Tutorial: Rainbow Shaker Card with Natalie Elphinstone

I’m a huge fan of shaker cards – I don’t think it’s possible to make one that’s not bright and fun and cheery! I’m here today to share with you my process for making a rainbow shaker card with the Jolly Holiday Stationery Kit Add Ons, and I hope it’s something you think you could have a go at making for yourself. 

To begin, I gather all of my supplies. I took my inspiration from the raindrops paper from the May 4x6” Paper Pad and built the rest of my card around that. I picked some coordinating cardstock and sequins and printed out some of the digital elements from the Jolly Holiday Unicorn Digital Stamp set which I coloured to match as well.

I build my card base by folding a 12"x4” piece of yellow cardstock in half. I slightly trim the edges of the raindrops paper and adhere it to the front of the card so there’s still a border of yellow showing around all of the edges. As is my standard technique, I also then use my sewing machine to stitch this paper in place.

I’ve printed off a rainbow and the phrase “sending you rainbows” onto white cardstock, allowing enough space around the rainbow to cut it out using a circle die. I’ve also used the cloud die out of the stamp and die set to cut out two white, felt clouds. I decide not to use these later, and I replace them with clouds I cut out of blue polka dot paper from the May 4x6” paper pad.

Using those same nested circle dies, I also cut out a clear plastic circle out of recycled plastic packaging the same size as the rainbow circle. I cut another circle out of white cardstock using the same size again, but after I cut it out, I run it through my diecut machine again with a smaller size circle placed just inside it so that I’m left with only the outside border of a circle.

Using a strong liquid glue, I stick the clear plastic solid circle to the back of the white cardstock circle and set it aside to dry.

I trim out my sentiment, and even get a bit ‘fancy’ by cutting one end of it into a flag shape.

This step is probably the most crucial of them all if you want to create a successful shaker card. This is the step that ensures none of the sequins fall out at the end! The trick is to get a layer of double-sided foam tape all around the perimeter of your circle without leaving any gaps. A good technique to make this easier is to cut long thin strips of foam tape and then cut notches into it (but not all the way across it) from the side at regular intervals. This will help you shape the foam tape around the bend of the circle so that none of it is showing on the other side.

Now it’s time to start assembling the card! I’ve stuck that white circle with the rainbow on it down onto the front of the card. Then I’ve scattered the sequins on top of this circle and made sure they’re all in the middle, and not piled too high.

Next, peel off all the backing on the foam tape that’s on the back of the plastic circle and stick that down as a covering over the top of the sequins. Make sure to line up the edges of all the circles so they stack up precisely on top of one another. Press it down firmly so there are no gaps for any sequins to escape!

The last step is just about adding the finishing touches. I glue on the blue clouds I cut out earlier as well as the sentiment I trimmed out. Now it’s all done! Go ahead and give it a good shake to test it out!
There are so many possibilities with this technique. I hope you’ll be inspired to give it a go!