Ever made a Pop-up card? If so, maybe not in awhile? Here's a cute one made with some cut outs, some dry embossing, and some paper piercing.

Cute, isn't it? And check out the inside!
I got the idea from a pop-up tutorial on the Demonstrators' Stampin' Up! website. They showed a Ballet Blue card with a cutout flower pop-up. Well, it just so happens that Ballet Blue is my FAVORITE Stampin' Up! color! What? Oh yeah, well... Soft Sky is my ALL TIME favorite, but Ballet Blue is my ALL TIME favorite CLASSIC Stampin' Up! color. Seriously. No, really! If it weren't for Soft Sky, it would be my all time PERENNIAL favorite.
So anyway - I used my new stamp sets and, of course, some retiring colors! First, I stamped all my Purely Pomegranate flowers and cut them out. I used 2 stamp sets for the flowers: Live Your Dream, and Stitched Exotics. I cut off 2 of the 3 stitched outlines around the big flower that's on the inside of the card. I thought it looked better that way and matched the one on the front of the card as well. I also stamped one of the tiny flowers in the Live Your Dreams set and punched it out with the Boho Blossoms punch. It's layered on the front of the card. Notice that the punched out part is larger than the stamped image. I think it looks pretty cool like that!
Next, I stamped some So Saffron centers for the flowers using the same 2 stamp sets, and punched them out with circle punches, and punched a plain white small flower from the Boho Blossoms punch. For the large flower center on the front of the card, I stamped the large five-pointed flower from Stitched Exotics in So Saffron, then punched out just the center with a 1/2" round punch. I again used one of the tiny flowers from the Live Your Dream set (current mini catalog) and punched it out with the 1/4" round punch to layer in the center of the smaller flower inside the card.
I took the long flowers from Live Your Dream and stamped them in Wild Wasabi and cut out the stems to use inside the card. Then I was ready to start assembling! We'll be using a half a sheet of Ballet Blue for the card, and a 5-1/4"x4" piece of Wild Wasabi cardstock. I cut a 5"x3-3/4" piece of Whisper White for the top and stamped another set of JUST the flower stems in Wild Wasabi. Make sure you leave yourself enough room for the 'thanks' on the right and the large cutout flower on the left. Stamp the 'Thanks' from the Live Your Dreams set in the upper right corner, leaving at least 3/4" of white space to the right for embossing and paper piercing.
Now, BEFORE attaching your flowers, get out your lightbox and the Punches Plus Classy Brass template. Place the template on the lightbox with the oval cutout situated horizontally. Take your white cardstock with your flower stems and 'Thanks', and place it on the template. Remember to TURN YOUR CARDSTOCK UPSIDE DOWN, before placing it on the template! Using your stylus, trace the oval so that it frames the word 'Thanks'. Remove the template from the lightbox and place it on your foam paper piercing mat. Line up the oval you already embossed and punch every hole or every other hole around the oval.
Inside:
Cut a piece of Ballet Blue 1-1/2"x2-1/2" and fold it in half lengthwise; score. Now take your scissors and make 1/2" cuts into the fold, leaving about 1/2" on each side of the cuts. Open the fold and pop the center cut portion in the opposite direction of the fold so that it stands out like a stairstep. The original fold will fit into the center fold of the inside of the card, and the stairstep will hold your popped-up item, which in our case is a flower.
To assemble, Place adhesive - I used SNAIL - on the flat sides of the piece we just folded. That is, place your adhesive on the part in the photo that's flush against the card on the bottom, under the flower, and on its corresponding part on the top (which will end up behind the flower.) Make sure you do not get adhesive on the stairstep. Press the "pop-up mechanism" into the card, making sure the card can open and close correctly. Once the anchor piece is in place, take a Dimensional and place it on the flat FRONT part of the stairstep. (It would be the riser part if it were a stairstep.) Now just place your flower on the Dimensional, with the bottom of the flower resting on the card bottom (as in the photo to the left) so that it can close fully.
Assemble the front of your card by layering your flower pieces and attaching them to the card front. I used Dimensionals to attach the large flower center, and also to attach the large flower so that it would stand out as the focal point. TA-DA! Whew! You're done - admire your work!
If my instructions are confusing, please email me! I know there's a great pdf tutorial on how to make pop-ups, and I'll find it for you!
Enjoy!