A friend was being honored with a special party to celebrate her 75th birthday.  I immediately thought the easel card would be great because she could look at it from a distance after the party.  I am especially fond of birthday cards that celebrate the number of years with large numbers, so I envisioned 75 standing up on the front, with the background cut away.  I didn’t find a template to use, so I used the KNK Studio software to design exactly what I was envisioning.

The number “75” is used in the steps that follow, but these same steps will apply to any design that you want to eliminate the background from on the front of an easel card.  The following picture outlines the relationships between the pieces of a standard easel card and how I applied them to my design.
 
An easel card can be any size. This one is 6″ square when folded and inserted into the envelope.  In the above diagram the purple portions are the card base with score lines shown in black. Traditionally, the front of the card is the same size as the base, glues to the portion marked with red arrow, and extends above the base folds.

Steps 1 through 4 below illustrate the process of determining the shape of the front of the card base.  “75” was laid on top of the card base and traced around, giving rounded corners on the two front edges.  The shape could be any shape you desire.  I used the shape of the rounded portion of the 5 for continuity when the card is closed.

Steps 5 through 9 below illustrate how the cut away background was achieved.  In Step 5, the “75” was laid on the card base for a visual of what the cutaway would look like.  In Step 6, the “75” is mirrored vertically on the base, outlining the portion to be cut away within the base section that will support the “75” when glued in place.  In Step 7 the base with the cutaway is complete.  Step 8 has the cutaway portion folded toward the front of the card.  Step 9 has the “75” glued to the cutaway portion of the base.

This picture is the back side of the card with the “75” sticking above the card.  The base was cut from a sold purple piece of cardstock, using MTC software on my 15″ Maxx Air.  The  purple floral paper was cut to the shape of the center 3 x 6″ section on the back as an additional design feature.

In the additional views of the card, the floral print paper was cut to the inside shape for a pleasing visual showing through behind the “75” creating depth to the card.

The message plate, with a message cut from vinyl,  also serves as a stop, holding the “75” in an upright position when the card is open. The picture below is the finished card, folded and ready to mail.