Birdhouses & Blooms Birthday Card In A Box

Yep, it's another card in a box!  I made this one for Lesley's birthday.  We have a great time when we're together at the Glitter Pot, our local craft shop, though we sometimes act the "terrible twosome" but I like to think we keep the staff entertained and amused!  The other issue about us being together is that we find things, point them out to each other, discuss what you could do with it and that invariably ends up with the item going in both our baskets!   I tell my hubby Owen "Lesley made me buy it!" and Lesley tells her hubby Dave that "Ruth made me buy it!"  It has been known that other customers in the shop have been roped in, influenced and encouraged by us as well!  So, it's all Lesley's fault that I now have a "thing" for birdhouses and so I had to include some on her card! 

This card in a box fits inside a 6 1/4" square envelope.  Monica has this wonderful video tutorial for this size of card in a box on YouTube HERE.  Monica uses metric measurements but I'm old school (or just old!) and prefer to work with imperial measurements.  So to make this card I placed a piece of Smoky Slate A4 CS into my Simply Scored board with the long edge at the top and scored at 2 3/4", 5 1/2", 8 1/4" and 11".  I turned the CS and scored at 2 3/4" and then I trimmed the piece to 6" tall.  I have a PDF document on my Tutorials page with instructions on how to make a card in a box.  I have recently updated it to include the measurements for this size of card in a box.  

My colour combo for this card is Smoky Slate, Basic Grey, Melon Mambo, Blushing Bride, Gumball Green and some black and white.  I stamped the Hardwood stamp over the card using Smoky Slate ink, cut about 1/2" off the flaps that fold down to make them shorter and I rounded the corners.  I then got busy, stamping, punching and die cutting to get flowers, foliage, birdhouses, birds, butterflies, a border and a sentiment label!  The Petite Petals flowers were stamped in Melon Mambo ink onto Blushing Bride CS before I punched them out.  This is the card after I'd finished assembling all my stamped, punched and die cut pieces and sprinkled on some iridescent gems.  Phew, it took a while!

Here's a view from the side. 

Here's a closer look at the top portion.

Here's the back panel where I left just enough room to write a message!

Went all out on decorating the front of the envelope too - Lesley's worth it!  I have to say I'm probably over these for the time being, they're great fun to make but very time consuming and my desk looked like a bomb site after I'd done.  It might be a while before I make another card in a box! 

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Hardwood', SU! 'Petite Petals' set, 'Happy Birthday' from Hobby Arts, frame from Hero Arts 'Sending You Love' clear set
CS: SU! Smoky Slate, Basic Grey, Melon Mambo, Blushing Bride, Gumball Green, Basic Black & Whisper White
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU! Smoky Slate & Melon Mambo
Tools: SU! Simply Scored board, Paper Trimmer, Petite Petals punch & Beautiful Wings Embosslits die, Joy Crafts Vintage Flourishes 'Leaf 2' die, Poppystamps 'Meadow Leaf' & 'Carolina Birdhouse' die, Cheery Lynn 'Birdhouse with Lattice' die, Crafts Too 'Leafy Border 2' die, Memory Box 'Gold Finch', 'Resting Birds', 'Bistro Label' & 'Chadwick Label' dies, Hero Arts 'Small Tag Frame' die, Sizzix 'Lace Edging' Decorative Strip die, sponge dauber
Embellishments & accessories: PaperMania iridescent gems, SU! Dimensionals