Burn A Few Grey Cells New Year’s Card

2018 will be here sooner than you think and Lorraine Masonheimer has created a card that is sure to be a hit. We're posting this craft a little early so you have time to get your supplies together. 

CONCEPT: The last card of the year pays homage to Agatha Christie’s internationally renowned Detective Hercule Poirot. The design features a festive party-like background, effervescent bubbles and all. The martini glass sports Poirot’s famous moustache and his walking cane—topped with his hat—skewers an olive. Remaining true to Poirot’s eccentricities the glass might hold tisane, a drink he attributes to the acuity of his “little grey cells” bringing us to the light-hearted play on words to burn a few this New Year.

Supplies:

8½” x 11” cream cardstock

Color coordinated papers (one festive pattern, the solid colors—one metallic, one light and one dark solid)

6” x 6” envelope

Martini glass and olive stamp

Charcoal ink pad

Glue dots

Pop-up dots

Gelly Roll sparkle pen (optional)

Scissors

X-acto blade

Step One: Card Base

Cut an 8½” x 11” cardstock to 5½” x 11” and fold in half for a 5½” x 5½” card base. Cut the metallic paper to 5½” x 5½” and the festive paper to 5¼” x 5¼”. Glue the metallic paper to the card base and the festive paper to the metallic paper.

Step Two: Stamp, Draw & Cut

Stamp a martini glass and olive onto a piece of light solid paper using a charcoal ink pad, draw freehand or use the template in step three. Cut out and set aside. Draw and cut out Poirot’s moustache from the dark solid paper. Depending upon the patterned paper chosen, use scraps to draw and cut out the hat, cane skewer and olive. Otherwise, use solid colored paper and draw in details.

Step Three:  Template, Size & Cut

To use the template, place your cursor over the photo, right click, scroll to ‘Save Image As’ and place it onto your computer desktop. Open a word document, create a textbox, insert the images to size, print and cut. The glass is approximately 2¾” wide and 3¾” tall, the olive is ½” long and a little over ¼” wide, the moustache 2¼” long and about ¾” wide and the hat is ½” wide and ½” tall.  Trace the images onto the papers outlines in step two and cut out. Draw in the hat’s band and olive pit.

Step Four: Text, Assemble & Embellish

To create the sentiment, open a word document and type “Go ahead…” on one line, “Burn a few” on a second line and “Little Grey Cells” on the third line. This example uses Comic Sans at 16 points. Cut the words into three separate lines as shown. If desired, use the Gelly Roll pen to add sparkle to the hat band and the olive. Cut a piece of metallic paper to adhere to the tip of the cane. Place pop-up dots onto the back of the hat, the olive and the moustache and assemble as shown. If desired, sign ‘Poirot’ in your handwriting as if he autographed it himself.

Step Five: Interior and Envelope

Using the computer, create a text box about 4” x 4” and type a toast “May the holiday spirits lead to an adventurous New Year!” The example shown uses the type face Comic Sans at 16 pts centered. Print and cut the sentiment into a 4” square. Adhere the sentiment to the card as shown. Use scraps and elements of a cocktail (citrus segment or olive) to enhance the interior and envelope. That’s the last card of the year so go out and burn a few! Moustache optional!

Note: Postage is extra.