 

 

To color the background I used Rubber Stampede ink in Orange and Yellow and Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Red Barn.

To apply the ink I started with the lightest color and using a makeup sponge, placed the color in the areas I wanted it. Then I did the same thing with the remaining colors. Doing it this way allows you to blend the colors a little better.

  I used two dies, in combination, from the Spellbinders Card Creator - Bracket Borders One, to make the cut out at the bottom of the card.

I wanted Fall colors to show through the punched areas so I used white cardstock colored in the same inks that I used above. I did not color the entire piece, but just the area that would show through the cut out section.
The brown base-card is from the DCWV Neutrals Stack.

   The front section is easily lifted away with the magnets. I cut a small section of paper away from the back of the burlap paper that is attached to the card base which gave me the inset for my magnet and keeps it from showing.

Another magnet was placed on the back of the section that lifts off for decorating. I hate to see cards read and then tossed in the garbage so maybe this will help make cards a bit more useful.

   I used a small piece of double-sided tape for the photo, but this is how it would look when removed from the card and hanging.

All I had was white plastic buttons so I took some brown acrylic craft paint and just dragged the paint across the button to give it the look of wood.

The small green leaves were cut using a Sizzix wafer die and colored with Rubber Stampede inks in Green and Yellow.

The large leaves were cut using Tim Holtz Alterations - Tattered Leaves die and colored with the same inks as the background.

To make the leaves look aged I edged them in Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Vintage Photo. Then I used brown watercolor to go back and make the spots on the leaves and some aged veining.

I poked a hole in the burlap to feed my jute twine through, from back to front. To make it easier to get the twine to go through the hole as well as through the bead I used a little hot glue on the end and then twisted the twine ends to make them pointy. After I threaded the bead I placed hot glue where the bead meets the twine and cut off the pointy glued ends.

The entire card can be hung by the loop as well :)   There were a lot of steps to this card, but it was a fun and worthwhile project to do.

Happy Crafting!