• The designs I used all came from Creativefabrica. I changed some of them, but here are the links for the designs I used. Head to my library to get the party hat for the dog.
  • Pop up flower
  • Dog
  • Piano
  • Birthday cupcake

• Use solid core cardstock instead of cardstock with a white core. When you cut the cardstock the white core will show.
• If you do not have a scoring wheel or scoring stylus, then you can cut dash lines to help fold your card.
  • Use sold core paper if you do this, because the white inside of the card will really show if your paper is not sold color all the way through.
  • The cut lines helps the card lay more flat, but I feel like the card becomes less sturdy. So, I prefer using a scoring tool.

• For the piano card I used permanent vinyl instead of cardstock for the detailed top layer. After testing permanent vinyl on textured cardstock, I would recommend HTV (iron on) vinyl over the permanent vinyl for detail pieces on cardstock. The permanent vinyl did work, but with very textured cardstock it gave me a little trouble with wanting to stick right away.
• If you do not lay your layers perfectly aligned, then you can use a pair of scissors to trim the extra off the edges.

• When applying HTV (iron on) vinyl to cardstock make sure the entire cardstock is covered with a protective layer like Teflon sheets to help protect it from the direct heat. Also apply your heat on a lower setting and for only short bursts of like, 5 second intervals. Make sure to watch the edges of the cardstock for any discoloration and signs of burning.
• Place books or flat heavy object over your card when you are finished iron on the vinyl, because the heat may make the cardstock warp. The heave flat item will help keep your cardstock from warping/stay flat.
• To create the shape of your image on the card: Select the square shape, unlock the size and size it accordingly. I made a 10 by 7 rectangle which created an 5 by 7 card. Duplicate your shape, this can be found in the upper right hand corner just above the layers. Move one of the shapes out of the way. You only need to work with one, which will get lost/used up. Line your shape up against the edge of your card/rectangle. Make sure portions of the design are going past the edge of your rectangle. Select both the rectangle and your shape, then click weld (select combine then weld in the bottom right side).

• Use a pencil to lightly outline your card shape so you know not to go over that pencil line or your writing will show on the front on the card. Then erase your pencil lines when you are finished.

• Do not forget to add your score lines to your card. Go to shapes and click on the line in the upper left corner. Change the height to match the height of your card. Then select both the score line and the rectangle (your card) and click align, center (top middle of page). Then with both the rectangle and score line selected, click attach (bottom right).
• If you want your score lines to come out more pronounced (scored deeper) then double the score lines. Select your score lines, and click duplicate in the upper right hand corner. Then select everything and click align center (or other alignments depending where you want your score lines to be as long as they are both on top of each other). Do not forget to attach everything so they stay together when you got o make the project.
• You can create score lines to make spacing and assembly of letters and other pieces easier. I especially like to do this for letters that are not connected/touching. I know my spacing is correct, and I did not have to measure anything. I first choose my font and type my word or phrase. I then duplicate (top right side) my word or phrase and set one copy aside. I then create an offset (top middle of page) of my word or phrase. If there are any little pieces of the offset you do not want, then hit contour (bottom right) and click on the pieces you do not want, then hit the x to close the screen. All the extra little pieces will disappear. Now select the word/phrase and go operations (top left) and go down to score line to change the basic cut to a score line. Then select your offset and score lines, and click attach (bottom right) so they stay together. You can double the score lines if you need the lines to be deeper so they are easier to see. This needs to be done before you hit attach.

• It is a lot easier and cleaner to use smooth cardstock vs textured bumpy cardstock when writing on it.
• You can sync similar colors together to reduce the number of mats you need to use. On ethe right side of the canvas, next to your layers you can click color sync. This will show you all the different colors you are using in your project. I like to cut out several projects at once to save time, but this is a more advanced technique, because it can get confusing which pieces go with which projects. If you do this, then you might get slightly different colors, which can be changed to the same color. So, you may have two different greens, but it is okay if both greens are the same shade of green, especially if they are for different projects. All you need to do is drag similar colors together and Design Space will automatically change them to the new color, and you can check that that new color still looks nice with your design and other colors.

Make sure you also watch my video to get a better understanding and a different perspective of these tips and tricks. Also do not be intimidated by complex cards. I bent the butterfly wings on my pop up card to add a little more texture and dimension to the piece. I would love to hear some of your tips and tricks for cardmaking or cardstock projects. Let me know what you think of these tips and tricks I shared with you. My favorite is the score lines to help with assembling and aligning of pieces.

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