Sesame Street Snow Day

Hello fellow crafters! My name is Grace Baxter and I am thrilled to be invited to be a part of the Design Team here at She's A Sassy Lady. This is my first submission, and I am looking forward to sharing many more projects as we go along. You can also follow me on my blogs at Grace Notes for Today and It's All About Christmas. My Grace Notes blog features cards and projects for all occasions. And as you might have guessed, It's All About Christmas is exactly THAT. Now, for today's card!

Birthday Winter Fun

The best part of winter for kids is playing in the snow. And the Sesame Street gang know how to make it FUN! This card is for a special little boy who loves the Muppets.

Angled Tri-Shutter Card

Although this card looks large, the size when closed is 4" x 6". What gives it so much extra space is the way the shutter panels are cut, maximizing the front and back panels. Directions for how to make this unusual card are below.

I wanted to keep the design clean and uncluttered, in order to emphasize the characters which are quite detailed. So  my background is crisp white. And oh yes, there are lots of snowflakes inside, too.

Snowflakes

Once I decided on the best placement of my completed characters, I temporarily attatched them with removable double-sided tape. Then I stamped snowflakes with Versamark ink in between the characters. 

It was easy to remove the taped pieces before sprinkling the embossing powder over the snowflakes.

And of course, the heat gun did the work of bringing them to life. The picture at left better illustrates the embossing.

The card can be displayed 2 ways -- depending on which way you flip the shutters.

Below, In the left-hand picture, you'll see words showing in the right-hand corners.

In the right-hand picture, only snowflakes are showing. You have the option of flipping the card to whichever way you prefer. I like the hint of what's inside, so I prefer the first picture.

"How-To" Details

The card base is 6" x 12". Exact measurements for cutting the angled tri-shutter are in the following illustration. Angled Tri-Shutter card. My thanks go to Norma at frommycraftroom.blogspot.ca for her template. I added the highlighting to help ensure I wouldn't make a mistake in the cutting.

You can download the image above (right-click and save), or request my PDF version. I'd be happy to email it to you.

You need to carefully measure before cutting the shutters. It is not difficult. I found a sharp blade worked better than a cutter. Just take your time. The results are worth it!

Layout and Design

I sketched out the rough design and hung it on my memo board above my craft table. This was very helpful as I was working on the layout and sizing things.

I've never worked from a sketch before but I have to admit, it made things go more quickly. I'm no artist, but I had an idea of what I wanted. I did end up switching pieces around. What fun!

Cartridges Used

Sesame Street Seasons - all characters

Library Fonts - Happy 6th Birthday and Daniel

I hope you will try making an Angled Tri-Shutter Card. If you do, I'd love to hear about it!

Be sure to drop by my blog and check out my other projects at

http://gracenotes4today.blogspot.com