Flowers & Butterflies

What could be better this time of year than flowers & butterflies?  This month The Craft Shack offered a technique class for partial die cutting.  This is something I have always wanted to learn & saw a couple of videos by Jennifer McGuire so the class was planned around them.  In class, everyone receives written instructions & makes a sample to put on a 6X6 technique card plus they make a card following the technique. Although the concept is the same for both techniques there are slight differences.

This card has one layer so I used a heavy white card stock cut 8 1/4 X 4 1/4 with a finished size of approx. 5 X 4 1/4.  Following Jennifer McGuire's technique On-the-Edge Die Cutting, the flowers are stamped from Sweet 'n Sassy's Flowers in Bloom Stamp Set in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink using a Misti.  I then partially cut the top flower using the coordinating die set.   The stems were short so I used a marker to draw lines to the bottom of the card then colored everything using Tombow Markers.  I accented the brown flower centers with Gold Wink of Stella. The jar & sentiment are from a Papertrey Ink stamp set called Friendship Jar.  I added 1/4" strips of paper from Sizzix Little Sizzles Watercolors paper pack on each side & put Glossy Accents on the jar.  After the glossy accents dries I would recommend lining the inside with another piece of card stock if it warps. 

The second card is also one layer of heavy white card stock cut 8 1/2 X 5 1/2 then scored at 4 1/4. Following Jennifer McGuire's Off-the-Edge Die Cutting & Zig Zag Fold technique, the butterflies are stamped from Sweet 'n Sassy's New Beginnings Stamp Set in Memento Tuxedo Black Ink using a Misti. I then partially die cut the right side of the butterflies using the coordinating die set.  The butterflies were colored using Tombow Markers & I added a little shimmer with clear Wink of Stella. The thin washi tape on teach side is from LittleB & sequin was added using multi-medium matte & a pick-up tool.  The sentiments are from Everyday Miracles by Sweet 'n Sassy.

The only tip I have is once you position the card stock in your die cutting machine, use a little repositionable tape to hold the card stock in place.

Fun cards to make...hope you give it a try.  TFL!!

Music Man - Tim Holtz's 12 Tags of 2016 Technique Remix - May

May is flying by & it's time for my version of Tim Holtz's 12 tags of 2016 for May for class at The Craft Shack. I usually do the tag & then show a group how to do his techniques. Lisa at TCS has her own stash of Tim Holtz embellishments so we usually raid it. As the months go by, everyone is getting more comfortable & creative so they're going in their own direction while still following Tim's techniques. A few of the girls don't have blogs so look for their tags on The Craft Shack's facebook page. For May, Tim's remix was Tissue Tape Resist from August 2014 and Tattered Florals from May 2015.

I used a Ranger #10 tag which are a little larger than the size Tim uses.


I wasn't sure which stamps I wanted to use but as I was going through them I decided on the saxophone from Carved Instrament because my grandson plays the sax.

For the first technique, tissue tape resist, I placed the music tissue tape from Symphony on the tag & stamped the saxophone in Ranger Black Archival Ink.  The heart from Rockstar is stamped in the same ink over tissue tape from Sketchbook. I also used stamps from Urban Chic & in the archival Ink.

I then used modeling paste with 3 different layering stencils, Numbered, Speckled & Arrows & let it dry.

My grandson's favorite colors are bright blue & bright green so I went with Mermaid Lagoon & Twisted Citron. Of course I had to add a splash of Abandoned Coral. Once I dabbed the color on I sprayed it with a little water & blotted slightly with a paper towel. Notice how the tissue tape didn't absorb the ink & the Archival Ink didn't fade or smear because it's water proof! Once it was dry, I sprayed it with tarnished brass mica spray. I also used a distresser on the edges then inked it in frayed burlap.

The 2nd technique was making flowers with the Tattered Floral Dies. I die cut 3 roses & several leaves cut from Idea-olgy Yuletide 8x8 Paper. I then used Mermaid Lagoon on the roses & Twisted Citron on the leaves. They're hot glued to the tag.

I took a piece of burlap & tied it in the middle with a piece that had frayed off. then added using a loop pin . The mirror star was inked with mushroom alcohol ink. I decided to add a little more brass mica spray & I really like how it looks on the star (see previous photo).

The crinkle ribbon was inked with the Mermaid Lagoon & Twisted Citron then I tied a loose knot half way down.


TFL!

Grandmother's Flower Garden Surprise Pop-up ATC

I designed this ATC for The Craft Shack's monthly ATC Club.  A couple of the girls had seen another surprise pop-up ATC I had done several years ago, Scary Halloween & wanted to do the technique so I decided to do it in May before everyone got busy with summer activities.  I had originally found instructions for a Surprise Pop-Up Card  on Splitcoaststampers in their tutorials & I watched Beate's video tutorial at the bottom.  I was going to size it down for an ATC but discovered in the comment section Cyndi Evans had already written them but I did make a few changes which are listed below.

When the ATC is closed & laying flat it doesn't look like anything special but...















Once you pull the twine you see a surprise message!














From the side you can see how it works a little better.












Here are the measurements I used:

• Base CS – 3 1/2" X 2 1/2"

• Slider base CS - 3 3/8" X 2 3/8"

• DSP – 3 1/4 " X 2 1/4"

• White (for message) CS  - 3" X 2"

• White slider CS– 3" X 2" (I used heavier weight CS)

• Stabilizer - 6" X 1/4" copier paper

You'll also need a paper trimmer with scoring blade, adhesive runner, 1/8" double sided tape, 3/8" circle punch, an eyelet eyelet, Crop-a-dile, corner rounder, twine or ribbon, stamps, ink and embellishments of your choice.  The Sweet 'n Sassy stamps I used are listed at the end.

I would recommend watching Beate's video (link above) for the complete instructions on how to put it together but below are a few things that worked best for me when I made the ATC size:

1.  I used a lot of mono adhesive when I put the DSP on the slider base because of cutting it.

2.  When I made my cuts, I cut with the DSP up for smoother edges. I also gently ran my blade up & down a few times before picking the blade up since it's a little thick.
3.  The vertical cuts on the slider base started 3/8"' from the slider base top (before putting on the main base) & in 1/4" on each side.  I cut down  2 3/4".  (See photo below right)

4.  I used the score blade on my trimmer since it's thick.  I had problems staying in the groove when I tried using my score board.  My glue tab is 1/4" wide.

5.   Before I punched the half circle, I adhered the stabilizer as close to the score line as I could. When punching make sure you don't punch all the way through the stabilizer (see photo below left).

6.  Your cuts may not be precise so I would make sure the slider is the right length before adhering to the 1/4" glue tab.  It should cover the glue tab & not be able to be seen at the top when not pulled up.

7.  I stamped the surprise message before adhering anything.  Then I laid it on the base & held the slider base over it before adhering to make sure the message showed where I wanted it..  I had to trim the message piece a little.
8.  In the video Beats tells you not to put embellishments on the glue tab.  I did only because the piece of grass CS was a little flexible. 

I hope you give this a try & if the first one doesn't work don't give up!  As you can see from the one pictured above, I made a few prototypes before I was happy!  TFL!!

Supplies:  SU Certainly Celery CS, Whisper White CS, Springtime Vintage DSP, copy paper, Fiskars Paper Trimmer, Scrapbook EZ Runner Adhesive, 1/8" Scor Tape, Tombow Glue Pen, We R Memory Keepers Crop-a-dile Hole Punch & Eyelet Setter, Lawn Fawn Grassy Border Die, Memory Box Wrought Iron Fence, Sweet 'n Sassy Flowers in Bloom Stamp Set, Sweet 'n Sassy Flowers in Bloom Die, Sweet 'n Sassy Everyday Miracles Stamp Set (sentiment), Copics (R81, R85, YG61, YG63, B21, B32, B34, E27), Clear Wink of Stella Brush (butterfly), Gold Wink of Stella Brush (flower centers), Versafine Onyx Black Ink, Memento Tuxedo Black Ink

With Sympathy

I attended a recent event & was in 3 swaps.  This is my card for the sympathy swap & since I needed to make 20 I wanted something easy.  I was inspired by a card I had seen on Pinterest done by lostinpaper.

I used a very pretty background stamp called Leafy Vine by Hero Art & stamped it in Tim Holtz's bundled sage Distress Ink.  It was so easy to mass produce these cards using my Mini Misti!!  Just position once & stamp away.  The best part is if you don't get a good image the 1st time you can re-ink & stamp in the exact same place again!!



I stamped the sentiment from the"With Sympathy" set by JustRite in VersaFine Black Onyx.  VersaFine is my favorite ink because it is so crisp.





Then I centered 2 sizes of Spellbinders Large Rectangle Dies dies & held them in place using removable masking tape & ran them through my Big Shot.

Using Tombow Liquid Glue I placed the OUTER frame on the SU Wild Wasabi CS.  The liquid glue gives you a little time to shift it around if necessary.  Then WITHOUT adhering, I laid the next frame on the card stock.  Next I adhered the solid center using the liquid glue again.




I took the center frame out & put 1/2" foam tape on the back..









I peeled the tape off & put it back in place.  I love the dimension & the pattern stays in tact!









The butterfly is stamped in SU Wisteria Wonder Ink using a stamp from SU Papillon Potpourri then punched from the SU Bitty Butterfly Punch   I used a Micro Glue Dot to adhered it & added a small white pearl.


Easy card but doesn't look it!  TFL!