Die cutting machines and cutting templates make it easy to create beautiful greeting cards especially if you use intricate die templates like those from Spellbinders or Memory Box. Whether you use one template or a combination of templates, with a little creativity, your stash of favorite papers and your trusty craft supplies you can easily come up with a lovingly handcrafted greeting card that will beat any store-bought card anytime.

Our project for today makes use of three die cutting templates from Spellbinders. These are Vines of Passion (the heart shaped template), Floral Corner One, and Labels Sixteen.

You will need:

* Manual die cutting machine compatible with Spellbinders dies
* Spellbinders die cutting templates: Vines of Passion, Floral Corner One, Labels Sixteen
* Tiny butterfly punch
* Prussian blue cardstock, 8-1/2 by 11 inches
* Pale blue patterned cardstock, 8-1/2 by 11 inches
* Patterned paper: Scrapbook Walls Garden Floral (Item #28101) from Chatterbox Inc.
* White cardstock
* Chartreuse cardstock
* Blue glitter
* Vellum
* Blue marker
* Wax paper
* Glue pen
* Glue runner
* Craft knife
* Cutting mat
* Ruler
* Pencil

Measure, mark and cut an 8-1/2 by 5-1/2 inch piece of Prussian blue cardstock. Score and fold it in half width-wise.

Measure, mark and cut the pale blue floral cardstock to 5-3/8 by 4-1/8 inches. Attach this to the front of the card with a glue runner.

Using the second largest Labels Sixteen die template, cut a background from the remaining Prussian blue cardstock. Attach this piece to the upper front part of the card.

Using the Vines of Passion die template, cut the detailed heart shape from the remaining pale blue cardstock. Tip: To make it easier to remove the cardstock from the die template, sandwich a piece of wax paper between the die template and the cardstock before cutting.

Cut plain heart shape from white cardstock. Using the glue pen, stick the two hearts together. Glue the heart onto the label shape using the glue runner.

Using the Floral Corner One die template, cut one piece from the chartreuse cardstock. Use the glue pen to attach this to the lower left corner of the label shape, slightly overlapping the heart.

Cut a piece of the Scrapbook Walls Garden Floral paper measuring 4-1/8 by 1-3/8 inches and glue this to the bottom of the card.

On a piece of vellum, write the word “thanks” with a blue permanent marker, then cut around the word leaving a narrow border. Glue this onto the patterned paper.

Punch two butterflies from a piece of cardstock. Apply glue to one side of each butterfly, and cover with blue glitter. Shake off the excess glitter, then glue the butterflies to the heart.