Happy botday! ("magic" card)

Happy Thursday!  Today I'm sharing a card I made for the Hero Arts May 2012 contest.  There are three categories for the contest: 1) theme (birthday), 2) interactive cards (any theme), and 3) color challenge (any theme).  I chose to combine two and make an interactive birthday card.  I had the perfect recipient in mind - my friend's daughter, Emma, who was turning 8.  She loves crafting with us and had even asked for a handmade birthday card.  I decided to use the Hero Arts Robot Trio stamp set and to make Emma a "magic card".  I used a combination of this tutorial and this tutorial.  Basically, a "magic card" has an image that appears black and white, then when you pull a tab, the image "magically" becomes colored.  Sounds confusing, right?  Well, lemme just show you what I'm talking about with this paper yummy:

Here is the card "closed".  The cute little robot is black and white. See that little pull tab at the top?

When you pull that tab, the image starts to emerge "magically" colored!:

Continue pulling, and he continues to be colored all the way.  He even has a special message for the birthday girl, or should I say "botday" girl? (Sentiment was created using Hero Arts Fanciful Swirl Alphabet)

Here's the cute guy all colored in:

And here's the whole card, fully extended:

The card also opens just like a regular card, so I could write my own special message to Emma.  I wasn't there when she opened it, but she told me she loved it.  This card took a little while to make, but was a lot of fun.  I will definitely try this technique again!  How about you?  The Hero Arts contest runs through the end of the month, so you still have plenty of time to enter!

I'm also playing along here:

A Blog Named Hero Challenge #4: Dust 'em off

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge #169: Alphabet letter (use 3 elements beginning with the same letter.  I used R: robot, ribbon, rectangle dies)

Ooh-la-la Creations Challenge #105: Ribbon or twine (or both)-  I used both

The Pink Elephant TPE148: Polka Dots & Stripes

Truly Scrumptious Challenge #80: Anything Goes

Supplies: cardstock: Core'dinations (berry), Georgia Pacific (white); patterned papers: Echo Park (aqua stripe, cupcake, pink houndstooth frame), My Mind's Eye (yellow dot); acetate: Recollections; stamps: Hero Arts; inks: Tsukineko (Versafine Onyx black, Staz-On Jet Black), Close To My Heart (Hollyhock); embossing powder: Hampton Art; markers: Prismacolor; star dust pen: Sakura; white gel pen: Uniball; rectangle/scalloped rectangle dies: Nestabilities by Spellbinders; scalloped circle punch (for pull tab): Martha Stewart; eyelet: American Crafts; ribbon: Michael's; baker's twine: Divine Twine

Lawnscaping Challenge: Inspired by (A+ teacher thank you card)

Happy Wednesday (wow - I totally just had to suppress the urge to make a hump day joke. LOL)! I hope everybody's week is going well so far. Today I have a cute card to say thank you to a teacher. Originally, I started making this card for the Hero Arts 90 minute scramble on Flickr. But, since I joined the scramble over half way through, and then my lovely laptop decided to freeze every time I inserted my SD card, I missed the cut-off to upload my card. (I think Donna allowed my card even after the cut-off. So sweet.) Anyway, I went back later and added some finishing touches that I didn't have time to do the first go-around. I love the way it turned out. I'm playing along with several challenges with this card. One of them is the Lawnscaping challenge. I don't have any Lawn Fawn stamps (yet!), but they're not required. Maybe I'll win the challenge, and get my first set! LOL! I love their challenge this week:

You can see my inspiration at the bottom of this post. Now for the paper yummies:I found this really cute alphabet patterned paper at Michael's last week (and they were 6/$1.00. Score!), and it looks super with these patterned papers by Echo Park, My Mind's Eye, and Recollections. I paired them with some really cute stamps from Hero Arts, Papertrey Ink, and Mint Motif:
I am loving this natural-color quilting thread right now - it's so nice and thick. I used it to straight stitch along the top of the thank you banner. I also zigzag stitched down at the bottom of the card. For a fun button treatment, I stamped a star in a pale blue ink on natural cardstock and cut it out. I adhered it to the middle of this green wooden button, and filled it with Glossy Accents. I love the way it turned out. Here is a close-up:

I'm playing along with these challenges:

Creative Inspirations Challenge 155: Anything Goes

Flourishes Timeless Tuesday Challenge 161: Sketch

Lawnscaping Challenge: Inspired By

The Shabby Tea Room Week 106: Pennant Party

This is the card that inspired mine (from Kristina Werner - LOVE her!)

Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Core'dinations (blue), Recollections (natural); patterned papers: Echo Park (yellow, green), Recollections (alphabet, red), My Mind's Eye (cream/graph); stamps: Hero Arts (ledger, thank you flags), Papertrey Ink ("notes", A+, star), Mint Motif ("teacher"); ink: Tsukineko (black), Recollections (pale blue); Ribbon: Hobby Lobby; wood button: Michael's; Glossy Accents: Ranger; sanding block: Making Memories; sewing machine: Kenmore; quilting thread: Americana

Thank you for your friendship pocket card

Here is a pocket card I made for a scramble on the Hero Arts Flickr group. (A scramble is a 90 minute challenge where the hostess announces a theme or requirement for the card, and each person must make a card following the rules, photograph it, and upload it in 90 minutes.) For this scramble, each card must have had a.) ribbon, b.) pink, c.) a pocket, d.) at least one Hero Arts stamp, and e.) a "pop". I popped my button up on top of the knot of my bow. It was my first time playing along with a scramble, and it was a lot of fun, especially because the "pop" was a twist that was added 20 minutes into the challenge. I think Rachelle (the hostess this round) was trying to kill me. LOL. I will also be adding this to the patterned paper challenge at Lily Pad Cards and the "anything goes" challenge at the SimonSaysStamp blog. And now, the paper yummies:Thanks for looking!

Supplies: cardstock: Core'dinations, Recollections; patterned paper: Echo Park; stamp: Hero Arts; ink: Versamark by Tsukineko; embossing powder: American Crafts; scalloped circle punch: Martha Stewart; corner rounder: We R Memory Keepers; white pen: Signo Uniball; baker's twine: Divine Twine; ribbon, button: craft supply