Easel Card with a twist

Hi! this is Gaby happy to be here with a tutorial on how to make the “cake” card I made and posted on my blog and at FankyCards.blogspot.com on Monday the 11th for Madison’s Sweet 16th B-day celebration.
Several people asked me to show them the “How-to”.

I will start by mentioning that there are a few ways or sizes that this card can be made, but I will show you one size and tips on other sizes.

Note: This is not my original design (card base or concept- Cricut cuts are my design). I saw this card several months ago but they did not offer a tutorial. I wish at the time I could remember the site, so I could ask for instructions or a tutorial. So when I wanted to make something special for Madison, I had to think back and try to figure it out myself by what I remembered. Again, it was an easel card with space provided to fit the cake and box of candles. So, with a bit of math background or calculations, I figured it out.

Card size preference.
a-Decide what height your cake is going to be. I decided to go with 1 in.
b- Card. The card is basically an easel card.
c- Decide how wide your card will be. I decided to make it 5 ¾” wide.
You end up with a wider card= 5 ¾” w x 5 ½” h --Tip- cut at 5 ½ “ for a smaller card. If you want yet a smaller card make sure you also cut the length unless you want it taller.

CARD
1- Cut a 12” piece of cardstock to 5 ¾” w.
2- Score at 5 ½ “ and at 6 ½ “ (this gives you the 1” space in the middle of your card) and at 9 ¼ “ (this becomes the fold on the front of the easel card (note that this is half of your 5 ½ “ you have to either side).

3- Decorate panels and inside to taste. I measured my panels and cut each minus ¼ “. i.e. for the inside I used brown cardstock and cut at 5 ½” w x 5 ¼” h and the pattern paper at 5 ¼” w x 5” h I proceeded by stitching around with a sewing machine. Do the same with your front panels. Tip- you might just want to use one layer of patterned paper and skip the stitching.

Note: if you want to use ribbon to tie the card, stitch the ribbon pieces or adhere the ribbon between your panel and the card base before adhering to your card base

Cake size preference.
a-Decide how wide or the circumference of your cake. For the width of my card I could fit up to a 3” diameter circle or cake.
b-OK, a bit of math. If you cut a 3” circle (diameter) with a punch or your Cricut, you need to find out your circumference in order to be able to cut the strip (or what gives your cake the height). Instead of boring you with the Pi () formula, I’ll just inform you that for a 3” cake you cut a 9.42477796076938 or 9 ½” long (you just cut a little at the end by rounding it up) and for a 2 ¾ “ you cut a 9” (rounding up) long; and for a 2 ½” you cut a 8” (rounding up) strip of paper long by 1.5” h.

CAKE
1- I cut a 3” circle and a 9 ½” w x 1.5” h strip of paper brown paper (chocolate cake!).

2- Place your strip of 9 ½’ w x 1.5”h vertically and score at ¼” and at 1 ¼”

3- Cut zigzag (pinking) cuts on your ¼” parts of your 9 ½” w x 1.5” h strip of cardstock and fold (this is were you will add glue and adhere to your circle working around. Once that is dry, you can add glue to the bottom part and adhere to your card), but first you want to cut the holes on your circle for the candles to go in.

4- Decide how many candles and what size. For the standard candles sold at most stores, punch holes that are ¼” with a hole puncher. I decided I could fit 8. Do not make too many holes on your circle/cake topper or it will become weak.

5- Decorate cake a desired. I used puffy paint, a ¼” inch scallop strip that I cut with an EK punch at 9 ½” and finished with a stamped circle and a tiny butterfly.

For the candle box - alternate-- you can have one chunkier candle and only punch a hole in the middle of your cake instead of several candles around the cake.

I measured my candles and new that I needed a box that was at least 3/8" high (remember I can go up to 1") and 2 1/2" long to fit the 8 candles.  I failed to take pictures of how I cut and scored the box, but here are the measurements. You need a 3 1/4" x 4 1/4" piece of cardstock that you can decorate to match your card like I did.  Score at 1/2", 7/8", 2 3/8" and 2 3/4" on your 3 1/4" inch side of your paper.  Turn and scorea at 1/2", 7/8" 3 3/38" and 3 3/4".  Cut all corners and fold.   I decorated and cut with a Spellbinder die in the

center of my box and placed a piece of recycled acetate under.  As an added decoration, you can place your candle box on top of your decorative paper (not base of card) and cut some slits right at both edges and run a ribbon under and passing it through before you adhere the PP or design panel to your card base or you can just adhere your box with adhesive. Your preference.

I cut all front of the card embellishments using my Cricut Expression. You may decorate to taste.

Thank you so much for enduring this long post and I hope I did not confuse any of you!
If you need clarification or more detail info, please drop me a comment!