Snappy Birthday--and a Tab Punch Trick, Too

This fun card uses the new Crab & Company set from SU!'s Spring Mini catalog. The crab is colored with SU!'s Wonderful Watercolor Crayons and inside a frame raised with dimensionals. I just wish I had some real sand to sprinkle under the crab . . . Before I got the new round tab punch, I had been experimenting with other ways to create a "tabbed" look for my cards. My favorite way is to use the ticket corner punch to make a notch in the corner of a rectangular piece of cardstock that has a sentiment stamped on it. I especially like how this looks on sentiments that take up 2 lines (like "snappy birthday") and the top word (or words) take up less room than the bottom word (or words). It adds some interest and balance to the image.

Here's how I made the "snappy birthday" tab. After cutting the cardstock to a rectangle, being sure to leave sufficient space at the sides of the words and on the top, I inserted the top corner of the cardstock into the punch and punched out the corner, then repeated on the other side. Also, make sure you leave enough extra, blank space at the bottom of the cardstock so you have room to slip it under another piece of your card.

If you don't have the ticket corner punch, don't worry! If you have a 1/4" circle punch, you can do the exact same thing by placing your punch carefully. Just use a small portion of the circle to punch a curved section out of the corner of the cardstock and you'll create the same effect.

Easy way to get a tabbed look, isn't it? This card is another example of this technique.






Materials Used (Crab Card):
From Stampin' Up!: Crab and Company stamp set; Rough Texture Jumbo Wheel and handle; Basic Black and Creamy Caramel Classic inks; Brocade Blue, Creamy Caramel, Real Red, and Whisper White cardstock; Watercolor Wonder Crayons, aquapainter; ticket corner punch; stampin' dimensionals; red, taupe, and bluebird grosgrain
Other: Clear Stardust gel pen (Sakura); wiggly eyes (Walmart)

Materials Used (Flower Card):
From Stampin' Up!: Sweet on You, Love Without End, Small Sayings, and Linen stamp sets: Bravo Burgundy, So Saffron, Chocolate Chip, and Very Vanilla cardstock; Bravo Burgundy, Always Artichoke, and Basic Black Classic inks; ticket corner punch; 1/2" circle punch; stampin' dimensionals, sponge
Other: Flower brads (Joann)