Dad's Tool Box

Today's card is a labor of love.  My late husband was an auto mechanic, who had several large tool chests, chock full of the tools of his trade.  When I saw the new "Just for Guys" release from CottageCutz, and particularly the die called "Dad's Tools," I knew I would have to make a card like this one.

If you've followed my blog at all, you know that I love fun-fold cards.  This card is a variation on a side-step card, but with only one step on the side rather than two.  To start the card, I cut a piece of 110# red cardstock 8 1/2" x 5 1/2".  I cut a slit longways down the center (at 2 3/4") from the 3 1/4" mark to the 7 1/2" mark.  Then I scored the left side at 4 1/4" and the right side at 3 1/4", 6 1/2" and 7 1/2".

For the small pieces, I cut cardstock as follows:

Red - 5 1/8" x 5/8", 2 3/8" x 2 7/8", and 2 3/8" x 5/8" (2 pieces)

Silver - 5 1/4" x 3/4", 2 1/8" x 3", and 2" x 2 1/2"

Medium Gray - 2 1/4" x 2 3/4"

On the three small pieces, I drew a horizontal black line at 1/4" and then scored on that same line.

I then adhered Scor-Tape on the sides and bottom of each piece.

The three pieces were then adhered to the silver pieces.  The gray piece was centered on the coordinating silver piece, and the red door piece was vertically scored at 1/4" from the left side and attached over the gray piece, as shown in this photo.  I drew a black line around the gray piece to give a bit more dimension.

These were then glued to the front of my step card.

I drew some lines inside the door to give the effect of the floor and shelf.

I then cut the images from the Dad's Tools die -- in both silver and white, picking out which pieces would be silver and which ones would be colored . . .

. . . and constructed the various tools.

My husband's tool check was on wheels, so using die-cut pieces from both the Classic Car and the Train, Bike and Plane dies, I made some wheels for the bottom of my tool chest.

I added the wheels to the bottom of the front of my card and placed the other die-cut pieces in the drawers and/or cabinet, utilizing one of the unused silver screwdriver handles as a handle on the cabinet door.  Because the wheels were rather small, I decided to reinforce them by cutting a strip of clear acetate packaging about 1" high and long enough to span the space between the wheels.  I added some Scor-Tape to the top and sides.

I adhered the acetate strip between the wheels, stamped an appropriate sentiment on a small piece of silver cardstock and glued it to the front of the cabinet door -- and I was finished.

Here is a photo of the inside of the cabinet.

CottageCutz dies used on this card are: