Spin! Pop! Flip! Pull!

Did you know I was on the Drill Team of my high school marching band? I also danced ballet, tap and jazz for 13 years. I heard words like this all the time, but that has nothing to do with the actual meaning of the title of this post.

On the last Saturday of June, some of my stamping buddies and I got together to honor those stamp sets which would be retiring with the Spring~Summer 2009 Idea Book & Catalog. For a while now, I have been wanting to do a class featuring interactive cards, and I decided that it was the perfect time. My definition of an interactive card is any card that doesn't open "normally." In May and early June I did a gate-fold card and a hinged card, so those were both little sneak peeks of what was to come in this class.

We did 5 cards. I planned for them to take about 2 hours to complete, then we were going to break for lunch and have our Big Shot Club Meeting in the afternoon. Well, it took the entire time, plus some to finish these very involved cards. We did break for lunch. ;-) {Keep in mind that all the stamp sets used are now retired and so are the "old" In Colors. Sorry.}

Our first one was a "Surprise Pop-up Card" featuring the Doodle This and Absolutely Fabulous stamp sets and 3 retiring In Colors (Baja Breeze, Kiwi Kiss, & Pink Pirouette). Here is the card closed.
To open it, you pull the ribbon at the top, while holding the very bottom of the card.

Here is the card 'open.' We decided to decorate both the inside of the opening and the tag that gets pulled up. One of my customers suggested putting a family picture in the opening for a Christmas card, and then you could write your message on the tag part and decorate the front with a poinsettia.

The next card is called a "Wiper Card," and it featured the Blooming with Love stamp set.

To 'open' it, you hold onto the back left side and the front right side and gently pull.

This card gets its name from the little tag that pops up like a windshield wiper. Oh, and that Old Olive pollytwill ribbon is also retired. Sorry again.

Next we made a "Free Standing Pop-up Card" using the Heartfelt Thanks stamp set.

As you pull the tag up, the bottom opens to form a box which will allow the "card" to stand up. Isn't this a gorgeous color combination? Garden Green and Elegant Eggplant; and those Filigree brads are not retired. :-)

Since I used three retiring In Colors in the first card, I couldn't leave the rest out, so we incorporated Pacific Point, Riding Hood Red and Tangerine Tango into this "Waterfall Card." We also used the retiring Ronald McDonald House Charities stamp set, Say It with Scallops.

To 'open' this one, you pull the ribbon, and the tab slips behind the narrow piece of card stock, while each panel flips to reveal the next panel, and ultimately the message 'appears' on the pulled tab.

Our final card paid homage to the Life's a Breeze stamp set, but when I looked at this super summery stamp set, I knew I just had to use the NEW '09-'10 In Colors. So on this "View Master Card" we said hello to Bermuda Bay, Crushed Curry, Melon Mambo, and Rich Razzleberry. Some of my customers added a Dusty Durango fish and some Soft Suede sea shells.

My step-mother's birthday is this coming Wednesday, so I made a slightly different version for her. I added some Kiwi Kiss polka dotted ribbon from the Pig Tails Ribbon Originals (retired, and the Pumpkin Pie rick-rack from the Waterfall card above is also from this pack)...I think Kiwi Kiss is the perfect green for the new In Colors...what ever will I do?

This card was a learning experience for all of us. Each person had some good idea that helped us get the card together a little easier. In the end, I think we all contributed to the best way to get it done.

Well, sorry for this extra long post. Trust me though, it took us much longer to complete these cards than it took you to read this post! ;-)

Sweet wishes!

ps. Everyone who came to the class said they enjoyed it, despite how long it took, so be on the lookout for my next interactive cards class sometime this fall.