shadow box fun for this week's HSS Challenge 61!

Hi all!  It's Tuesday, so that means it's time for this week's challenge over at Hand Stamped Sentiments.  And, what a fun challenge it is!  Have you ever made a shadow box card?  Well, I think I may have made one once or twice EVER, so I was really glad to rediscover this fun card style this week.  Take a look at the challenge inspiration photo:

It' such a fun and festive presentation and I love that it can prop up on your desktop like a little mini stage.  It took me a bit to come up with an idea, but once I figured it out, the assembly was a snap.  Wanna see my full card?  Here you go:

It really is such an easy card to make, but packs a lot of wow to it!  My card is a super simple one to put together, too.  I had fun with punches making this little faux store front window.  I used the Decorative Label punch, Itty Bitty punches, and the 1 1/4" circle punch to create my awning, believe it or not.  All you need to do for the awning is start off with four 2"x1" strips of cardstock.  Then, you'll want to thread through the strip into the 1 1/4" circle punch so you can trim off one end of the strip to create a "scallop."  I then adhered these 4 pieces onto a strip of cardstock, aligning my scallops, then trimming off the excess on the straight edge side, and trim the side edges at a slant. Once I had the awning the way I liked,  I popped it up with dimensionals.  For my store front window, I used the decorative label punch.  You'll want to center the punch on the cardstock and insert the cardstock as far as it will go into the punch, then punch out the cardstock and repeat on the other side.  The resulting window is a fun curvy rectangle that you see on my store front!  Here's a look at the card from the side view:

All you need to do for this card is have 2 pieces of  a quarter sheet of cardstock (4 1/4" x 5 1/2" size).  Then score the ends at 1/2" and 1" on both sides and crease.  This is what gives your card dimension.  Punch out a shape on the front of the card and stamp on the back piece of cardstock, or create your scene - whichever you prefer!  Finally glue the ends together using the Multipurpose glue or sticky strip to ensure that the card stays together! Embellish the front as you like, and then you're all done!  It's a piece of cake...or chocolate, as you can see on my card {heehee}.  Here's the recipe for you:

{All you need is Chocolate Birthday}

*Stamp Set: Create a Cupcake, Eat Chocolate

*Cardstock: Sweet Stitches DSP, Whisper White, Regal Rose, Blushing Bride

*Inks: Chocolate Chip, Melon Mambo

*Accessories: Decorative Label Punch, 1 1/4" Circle Punch, Itty Bitty Punches, Basic Rhinestones, Dimensionals

Now isn't this challenge worth giving a whirl just to try a new or different technique?  Or, maybe you're a shadow box pro - how about you share your talents and link your card so we can all ooohh and ahhhh!  Hop on over to the Hand Stamped Sentiments challenge and check out what the rest of the fabulous and creative DT came up with!  Thanks for popping by for a visit.  Have a great day!