Popsicle Father's Day Card Tutorial

Want to make your dad a special Father’s Day card? Skip the store-bought versions and get creative with this unique ‘popsicle stick’ card-making tutorial, tailor-made for Dads! We'll show you how to make this colorful shadow box-style card that's sure to impress. Not sure where to start? Don't worry - we've got you covered! In this tutorial, we'll walk through all the steps of creating a fun and vibrant popsicle Father's Day card. From gathering up materials to adding the finishing touches, it'll be full of fun! By the end, you'll be left with a pretty "cool" homemade card that your dad will love! Let's get started.

• Hey Pops! Clear Stamp Set
  
• Free Cricut File - Hey Pops!
• Acrylic Stamp Block
• Pigment Ink Pad
• White Cardstock
• Craft Paper of Choice: Colors, Patterns, and Designs
• Glue
• Scissors or Cricut
• Envelope

• Artline Supreme Brush Markers
• Glue Tape Runner
• Gelly Roll White Gel Pen
• 3-D Styrofoam Dots
• Embellishment Gems
• Tweezers
• Address Stamp

To get started, gather all of your materials so you have them accessible. Next, select your choice of paper. We choose three various colors and patterns with the blue and green color scheme we choose. Then cut each piece of paper to size. Start with your card base and then measure and cut the other pieces of paper to create layers and borders. Because we are creating a shadow box card, we decided to go with an untraditional square card style, but you can use a traditional 5x7 or 4x6 card size for this design.

If you have a Cricut macheine, use the Cricut files to cut out your stamp dies. If you don't have a Cricut machine to cut stamp dies, place your white card stock onto a craft mat or paper to protect your surface. Using clear stamps is easy, simply peel your stamp from it backing sheet and place it onto an acrylic stamp block. The photopolymer is slightly tacky, so your stamp can easily stick and be removed from your stamp block.

Second, ink your stamp with the ink pad and color of your choice. In this project, we are using black pigment ink. Pigment ink is more saturated with deep rich colors and is fade resistant. This was perfect for this project which has bright, vibrant colors.

Lastly, stamp all of your designs onto the white card stock. Remember to space out the stamped impressions so you have space to cut around them later.

After your images are stamped, we'll color them in. We choose to use fluorescent brush markers from Artline Supreme. To color your stamped images, here are a few tips to remember:

• Start with your base color or lighter color.
• Use short flicks or strokes in a single direction like you are painting with a brush. This helps to blend the color the best.
• Color from the outside in. Again this helps with blending the color so it's not streaking or uneven.

Second, choose a darker color to add shading to the popsicles and give them some dimension. Lastly, add a few highlights with a white gel pen. For example, we added shadows to the bottom of the popsicles blending towards the middle, and the lightest colors at the top of the popsicles.

Tip: When shading think about where the "light source" is coming from, like the top or side, add more highlights to where the light is reflecting and shadows to the furthest away area from the light source.

Cut out your colored stamps either with scissors, or exacto-knife, or use the Cricut machine. First, arrange your pieces before gluing them down. We recommend doing this to visualize how your design will look while having the ability to change it.

A shadow box is simply a 3 dimensional framed spaced where elements are layered within the 3-D plane. Creating a shadow box is easy! Using your precut frame from step one, simply use thin adhesive strips or adhesive dots to raise the frame forward to create the 3-dimensional look - This creates the shadow box! Then, we placed our card messaging on top of the frame while we layered the popsicles inside the frame.

Remember, we haven't glued anything down yet (except for our shadow box frame). Using your planned design layout from the previous step, glue all your elements down. We recommend using a glue runner as it is quick, easy, and mess-free.

If you want to add a 3D effect to your card, so that some elmenets are raised on the face of the card, simply use adhesive styrofoam dots. Using a tweezer, place them on the back of the element you want to be raised, and place that design onto your card for a 3-dimensional effect, just like a pro!

You also consider using embellishments like adhesive pearls or colorful gems. This is just a fun way to add a little extra pizzazz.

We hope you had as much fun making this Father's Day card as we did! You can modify these steps to make awesome cards for any occasion—birthdays, anniversaries, thank yous—or just send cheery wishes to someone for no reason at all. Try using different colors or techniques to craft a completely unique design. The possibilities are endless when you put your creativity to work!

Don't forget to share your hand-made cards with us using #STAMPWITHUS, so we can share your inspiration with others!