Hey Crafties! Have you been making a card, yet along the way you discover something by accident that shifts your focus to a completely different card design?! Well, that’s what happened to me the other day.
Crafting can take you on different journeys.
I was again making shaped cards with Honey Bee Stamps’ A2 Bird House Builder die set and not even thinking about Father’s Day. But, I knew I wanted to make a card for my Father-in-Law (I nicknamed him “Dad-in-Law”). Long story short, my own father had no relationship with me my whole life. My hubby’s dad has always been gracious to me and remembers my birthday, our anniversary and of course all the holidays! He’s a sweet man and I’m blessed that he’s my Dad-in-Law!
Anyway, with the die set, you can make a 2-story or use just 1 of the dies for a bird house. I was using the larger die to make 1 story birdhouses. I had already made a bunch of 2-story shaped birdhouse cards, if you missed that post, check it out here.
To add some dimension, I trimmed a bit off the top of my birdhouse diecut because I was planning on doing something else, but…this is where things changed. I noticed my diecut it looked a lot like a t-shirt! And, I thought, “Wow”!, wonder if I can turn this birdhouse die into a jersey?” So down with my original plan and now I’m making a Father’s Day card!
My birdhouse (soon to be shirt) had that straight edge which would become the neckline for my jerseys and I wanted a round neck so first, I used one of my circle dies to cut a rounded edge to my shirt. Now, with white cardstock and 2 circle dies together through my Gemini Jr., I had a circular frame. I glued it to the top of my shirt and trimmed off the excess. Now, I have a purple and a red shirt with a white neckline (you can see that on the pictures at the top and bottom of this post).
“Sometimes it’s good to use your own supplies work rather than purchasing new items. It forces you to get creative and thereby grow as a cardmaker.”
I didn’t stop there though, I needed to find a way to cover up the scallop edging from the birdhouse die so that my sleeves would be straight. So, I trimmed some white cardstock strips on an angle so that it basically looks like the number 7 on the left and backwards on the right side. I glued them under the arms and down the sides of my jerseys. My shirts were looking good!
Now all I had to do was figure out what to put on my jerseys. BTW, I’m only giving Dad-in-law 1 of these cards, I just like making more than 1 card at a time! I shopped my stash! Last year, I purchased Spellbinders “Birthday Wishes for Everyone“ die set. It came in their February 2021 Large Die of the Month Club Kit (no longer available). I love the size of each number. My plan was to put #1 Dad on the shirts. I used Honey Bee Stamps Narrow Alpha Dies to spell out “Dad”. Unfortunately, I don’t have any symbol dies, but I drew it with my #10 Gelly Roll Pen and let them dry.
Putting it All Together
Next, I worked on my card panels, picked out some pattern paper from My Favorite Things “Pretty in Pastels” paper pack. I also picked out “Midnight Green” cardstock by Simon Says Stamp and trimmed it to 4″ x 5-1/4″. Next, I trimmed down some Lawn Fawn’s Light Woodgrain cardstock to 3-3/4″ x 5″. The pattern paper measures 3-1/2″ x 4-3/4″. I really love layering these together, the plaid reminds of work shirts men would wear chopping wood in movies I’ve seen!
The sentiment “You’re the Best” comes with WPlus9 and I used their “Be Merry Sentiment Die” (I couldn’t find a link to this product, so sorry) to cut it out after stamping it. Now, all that was left to do was place everything on my panels. My cards are done and who would’ve guessed that I made jersey shirts from a birdhouse die?!
I learned that when I don’t have the proper tools, I can still prevail and find a way to get the job done. That said, I will purchase some masculine products to add to my cardmaking. It would have made these cards much easier to make. But, I enjoyed the process of coming up with a unique way to make these cards using the supplies I have on hand!
Here’s more pictures of both cards! Tell me what you think in the comments below! I think my Dad-in-Law will love getting either one, I’m not sure which color to send him yet LOL!
- Honey Bee Stamps Bird house A2 Card Base
- Honey Bee Stamps “Bee Narrow Uppercase Alpha” Dies
- My Favorite Things “Pretty in Plaid” Pattern Paper Pack
- WPlus9 “Family” Stamp Set
- Lawn Fawn “Light Woodgrain” Cardstock
- Simon Says Stamp “Midnight Green” Cardstock
- Waffle Flower Crafts “Additional Circles” Nested Dies
- Simon Says Stamp “Intense Black” ink pad
- Misti Stamp Positioner here, here, here or here
- White #10 Gelly Roll Pen
- Accents 100 lb. White Cardstock
- Bearly Art Glue
