Heartstrings Shaker Card

I'll be honest...I usually spend all my time focusing on creating a card and forget to pay attention to much else.  When a friend is going through a rough time though, I like to think about ways to send a little extra love.  Coordinating envelopes are a fun way to amp up a simple card design and it's a detail that the recipient is sure to notice too!

Start by blending several different colors of ink onto a piece of Curious Metallic Cryogen White Cardstock with a foam blending tool.

Die-cut a heart-shaped window from the colored panel and save all of the negative cuts off to the side.  When I create a pretty blend I like, I usually cut a few extra shapes out of the scraps as well.

Die-cut the same heart-shaped window from second panel of Cryogen White Cardstock measuring 4.625" x 6.625".  Trim a piece of Stardream Metallix Onyx Cardstock to 5" x 7".

To assemble the card, adhere a piece of acetate or clear packaging to the back of the white panel and glue the blended heart die-cut in place with Tombow Mono Multi-Purpose Liquid Glue.  (I also added a few of the white negative cut pieces back in to form a cross inside of the heart.)  Stamp a script sentiment and add matching twine and small hearts to embellish.

Glue the black panel to a 5" x 7" cardbase.  Add foam strips to the back of the card front, leaving an open pocket behind the heart window.  Fill the pocket with shaker bits and press the cardbase on top.

A fun way to create a matching envelope for a die-cut card is to use the die to emboss the same pattern into the front of the envelope.  To do this, use an embossing mat in the sandwich for your die-cutting machine (sandwiches will differ depending on your particular machine).  For a little extra fun, I inked the cutting blade of my die with matching pink ink before embossing a Cryogen White A7 Envelope with it.

If you are hand-delivering the card to its recipient, you can take the envelope a step further by adhering the negative bits from the original inked die-cut to the embossed design.  Here I also stamped my friend's name with a script alphabet stamp set to coordinate with the sentiment on the card (if you have great handwriting, by all means use that instead of a stamp set though!).

I hope you enjoyed this simple shaker card and matching envelope and thanks so much for stopping by today.  You can visit the CutCardStock Store to purchase any of the supplies showcased today and remember that A7 envelopes are on sale this month!

~ Annie

Products used in this project: