It's official, it's the future. I know this DIY card sound technology has been around for awhile, but for a combination of reasons, I haven't explored it until now. But it's possible to add sound to your cards and customize them in ways that only seemed like sorcery growing up. 🙂
Is anyone else with me? Growing up with my tween years in the 80's, I remember when finding a sound card in the store was a BIG deal. Getting a sound card from someone was an equally big deal, because those suckers cost like $8, even in the 80's (and remember, mortgage rates were in the double digits then, so ain't nobody got $8 for a card with sound in it!)
Anyway, I thought it would be #1, too hard, or #2, too expensive, and I'm here to say that it's neither of those things.
I understand the concept of "too expensive" is going to vary, but you hardcore card-makers out there know that you can pile on the premium papers and embellishments and chipboard pieces and bling and make some pretty "expensive" cards, so this is just kind of next-level.
In order to add sound to your card, you need a card sound device (I know, duh). The company that makes these sound devices is called Big Dawgs, and this is a link to the device I used, which is a 10 second sound recording device and is between $3.50-$4.00 as I write this today in 2020.
I think I may have the only husband on the planet who willingly and thoughtfully purchases craft supplies for me (and even researches things that he thinks I might enjoy, like this!) for gifts, and so I got a bunch of these for Christmas. #myawesomehusbandspoilsmewithcraftsupplies (I'm guessing that're REALLY not a hashtag... maybe I'll start one!)
So, when I got the gift, I was really excited...and then intimidation set in.
I mean, it looks a little intimidating, no?
The little red button on the right side by my thumb is your record button. That's kind of universal for little red buttons though, right? The big red buttons brings you Staples supplies and the little red buttons record things. 🙂
You press the little red button, record your message for 10 seconds, and then you hear a beep.
In order to "save" the message, you need to press the button again afterward until you hear TWO BEEPS.
Trust me, it will save you some heartache. I recorded mine THREE TIMES because I kept hitting the little red button and erasing my message!
Much like many of my tutorials, I made a bunch of mistakes since I was trying this for the first time. But I'm always trying to keep it real with you and save you the pain points, so I leave the boo-boos in place so you can see what not to do. 🙂
The device peels away from it's protective backing easily.
And what you want to pay close attention to are these tiny little notches at the top of the clear tab.
There is one at the top and one at the bottom.
THAT IS WHERE YOU LINE UP THE CREASE OF YOUR CARD.
If you screw this up, the whole thing doesn't work...so this is important. It's also super sticky, so go slowly and try to be careful.
I, of course, kind of dropped the heavier part of the device onto the card and had a hard time repositioning it...
So here's where things went really sideways for me. I was feeling pretty good up until this point.
Once you lay down the device and it firmly attaches itself to the card base, you're left with the little red wires attached to the little red button. And you need to figure out where to put it.
If you haven't already recorded your card, then obviously move it somewhere that is convenient for you to press it later and record your message.
On the back of the button is a little adhesive strip...so you can tack it into place somewhere.
If you're me, you HIT the button as you're tacking it down...and you erase your message completely.
It's really easy to hit the button when you need to press it to stick it down to the card!
Clearly I will need to re-record it.... but let's continue.
The left side of the card is easy, you just glue on an inside panel as you would with any other. There is very little of the clear device on that side.
On the right, however, I found it was best to put down a bunch of dimensional adhesive. I tried to just tack the panel down lightly to hide the mechanics, but that really didn't work. You need some relatively thick foam squares.
I can still see the button on the inside, so I marked the top so I knew where to press it to re-record my message!
If a video tutorial is more your speed, I extracted the adding sound to your card portions of this card construction so you can see the mistakes and corrections.
https://youtu.be/g9iGBQiIT5M
Lori Whitlock card file: https://shop.loriwhitlock.com/extreme-pop-up-card-flowers/
Big Dawgs greeting card sound device:
https://bigdawgsgreetings.com/product/greeting-card-sound-module-rec-10-sec/
Cricut Explore Air: https://shrsl.com/2c9ek
Cricut Access: https://shrsl.com/27tq8
Cricut pink and purple patterned paper: https://shrsl.com/2ezns
Cricut cardstock : https://shrsl.com/21uhj
Cat's Eye Chalk Inks: https://amzn.to/2Y4JX8b
Double-sided adhesive and dimensional adhesive squares found here in a variety of sizes: https://shrsl.com/24rsx
Links to favorite glue and Cricut supplies are on my blog resources page here: https://amandatoryactivity.com/papercraft-supplies/
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