• Tag Archives tutorial
  • Big Hug



    I have a special technique to show today. So there are a few more pictures than usual. Sometimes I like to shorten or lengthen a particular die cut to fit  what I’m doing. I used this technique to adjust the length of the cut made with this Victorian Lattice inset die. It’s a handy trick you may find useful!


    For the Inspiration Challenge IC1049 we are visiting Factory Direct & their Pinterest Boards. THIS picture was my inspiration.

    To make my card, I stamped the flowers on part of a background I made ages ago. It was made w/ dye reinkers on semi gloss card. The ink was spritzed on a teflon sheet then the card was applied face down. Here is a before picture showing what it looked like. I used the lighter piece just to the left of the white lattice. I tested different inks on this before I stamped the flowers. Memento did not work. I knew pigment inks would not work since it’s a coated surface. Ancient Page & Archival inks DO work equally well. I just picked the Ancient Page. To make certain it didn’t smear, I also heat set it. As I said, if you don’t have or can’t find Ancient Page, the Archival works equally well.

    For the partial lattice panel, I used an inset die that normally measures 5 3/8″ long. So I made it shorter. Here is how I did that.  I cut the card stock w/ a rectangle stitch die. It measures approximately 4″ x 5.25″. The die would not fit this size, so I measured the repeat of the pattern which is 7/8″, which means I’ll have to shorten the cut by 7/8″, making the total cut length 4.5″ (it normally cuts 5 3/8″ long). I marked the center of my card then used a centering ruler to make a mark 2.25″ on either side of the center mark. I placed one end of the die on the mark of one end. Placed a small top plate over it & cut it about 2/3 of the way. Where the plate doesn’t extend over the die, it won’t cut. 


    This is what it looks like after the first cut.

    Then I turned the cut around, placed the other end on the mark, & made sure it lined up. You can feel when the die “clicks” into the already cut part & see it is in the correct position. Again, I placed the top plate, just over the part I wanted to cut & ran it thru again.

    This is how it looks when finished. Perfect! You can see the shortened cut on the left & a full cut on the right.

    I placed the background behind it & cut it slightly larger than the white lattice topper. The greeting was stamped on the lower right & the stamped & die cut flowers were popped up and added to the left. I cut a small tag out of more of the background & wrapped it around the right side & added a black pearl on top.

    Thanks so
    much for stopping by!

    ( You can go directly to the items by clicking the name under the pictures below.)


    Supplies:

    Stamps: Brass & Bliss:  Fields of Blooms set, Sympathy #2
    Paper:  Staples 110# white, semi gloss white
    Ink: Versaclair nocturne (greeting), Ancient Page coal  (image)
    Accessories:  Brass & Bliss: Fields of Blooms, Stitched Rectangles, Nested Tags, Victorian Lattice Half Panel  dies,   Misti


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  • Spring Arrives



    Are you ready for spring? Even thought it’s been cold, I can see tulips & hyacinths starting to push up through the dirt in the flowerbeds. Won’t be too much longer. In honor of the coming spring I have a very flowery card today colored in using mostly complementary colors. A little unusual but I’m liking how the colors look together. Keep reading for a mini art theory tutorial using these colors.


    It’s my turn to host the Featured Stamper Challenge, FS941. So a big congrats to Patti! She has a wonderful gallery & I chose THIS card to case. I kept the floral theme & layout, but I used different images, dies, colors & made mine a spring card.
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    To make my card, I colored & die cut all the flowers with their coordinating dies. The one flower hanging over the greeting oval is actually part of a larger image (you can see it on the set in the product list at the bottom). I just couldn’t make it work as is, so I trimmed off everything except what you see now. The greeting is from another set, but I liked how fit w/ the card & also fit onto the oval. The scratch sheet below gives you a bit of an idea how I arrived at the colors I used. Before coloring, I almost always stamp onto printer paper & try out my color combos. Even though I have a chart showing all the Copic colors, it helps me tremendously to test them out. Since it’s thin paper, I don’t really blend much, just test enough to see how they work w/ each other. (The colors I used are in the last picture.) I will mention, when using complementary colors (opposites on the color wheel, like purple & yellow), it’s a good rule to not color them over each other, you will end up with mud. You can get away with a little bit, but not much & they won’t blend well unless you want a dirty, muddy color. One thing complementary colors do well is brighten each other & the contrast catches your eye.

    After I had all my flowers, I cut the white panel & a purple one to go behind it. I did the same w/ the greeting then went about putting them all together. I really like how the dot dash rectangle & oval let the color behind show through. The flowers on the side are popped up one more layer.

    Here are the Copics I used:

    Thanks
    so much for stopping by!

    Supplies:  (click the names below the pictures to take you to the products)

    Stamps: Brass & Bliss: Welcome Flower set, Sketch Flower set (greeting)
     Paper:  Staples 110# white, lt purple
    Ink: Versaclair nocturne, Memento tuxedo black
    Accessories:  Brass & Bliss: Dot Dash Rectangles, Dot Dash Ovals, Rectangles, Ovals. Welcome Flower set, Sketch Flower set, Floral Edge Cuts dies,  Misti


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  • Most Wonderful Snowmen



    A Christmas, winter card using the most adorable set of snowmen! Behind the window, is some wonderful lt blue snowflake paper and I’ll show you how i used a regular rectangle to make the long window cut out. It’s a great way to stretch the use of dies you already have.


    A big congrats to Diane, the newest Featured Stamper (FS912)! She has a big, beautiful gallery & I chose THIS card to case. I kept the layout & snowmen but I used different images, dies & papers and cut out a long window behind instead of adding a layer w/ the snowmen on top.

    After coloring & die cutting the snowmen w/ their coordinating dies, I die cut a large white panel w/ the 2nd largest sm. scallop rectangle. Then I used an even smaller sized scallop rectangle & resized it to make it about half again longer. I also die cut 2 of the snowflake borders, put one across the top of the window & one under the bottom edge of the window. After dry fitting my snowmen to determine placement of the greeting, I stamped it in the center. A large lt blue snowflake paper was cut w/ a rectangle w/ sm scallop & holes die to place behind the white panel. Then I attached everything together & popped up the 2 large snowman just a bit before attaching them.

    Here are the step out pictures of how i extended the length of the small rectangle for the window. (click on any picture to make it larger.) Note: my top plate is one meant for a Sizzix Jr. It allows me to cut precise areas. The machine I’m using is a Big Shot & the bottom plate is a normal size.



    Here are the Copics I used:

    Thanks
    so much for stopping by!

    (LinkDeli is being discontinued,  but you can go directly to the  products by clicking the name under the pictures below my supply table.)


    Supplies:

    Stamps: Brass & Bliss:  Snowman Cheer set, Let it Snow
    Paper:  Staples 110# white, distressed grey, bright yellow, Brass & Bliss: Snowflake Fun paper pad
    Ink: Memento tuxedo black
    Accessories:  Brass & Bliss/Rubbernecker Stamps:Snowman Cheerset,  Scallop w/ Holes Rectangle, Sm. Scallop Rectangle, Winter Edger dies,  Crossover II, Copic markers, Misti


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