Step-by-Step Townhouse Card Tutorial with Everyday Awnings Dies

Hello crafters! It’s Lisa Tilson here with you today to share a card featuring the Everyday Awnings Dies from the Yana Smakula Everyday City Holiday Collection. I am going to be doing a step-by-step photo tutorial showing you how to create this pretty townhouse with its sunny striped awnings and window boxes full of flowers! The Everyday Awnings Dies and the Everyday Windows, Curtains and Flower Boxes Dies work in conjunction with the previously released City Holiday Dies from last year. The City Holiday Dies create the main part of the house, the door, and some parts of the windows. This new collection builds on last year’s release and is a great way to stretch your Holiday dies throughout the year! This card may look complicated at first glance, but I can assure you it isn’t really. It is a lot of repeated die-cutting and assembling. Other than pressing the sentiment, all you will be doing is cutting pieces of card and gluing them back together! So, let’s get started.

A Happy Hello from My House to Yours

For all the die cutting, use the Platinum SIX Die Cutting Machine with the die cutting sandwich as follows (from bottom to top):

• Plate A – Platform Base
• Plate B – Platform Top
• Plate C – Cutting Plate
• Plate C – Cutting Plate

The cardstock/die will be inserted between the two cutting plates with the die sitting on top of the cardstock, cutting side down.

Die Cutting

1. Using the City Holidays Etched Dies, die cut the main house from Waterfall ColorWheel Cardstock.
2. Die cut the house top, doorstep, and windowsill from Teal Topaz ColorWheel Cardstock.
3. Die cut the door from Blue Spruce and Classic White ColorWheel Cardstock.

TIP: it’s helpful to use a Medium Craft Stax to keep all your die cuts and dies in one place on your desk.

4. Run them through your Platinum SIX Die Cutting Machine.

5. Still using the City Holidays Etched Dies, die cut the curtains seven times from Seaside ColorWheel Cardstock.
6. Die-cut the small arched window frame six times from Classic White ColorWheel Cardstock and pop out the inner pieces using the Precision Tool from Handy Craft Tool Set.
7. Die-cut the large window frame once from Classic White ColorWheel Cardstock. You will discard the large white rectangle from this die cut and only use the white thin frame on your card.

8. Die-cut the small solid arch window die six times from Beeswax ColorWheel Cardstock.
9. Die-cut the large window frame from Beeswax ColorWheel Cardstock. You will just use the large rectangle from this die cut and discard the thin frame.

10. Take the Everyday Awnings Etched Dies and die cut the solid arch awning die three times from Classic White ColorWheel Cardstock. You will end up with six pieces, which will form the base of your awnings.
11. Die-cut the detailed arch awning die three times from Saffron ColorWheel Cardstock. You will end up with six pieces. These will be added onto the solid white layer.
12. Die cut the large awning solid die from Classic White ColorWheel Cardstock.
13. Die cut the large awning detail die from Saffron ColorWheel Cardstock.
14. Take the Everyday Windows, Curtains and Flower Boxes Etched Dies, and die cut the large window box once from Classic White ColorWheel Cardstock.
15. Die-cut the small window boxes three times from Classic White ColorWheel Cardstock. You will end up with six window boxes.
16. Die cut the foliage five times from Peridot ColorWheel Cardstock and three times from Rainforest ColorWheel Cardstock.
17. Die-cut the flowers eight times from Tuscan ColorWheel Cardstock.

Assembling The Die Cuts

1. Adhere the yellow detail awning die cuts onto the white solid awning die cuts six times.
2. Glue the large yellow awning piece to the large white solid layer.

3. Adhere the eight flower die cuts onto the eight foliage pieces.

(Note: in the photo, the die cut has been placed onto a small piece of black cardstock for you to see it better).

4. Pop small dabs of liquid glue onto the back of the two side sections of each white arched window frame and adhere the curtains. Repeat for the other five arched frames.

5. Adhere all six window frames onto their solid yellow layer using Bearly Art Glue.

6. Adhere two flower boxes to the large window box. Use two die cuts that have Peridot ColorWheel Cardstock for their foliage.

7. Take the city house die cut and adhere the door panel and the yellow rectangle onto it. There are guidelines to help you with placement for all the elements on the front of the house.

8. Adhere the white door frame around the door.
9. Adhere the two curtains to the sides of the large window section. Do not worry that they do not seem to fit the height! The awning will cover the top section!

10. Adhere the white frame around the large window.

11. Add the top of the house, large windowsill and double doorstep die cuts using liquid glue. Then pop the additional single doorstep piece onto the bottom of the double doorstep die cut. You will end up with a two layered doorstep.

12. Glue the large awning to the top of the large window frame.

13. Adhere the large window box just on top of the windowsill.

14. Glue your first arched window onto the top left of the house.

15. Adhere the arch awning on top.

16. Add a window box at the bottom. Use a window box that has Peridot ColorWheel Cardstock as its foliage for this first window.

17. Adhere the rest of the windows. The window boxes should display (left to right)
    • Peridot/Rainforest/Peridot foliage (top layer of arched windows)
    • Rainforest/Peridot/Rainforest foliage (bottom layer of arched windows)
18. For some pretty sparkle, add Silver Mix Color Essential Gems onto each flower.

Creating The Sentiment

1. Take the Welcome Home Sentiments Press + Foil Plate & Die Set and pop your sentiment onto the middle of the BetterPress Letterpress System magnetic platform.
2. Take a piece of Porcelain BetterPress Cardstock and tape it to the underside of the clear Platen using Best Ever Craft Tape.
3. Ink up the sentiment using BetterPress Black Ink.
4. Flip the Platen over and pop it back onto the magnetic platform.
5. Run the sandwich through your Platinum SIX Die Cutting Machine.

6. Die cut the sentiment using the coordinating die.

Finishing The Card

1. Add some White Foam Adhesive Squares onto the back of the sentiment and remove the backings.

2. Adhere the sentiment onto the house.

3. Glue the house onto a top folding A2 white note card created with Classic White ColorWheel Cardstock (4.25” x 11”, scored and folded at 5.5”)
4. Pop a Silver Mix Color Essential Gem onto the door to finish the card.

I hope you find this tutorial helpful. I kept a minimal colour palette for my card today, but you can really go to town and change up the colours you use along with the details of the windows, awnings, and window boxes! You can have the windows with different curtains or even blinds. You can have them in different shapes. You can also change the shape of the awnings. You have several options for flowers to add into your window boxes. There are so many ways to customise your design. I hope you have fun creating with these fabulous sets! If you would like to see more of my cards, I would love to have you join me over on my blog, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. In the meantime, thank you so much for your company here on the Spellbinders blog today. I hope that you have a great day!