I am the host of the Bitten by the Bug 2 challenge for this two week period and I chose the theme “For the Men in our Lives”.  Sometimes it is hard for people to come up with masculine cards, but I know how much the men in my family appreciate the cards I make them.

Every year I choose what type of birthday card I will make for my family (and that number is now up to seventeen.) I found a card called a fling card on Pinterest which is a variation of the waterfall card and thought that would be a good one for this year.  I watched a video by Srushti Patil found here.   Since I will be making so many of these cards, I decided to make a pattern on Design Space rather than cutting them by hand each time.  I also decided that I would make a separate post on the process of making the actual card which can be found in this post.

The cut file I made for making this card uses only the basic shapes so anyone on Design Space can use it.  The project is called Fling Card 2 and can be found in the community in Design Space. If you want a direct link, let me know in the comments.  One thing I did learn in making these is that it works better with 100# cardstock as the base card. The flipping cut as well as the base pages that flip work better with a lower cardstock, but not paper. However paper can be used for the decorative elements.

My birthdays start with my father and brother who share a birthday as well as my sister-in-law whose birthday is the day before theirs.  This is my father’s card and the different views as the pages flip (or fling if you do it fast) over when the panel is pulled out of the side.

And here is my brother’s card.

Check out the Bitten by the Bug 2 blog and link up your male project here. and let’s see those masculine inspirations using your Cricut.

This year I decided to make something called a fling card (which is a modified waterfall card) for my family birthday cards.  I found the basic design on Pinterest and this video by Srushti Patil found here.

The video shows all of the measurements in cm, so I changed my board to be cm instead of inches.  After I made all of the parts, I changed the board back to inches and found that the base was too big to fit on a 12 x 12 cardstock, so I sized everything down to the base being 11.5 inches wide.  This worked out well and the finished card ended up being around 5 x 7, so it would fit inside an envelope made for a 5 x 7 (A7) card.

After making three cards, I realized that I could attach the pull part to the slide by welding to make one piece and it makes it work better.  This is how the final canvas looks.   The cut file will cut and make the score lines.  I have made the file shareable and since it only uses the free basic shapes, it available to anyone on Design Space by searching Fling Card 2 in the community projects.

Here is how the mat looks for the design.

You can watch the video referenced above for putting the card together.  Here are my photos for my prototype.  The only thing is that the front should be green to match the pull tab and the inside front should be blue to match the pullout panel (if you want them to match).

  The purple piece is the flipping mechanism and if the inside corners don’t quite cut, carefully snip them.

  Fold on the scored lines as shown.

These are shown with the decorative pieces shown glued to the flipping and base pieces.  Note that on the newer design, the pull tab part (half moon shape) is part of the pull panel and not separate which eliminates the need to tape it on.  It is also better to put on the decorative piece on the pull tab after it is put together since it is easier to line up that way.

  Here is the pull part taped to the pulling mechanism.

  Here is the glue around the back of the mechanism with the panel back in place.  I have used both glue and double sided tape.  The glue is forever and can’t be moved after a few seconds.  With UnDo, I can remove the double sided tape if need be to re-position the panel on the base, so I will probably do that in the rest of my cards.  (Also the pull tab is now one piece, not taped on like in this picture.)

  Here it is after gluing or taping it on the base.

  Glue or tape between the first score lines to attach the largest inside panel (the yellow on the picture of the pieces.)  Line it up with the left edge of the inside panel just inside the left edge of the glue (you should just see the purple) and centered top to bottom.  Slide the tab out helping that panel flip and the next fold shows.  Glue the next portion the same way and put on the orange panel the same way.  Next is the dark pink panel and finally the red panel which is glued on a larger part since it doesn’t flip.

The best way to understand all this is to watch the video linked above.  I will have two actual cards to show you tomorrow using this file and will be shared on Bitten by the Bug 2

Now is the time we all have sweet thoughts as Valentine’s Day is just around the corner.  So the challenge on Bitten by the Bug 2  is to make something for that holiday.

This is a box card made from a svgcuts.com cut called Conversation Hearts box card.  It is available as just this cut or part of a group of designs called Hearts Aflame.  I love box cards and Mary makes such great ones that go together quickly.

One of the things I love about using my Cricut is that I can make personal and unique cards for those I love.  The heart on the front was designed with the word “LOVE”, but I decided that I wanted to change that up to my granddaughter’s name.  I did that by hiding the contours of the letters in the heart, then I used the Cricut Sans font to spell her name since that seemed to be the closest to the font on the hearts.  After sizing it to fit, I attached it to the heart.  You could also use the slice feature to do the same thing since both will end up cutting the letters in the heart.  I used a lot of scrap cardstock for the hearts along with lots of rhinestone hearts. To me the best part of my Cricut is the ability to design or change things up to make them personal.

Make your own personal Valentine project and add the link to the BBTB2 challenge here.

Happy Valentine’s Day – Denise