Floral Floating Front Birthday Greetings Card

Whilst at my local craft shop, the Glitter Pot,  a few weeks ago I saw an interesting 3D card on display so I snapped a couple of pics and made a few notes 'cos I knew I wanted to have a go at making one.  I've since discovered that this style of card is called a 'Floating Front Card' and Joanne Wardle's original designs were featured in the April 2011 issue of the UK Craft Stamper magazine.   Joanne's blog can be found HERE.  It's a fab design - there's the wow 3D aspect but the card folds flat to go in an envelope plus it's so easy to make - that ticks all the boxes for me!

It's my friend Wendy's birthday today and I decided to make a pretty, floral, floating front card for her - and it had to feature pink as that's her fave colour!  I made the card base from SU! Pink Pirouette CS and the patterned paper is from the Bazzill 'Vintage Lace' 6" x 6" paper pack.  I stamped and die cut the flowers and leaves using the gorgeous SU! 'Flower Patch' stamp set and matching 'Flower Fair' Framelits dies.  I used Pretty in Pink and Strawberry Slush inks for the flowers and Pistachio Pudding and Wild Wasabi inks for the leaves.  I added some Wild Wasabi stitched ribbon tied in a bow and used a sparkly embellishment to decorate the centre of the flower.  Here's a photo of the card on display.

Here's a view from the top. 

Here's a look at the front panel with the sentiment label and two butterflies.

In order to make the focal point element float on the front of the card you need to attach what I'm calling 'butterfly hinges' to the front of the card and then the element is attached to the front of the hinges.  The hinges are easily made by punching out two 1" circles, folding them in half and attaching them to the card front.  I got carried away making this card and attached my flowers and leaves before I remembered that I'd wanted to take a photo of the butterfly hinges!  So I started work on another floating front card and here's a photo showing the butterfly hinges in place.

Here's a side view of the card where you can see the element attached to the hinge.

At the back of the card you make a closure by adding a punched circle and cutting a slit for the circle to slide into.  I used a 1 1/4" circle.

Here's a photo of the back of the card when closed.

This photo shows the card folded flat ready to pop into the envelope.  The card measures 5 3/4" square.

I made an envelope for a 6" x 6" card using the SU! Envelope Punch Board and a piece of Rose Red Designer Prints DSP which has been hoarded in my stash for a very long time!  I wanted to try a different type of closure for an envelope and I was inspired by an envelope that Margaret, one of my craft group ladies, showed to me and said I could keep.  Margaret had received some theatre tickets as a birthday gift and they were presented in an envelope which was held closed by a bamboo skewer threaded through punched holes.

I punched four holes in my envelope and added CS washers (front and back) to add strength.

I snipped off a bit from a bamboo skewer but it took a bit of work to thread it through as it's rigid and I'd punched fairly small holes (1/4").  I decided I could use ribbon as a closure instead so I snipped a length of Wild Wasabi ribbon, threaded it through the holes and tied a bow.  Actually, the ribbon is a much more attractive option than a bamboo skewer!

Phew, a very picture heavy post!  I contacted Joanne and asked her if it would be OK for me to produce a tutorial for putting together a floating front card.  Joanne very graciously gave her permission and I've added a PDF tutorial to my Tutorials page if you'd like to check that out and make one of these fabulous cards yourself.  Many thanks to Joanne!

Supplies:
Stamps: SU! 'Flower Patch', 'Kinda Eclectic' & 'Wetlands' sets, Hero Arts 'Yummy Treats' clear set
CS: SU! Pink Pirouette & Whisper White
Patterned paper: Bazzill 'Vintage Lace' 6" x 6" pad, SU! Rose Red Designer Prints DSP
Ink: SU! Pretty in Pink, Strawberry Slush, Pistachio Pudding & Wild Wasabi
Tools: SU! 'Flower Fair' & 'Apothecary Accents' Framelits dies, SU! 'Bitty Butterfly', 1 1/4", 1", 1/2" & 1/4" circle punches, SU! Simply Scored & Envelope Punch Board
Embellishments & accessories: Creative Expressions 'Crystal Sparklers' embellishment, SU! Wild Wasabi stitched ribbon, rhinestone jewels, Dimensionals