Three Cards, Sames Dies and Sketch

I borrowed the Sending a Big Hug Semi Circle Tonic Studio die set from a friend and had so much fun playing with it this week, I made three cards! I found this card from the Tonic Studios blog in England and CASED it - it was just too pretty not to just go with the same format. I searched my room for two sided cardstock and came up with a couple pieces to start. I cut this card 6 x 9 inches and scored at the 3 inch line. Then I simply cut the die pieces in dark brown and attached. This is what the inside of this card looks like:

The left side flap opens to reveal a place where a message could be written inside the beautiful semi-circle frame. I cut a half circle with a Spellbinders die which does not exactly fit (so I changed it up below.) I also made a card with some Stampin' Up two sided cardstock I had in my stash:

Same concept- the left flap opens to reveal a semi-circle to write a message on. I cut the last two cards I made just an 1/8 inch smaller on both sides, so they slide easily into a 6 x 6 square envelope.
Here is my favorite of the three cards I made:

I decided the card was just so pretty I had to share it with my January classes and I found this Graphic 45 paper with enough sheets to cut for them too. I created this one the same way as above and this time I added some beautiful Sugared Almond Crystal Drops from Tonic to all the ends of the swirls. This "pearl-like" product is so easy to work with and does not dry the curly tops many similar products do. Here is what the inside looks like:

I decided to cut just the outside of one of the semi-circle dies in this set for a personal message to be written on. I like how this one turned out better and I think my classes are going to love this card!

The Sending a Big Hug Semi Die Set is available here on the Tonic Gold US website and the Crystal Drops are available here.  And for more great Tonic Studio ideas, visit my Tonic Pinterest board here for inspiration.

I am entering the third card in the Anything Goes challenges at Simply Papercraft and Polkadoodles.