Birthday Shake Up

In May I purchased Queen & Co's Birthday Squares Bundles shaker card set. I have been playing with the set. You can have a lot of fun with these.

First I'll share my finished cards. Then, if you are interested in the quality of the product, read on for a walk though of the "deficiencies."

I have purchased the North Pole Shaker card kit. I'm thinking this set will work out better as the cuts are smaller. We'll see what happens . . . Stay tuned.

Review of Product
The foam and acetate are pre-cut for you. They are the exact same size. I recommend cutting the acetate a bit smaller to allow for a little play as it can be tricky to get it lined up. There is also steel die for cutting out the "frame" that is adhered on top of the foam. The outside edge is the exact size of the provided foam cut. But when you use the die to cut out the paper/card stock frame, the cut paper is actually smaller than the provided foam frame. It frustrates me that I pay $37 (plus shipping) and the pieces do not line up. Queen/Co is a big company that makes a lot of money. I feel that they can make the pieces match up exactly.

This kit does not come with "toppings." Toppings are the pieces used as the shakers. I chose those from my own stock of craft supplies.

Multiple Colors

For the next cards, I cut thin strips of coordinated cardstock and adhered them to the sides of the foam frame. This dresses up the card a great deal. (I tried using a sharpie to color the foam, and although it did take the color, the ink would not dry and bled onto my fingers.)

Pink Theme

Blue Sport Theme

There are too many Problems With this Product:
The acetate is larger than the foam. I recommend cutting it down on the outside edges before trying to adhere. You can see my rough cut shown in the photo.

Trim the acetate. or it will hang over the edges.

The die cut appears to be slightly larger than provided foam frame.

Die cut just sticks out from foam frame.

Next step is to cut and apply the top layer of decorative cardstock/paper. I found that upon cutting cardstock to lay on top of foam, that the cut out is actually is smaller!

Cut top layer of cardstock.

Hmm, the cardstock cut is short!

I recommend adhering the cardstock a little bit at a time by removing the adhesive backing in small steps. Do not remove all of the adhesive backing in one step. Once you lay down the cardstock, you may not get it back up! Trust me.

Add top layer cardstock . . .

. . . in steps . . .