Merry + Bright with Kelly

 

Hello Folks! Kelly here from Notable Nest with a special card to share with you. You may notice there is a pull tab on the side. Any guesses what it does? I'll give you a hint ... it will become bright. Literally. "Bright" will be bright. Hahaha! Let's take a look ...

This card uses the new In a Word: Holiday Tiles Cutaways from the November release. To make the cute scallop panel I want to make sure the sentiment die is perfectly in the center of the opening when I send it through the die cutter. That calls for some old washi tape to temporarily hold the two dies in place.

Once I have the frame and inset cut, I backed the "bright" letter openings with red vellum. The vellum will help diffuse the light shining from below. The scallop panel is mounted onto a larger panel, and then the card base itself. 

Want to see what's underneath the scallop panel?

Circuitry! The three lights will go on once you pull the tab out. Underneath the tab is a switch made from copper tape. When the copper tape underneath is lined up over the gap, the circuit will be completed and the lights will turn on. I have also added foam tape to allow room for the height of the battery. If you are interested in how this works, I have a more detailed tutorial on the Chibitronics blog (featuring another Winnie & Walter card) that you can check out.

Here is the card before you pull on the tab,

And here's what it looks like once the tab is pulled! It's BRIGHT! You can't guess how many times I moved the tab back and forth watching the lights go on. It's just too much fun!

In hindsight I should have placed the light stickers a little higher up so the light is more hidden under the cardstock, and diffused across the vellum. That would avoid the three intense spots of light. But it's still a great effect, and definitely something to make your cards stand out for someone special.

I enjoy how simple the general design of the card is with the white-on-white elements and clean font, and then the bright red and lights are allowed to really stand out. The nice thing about the In a Word: Holiday Tiles Cutaways is that there are 6 different words and the scallop panel included in the set. So you have a lot of options. This Merry + Bright sentiment, however, is just perfect for this use. 

Thanks so much for looking! Have a wonderful, and bright, day : )

- Kelly