Tag Archives: Graphic 45

Graphic 45 Deck the Halls Christmas Explosion Box Tutorial

Graphic 45-Deck the Halls-Maja Design-Christmas Nostalgia-Christmas Explosion Box-Tutorial-Kathy Clement-Kathy by Design

Graphic 45 Deck the Halls Christmas Explosion Box Tutorial for Wonderful Wednesday

Hello, Friends!  We’re going to have so much fun today as I share this Graphic 45 Deck the Halls Christmas Explosion Box Tutorial with you!  We’ve invited Maja Design Christmas Nostalgia to this paper party as well, along with lots of pretty snowflakes and cheery snowmen.

This summer, I designed a large (5 1/2″ square) steampunk explosion box for our son’s birthday.  It looked so good and functioned so well as a home decor item, that I decided to share the tutorial with you this Christmas.

My process for making these boxes is probably a little different from what you’ve made in the past.  So if you’re ready to get started on this crafty adventure with me, let’s go!

Blue and Silver Christmas

Begin the adventure by pulling all the “blue” papers from your G45 Deck the Halls and Maja Design Christmas Nostalgia collections.  My thought was to create a blue Christmas project that could flow right into winter.

TIP:  Dig into your stash of handmade flowers and use them to embellish the cover of your box.  Be sure to die cut plenty of foliage so that your arrangement is nice and full.

Inside the Box

When you remove the lid from the box, the sides magically fall down to reveal an innovative folio inside.  We have waterfall elements, pull out pages, pull down pages and pop ups tucked inside. This gives you plenty of room to add photos to your box.

I found a darling Melissa Frances cloche stashed away in the closet and used it to create the woodland scene.

And pop up pages are always a favorite element.

Graphic 45 Deck the Halls Christmas Explosion Box Tutorial on YouTube

Would you like to see more of this box and learn how to build your own?  Then please grab a cuppa and a snack and join me on my YouTube channel for the full tutorial.

You can find a linked supply list below this post.

I hope today’s tutorial has you inspired to play with pretty Christmas papers!  I’ll be back soon with another Ghost of Christmas Past project share and mini tutorial.

Thanks so much for stopping by, friends!

Cheerio,

kathy

SUPPLY LIST

 

 

Graphic 45 Deck the Halls Christmas Tea Party Tags

Graphic 45-Deck the Halls-Christmas Tea Party Tags-Tutorial-Kathy Clement-Kathy by Design

Graphic 45 Deck the Halls Christmas Tea Party Tags Tutorial for Wonderful Wednesday

Hello, Friends!  It’s another Wonderful Wednesday and I have the cutest Graphic 45 Deck the Halls Christmas Tea Party Tags Tutorial to share with you.  These are perfect little last minute gifts for friends and family.  Need a table favor?  They are great for that, too!  Stocking Stuffers?  Yep.  They also make great hostess gifts!  Craft up a basket full of these beauties and you’ll be all set for the holidays!

Tags, Tags, Tags

First, create your tag base with Graphic 45 Square tags.  I still have pretty good stash of the laser cut square tags left from my years on the G45 design team.  Dry brush both sides with creamy white chalk paint to mimic the feel of snow.

Next, pull out some G45 Regular Tags to create the card front.  Use the Regular Tag Dies to cut liners for the front and back of each tag.

Filled with Sweet Surprises

Now build a box pocket for the back of the tag and fill it up with sweet surprises.

Dress up a sweet little ATC Tag with patterned papers and images from the 8×8 pad.

And don’t forget to decorate both sides!

Score a 4″ wide scrap of patterned paper to provide a little hidden note spot.  These are so cute!

Graphic 45 Deck the Halls Christmas Tea Party Tags Tutorial on YouTube

Would you like to see all 6 of these festive Tea Party Tags, and then learn how to create your own version?   Then please grab a cuppa and a snack and enjoy this video tutorial.

You can find a linked supply list below this post.  And now I provide product links within the videos for your shopping convenience.

I’ll be back soon with another of our Ghost of Christmas Past project shares.  Have you pulled out any of your older Christmas collections to play along with us?  It feels so good to use up those pretty papers from Christmas past!

Whatever you do today, I hope you stay warm, cozy and creative!

Thanks for stopping by, friends!

Cheerio,

kathy

SUPPLY LIST

Graphic 45 Deck the Halls Tunnel Card Tutorial

Graphic 45-Deck the Halls-Maja Design-Christmas Nostalgia-Tunnel Card Tutorial-Kathy Clement-Kathy by Design

Graphic 45 Deck the Halls Tunnel Card Tutorial with Maja Design Christmas Nostalgia

Hello, Friends!  Our first Wonderful Wednesday project for November 2025 is a Graphic 45 Deck the Halls Tunnel Card Tutorial.  Do you like fun fold cards?  Cards with dimension?  How about cards that double as home decor?  Today’s Tutorial has you covered.

I also invited Maja Design Christmas Nostalgia to the paper party.  Sometimes it’s fun to mix and match papers from two different collections.  Here’s what I look for when I’m cross-pollenating paper collections:

  • First, of course, is look for a similar theme.  Both these Christmas collections feature nutcrackers, so that made it super easy to combine them.
  • Next, consider style.  It doesn’t always work to try to mix a vintage style paper with a retro style paper.  But both of these collections had a nice, vintage vibe.
  • Third, look at the color palette.  You want to mix papers with compatible colors, of course.  But the hue also matters.  Deck the Halls and Christmas Nostalgia were a perfect match on that count.
Wreathed in Joy

This photo shows the fun shadowbox effect you get with this card style.  It looks complicated, but I promise you, it’s much easier to do than you think!

Since this card isn’t built on a typical card base, I added my pocket on the back.  Look how beautifully the Maja Design vine motif blends with the blues in Deck the Halls.  So cool!

Believe Tunnel Card

For this card, I combined Maja Design patterned papers with G45 ephemera.  The star banner and Nutcracker chipboard lend a really festive feel to the card design.

The pocket on the back is a quick and easy make.  I’ll show you how in the video tutorial below.

Graphic 45 Tunnel Card Tutorial on YouTube

Have you made a tunnel card before?  Would you like to learn how?  Then please enjoy this video tutorial on my YouTube channel.

I can’t wait to make more of these using different shaped dies for the tunnel opening.  They are so much fun to create!

Christmas News

Since I have about a 25 year supply of papers from Christmas Past, I’m going to try to post more than my usual once a week project using some of those dear, older papers.  I’ll just do project shares for most of them with lots of tips to help you make your own version.  So look for me in your inbox and on my YouTube channel.  I’m in the Christmas spirit, and want to cut, score and glue to my heart’s content!

You can find a linked supply list below this post.  I also provide affiliate links within the video.  Simply click on the boxes and you’ll be taken to an online store.

Thanks so much for stopping by, friends!

Cheerio,

kathy

SUPPLY LIST

Turn a Card Base into a Folio

Graphic 45-Autumn Greetings-Card Base Folio-Kathy Clement-Kathy by Design

How to Turn a Card Base into a Folio with Graphic 45 Autumn Greetings: Wind Back Wednesday

Hello, Friends!  It’s Wind Back Wonderful Wednesday, and I’m going to show you how to turn a card base into a folio. Card folios are one of my favorite projects to make: simpler than a mini album, but filled with just as much fun.  These little masterpieces make wonderful gifts, and they double as home decor.  That’s a win/win in my book!

After completing our Choose Your Own Adventure card tutorial last week, I had an extra 6×6 card base.  Since it was brown, it prompted me to pull Graphic 45’s Autumn Greetings collection out of the Closet of Inspiration and Delight.  Then the fun started!

TIP:  Add the ribbon closure to your folio before you add the cover art.  This helps secure the ribbon and doesn’t cover up any crucial design elements.

Pockets and Pull-Outs

It’s actually amazing how many features you can add to a small folio when you make good use of pockets and pull out features.  I used plenty of both!

TIP:  Secure the pull out feature behind the small flap.  This greatly enlarges the folio design and creates lots of room for photos.

Although this looks like a tri-fold base, it’s actually just a 6″x 6″ card base with a 2 1/2″ pocket flap.  Adding that pull out feature makes all the difference.

Tiered Pop Up Element

Since I had quite a few ephemera pieces left, I decided to build a pop up element behind a pull down flap.  Honestly, I  never get tired of making these.  Each time I make one, I learn a new “trick” that makes it even easier.

Autumn Greetings Turn a Card Base into a Folio Tutorial on YouTube

If  you’d like to follow along as I turn a card base into a folio, please grab a cuppa and a snack and enjoy this video on my YouTube channel.

 

This was a very fun project to make, and I hope you’ll feel inspired to break out some of your favorite fall papers and give it a try.

You can find a linked supply list below this post.  I also wrote out the basic directions for the folio in the description box below the video on my YouTube channel.

I’ll be back next week to begin our special month-long Mini Album project featuring Stamperia Whispering Woods.  If you missed that product tour you can find it here.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

SUPPLY LIST

  • Graphic 45 Autumn Greetings (out of stock except for the 12×12 Patterns and Solids)

Fall Tiered Pop Up Cards Tutorial

Graphic 45 Season to Celebrate-Simple Stories Vintage Autumn Breeze-Tiered Pop Up Cards Tutorial-Kathy Clement-Kathy by Design

Fall Tiered Pop Up Cards Tutorial for Choose Your Own Adventure Wonderful Wednesday

Hello, Friends!  How you do feel about a Fall Tiered Pop Up Cards Tutorial?  It’s a Choose Your Own Adventure Wonderful Wednesday, which means we will be making two cards using two different paper collections and one unique card design.  This is fast becoming one of my favorite Wonderful Wednesday features.  I hope you are enjoying it, too.

This week we are working with Simple Stories Simple Vintage Autumn Breeze and Graphic 45 Celebrate the Seasons September papers.  It’s Autumn Fest at its best, and I think you are really going to enjoy the pop up feature on these pretty cards.

So let’s get started, shall we?

Card Adventure #1:  Graphic 45 Season to Celebrate September Tiered Pop Up Card

Graphic 45-Season to Celebrate-September-Tiered Pop Up Card Tutorial-Kathy Clement-Kathy by Design

The base for both cards today is a simple 6×6 top fold.  Each cover features an altered Prima Resin Frame, and the exact same layout.

TIP:  When working with bold colors, busy patterns and large images, it is often a good idea to keep your card design very simple.  For this card I matted layers of Patterns & Solids and 8×8 papers with plain cardstock to help separate the patterns.  Embellish a simple framed image with flowers, vintage button, postage stamps and a twine bow.

Inside the card folio, I’ve created a lovely pull down flap.  When the magnetic flap opens, this tiered pop up feature is revealed.  Once you learn how to make these, you’ll want to do it all the time!

Card Adventure #2:  Simple Stories Autumn Breeze Tiered Pop Up Cards

Simple Stories-Simple Vintage Autumn Breeze-Tiered Pop Up Card-Tutorial-Kathy Clement-Kathy by Design

Can you see how this card layout is identical to the G45 card?

TIP:  Need to save time?  Use the same card recipe on multiple cards and you’ll be amazed at how many cards you can create in a short time!

Here you can see the interior pocket and the front of the pull down flap.  The pop up feature is hidden behind.  I’ll show it to you and teach you how to make it in the video tutorial.

Tiered Pop Up Cards Tutorial on YouTube

If you’d like to take a closer look at this month’s Choose Your Own Adventure tutorial, please grab a cuppa and a snack and enjoy the video tutorial below.

I hope you’ll give this tiered pop up design a try as it’s loads of fun!

I’ll be back next week with our Wind Back Wednesday tutorial featuring Graphic 45 Autumn Greetings.

You can find a linked supply list below this post.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

Cheerio,

kathy

SUPPLY LIST