Welcome

A never ending hobby and

skills

Our cards and techniques continue to develop the longer we work on this hobby. We are always finding ideas on the internet, or seeing cards at hobby shows that make us want to keep growing and changing the appearance of what we produce.

During the pandemic isolation period, we found that several of the companies who usually held conventions every year took to holding classes and shows online to keep in touch with the crafters they would normally see in person. Joanie spent many weekends in front of the computer following along. There were so many vendors doing presentations and teaching techniques with their newest products. Many of the vendors offered discounts for a limited time in order to provide opportunities to purchase exciting products and tools to work with the techniques that were being demonstrated. Since then, those companies who hold their conventions every year have returned with an abbreviated list of in-person shows, but have also continued with a few online demonstrations every month to keep people in touch if there is not a show in their customer’s particular area.

Unusual Designs

We love making unusual designs, and working on things that are unique to the kind of work that we do. We hope our cards express our personalities and those of the people we are sending them to.

Joanie loves to experiment, using dies in different ways to achieve different looks for her cards. We often say that no two cards that we send are exactly the same because we want our cards to be personalized for each person who receives one. The basic card may be the same, but the details including the colors and decorations are individual to each card.

Joanie also loves cards with unique openings or ways to display both the outside and the inside.

This card has several flaps that fold out and open up to show more of the design and the sentiments.

This card has slider tabs on the outside that flip as you pull on the ribbon to open it up. These are all on the outside cover and then the main card opens up like a regular card to show the greeting inside.

With these cards, the horizontal band has flaps on the back that slide into the slot on the front of the card to keep the card closed. In order to see the sentiment inside you have to slide the band up or down to get it off the card and open the sides to see what it says inside.

This card looks best using double sided paper. It folds up into a square, but unfolds to reveal your message.

The horizontal band on the outside of this card wraps all the way around the card to keep it closed. It slides off so that the card can open and the inside with the pop-up section can fold out.

The following cards have unusual ways of showing their messages. We like to give the person who receives a card a special unexpected message if we can.

When this card opens, a new message slides over the message in the circular window.

With this card, when you slide the “frame” on the outside to the left, the center panels flip over to reveal pictures on the back of the panels and a possible message on the background of the card. We have done this with photos as well as stamped images.

This card does not open like a regular card, but a panel on each side of the center pivots out to reveal extra places with designs and then those panels open like a card to show more designs and your message. It is so much fun to make and send interactive cards like this.

Joanie loves things that fold differently and have lots of places for extra interest. This card actually folds flat with the opening in the center, so it fits nicely into a regular sized envelope. Because of the way the folds are arranged, the card will stand up on its own so it can be displayed on a table or shelf.

I’m sure you’ve figured out by now that we love pop-up cards. Here are some of our most recent designs. So far the reactions from people who have received them have been favorable.

Ray designed this one all on his own. He wanted a thank you card for someone who works in an optical shop. From there, we decided that it would be fun to have different styles of glasses like we wear with some of our vintage outfits, so the designs and styles vary and have developed a little more each time we work on them.

Next we found that we always need birthday cards for friends. We found a design online for a slice of cake that pops up in the center of a card. Through a lot of trial and error, we finally refined the design so we could make a cake slice that folds up into the card and pops out when you open it.

This little card folds flat to fit into an envelope, but pops out to look like building blocks when it opens up. There are lots of surfaces to add decorations and a sentiment. There is no outside cover for this one.

This card is one of our older ones, but we love making the teapot and tea cup with little intricate designs like you would find on a real tea set. It’s also fun to include a tea bag inside the card in addition to the message.

This card folds up to be a regular card, but as you open it up, these little squares turn and pop up and out to show the message or designs. We had to be careful to line the designs properly so it all reads right side up when it is opened. It looks different when you are building it.

Welcome

A never ending hobby and

skills

During the pandemic isolation period,

we found that several of the

companies who usually held

conventions every year took to holding

classes and shows online to keep in

touch with the crafters they would

normally see in person.

Joanie spent many weekends in front of the computer following along. There were so many vendors doing presentations and teaching techniques with their newest products. Many of the vendors offered discounts for a limited time in order to provide opportunities to purchase exciting products and tools to work with the techniques that were being demonstrated. Since then, those companies who hold their conventions every year have returned with an abbreviated list of in-person shows, but have also continued with a few online demonstrations every month to keep people in touch if there is not a show in their customer’s particular area.