Hot Tip Tuesday

I recently found myself in the position of having the perfect coloured card stock, but without a pattern it looked too plain. I thought of adding some embossing or a splash of ink, but instead, I grabbed a pen and began drawing vertical lines spaced about 1/4" apart. I wasn't after perfectly straight lines, so I didn't bother with a ruler, instead using the marks on a cutting mat to give me a rough guide. Once my first set of lines was in place, I turned the card stock 90 degrees and repeated the process.

Tutorial - Shadow Box Card

With layers of scenery to create depth and dimension, this fold might just be the ultimate in 3D card making. The clever design will even allow the card to collapse to fit into an envelope for posting!

1. To create the base of the card you'll need two 6" squares of card stock, plus one 41/2" x 3/4" and one 41/2" x 1/2" strips of card stock.

2. Place one of the 6" squares of card stock on your score board and score 1" from either side. Repeat with the second 6" square of card stock and fold along the score lines.

3. Cut a window from the middle of one of the 6" squares of card stock. Although the size is up to you, my window measures 3/4" from the top and bottom and 1/2" from either side. If preferred, you could use a cutting die for this step.

4. Add a 6" x 4" piece of patterned or decorated paper between the score lines of the second 6" square of card stock. This will form the background of your scene. (A few of you might remember the aurora background I created a couple of days ago using distress inks and a blending tool... I'm attaching it to the background of my card for a pretty night scene.)

5. Place one of the 41/2" strips horizontally on your score board and score 1/4" from either end. Repeat with the second strip. Fold along the score lines.

6. These two strips will become the structures for holding some of the elements of the card to give the 3D effect. I want mine to look a little like small hills so I'm shaping them gently with a pair of small scissors. Since the strips will be positioned behind the card stock window, there's really no need to cut them any smaller unless you wish to make them part of the design.

7. Add some glue or double sided tape to the tab on the left hand side of the wider strip of card stock.

8. Attach the strip of card stock to the left of the score line, keeping the bottom edge flush with the bottom edge of the card. Before the glue has a chance to dry completely, fold the strip back over the card to make sure everything is lined up.

9. Apply glue to the narrower strip of card stock in the same manner. Position it just to the left of the first strip, again making sure that the edges are flush.

10. Add glue or double sided tape to the tabs on the right hand side of both card stock strips, then fold the card base to the left to secure them in place.

11. You should now have two strips of card stock on which to add your decorative elements. I've fussy cut one of the images from the new A Drover's Life digital set as well as some hand cut cactus plants and a rough stone outcrop. For lots of depth, remember to add smaller elements to the background as though they are off in the distance.

12. Add the smallest elements directly onto the background with glue or tape, then build up the scene by adding larger elements to each of the card stock strips. I used some glue at the base of my cactus plants and on the hoofs of the horse.

13. To frame the scene, I added some large cactus plants on either side of my window. 

14. To complete the card, add glue on the inside of the two outer panels of the card front. Adhere the card front to the outside of the two outer panels of the card base, overlapping the 1" sections.

I hope you'll give this fabulous card fold a go, it's really not too difficult to achieve. Have fun!

Stamps:

Colouring the Aurora

Silhouette stamps are perfect for crafters who love to create backgrounds. The solid figures, usually printed or stamped in black, are a beautiful contrast against a bright star-filled sky, a riot of colourful blossoms, or whatever background captures your imagination. Today I want to share a technique for creating an aurora using water-based inks and a blending brush.

I'm going to start by working the colour from the bottom to the top, which means I'll need to turn my cardstock 180 degrees to make it easier to add the colour. (Please forgive my messy scrap paper... I hope it's not too distracting as we progress through the tutorial.)

I'm dragging light blue ink (Tumbled Glass) from the edge of the cardstock to the top. For this effect, we don't want to over-blend too much... we're after a streaky look.

I'm adding a darker blue (Broken China) over the light blue in several places, again dragging from the edge of the cardstock to the top.

Now spin the cardstock all the way around and work from the top down. You want to add ink right across the top of the cardstock, taking care not to cover all the lighter blue at the bottom.

I'm introducing a touch of green now with a darker ink (Evergreen Bough). I'll deepen the darker blue, keeping most of the pigment at the top of the cardstock.

My final colour is a dark blue (Faded Jeans), which will be even darker when it's applied over the previous layers. Keep most of the colour at the top of the cardstock so it looks like the aurora is rising up from the ground or horizon line.

The last step is to add some stars with a white gel pen. You could flick white paint if you prefer, but I tend to go a little overboard with my flicking and end up with a definite paint spatter... hence the gel pen!

My background is ready to use.

Check back in a couple of days to see where it ends up.

Stamps:

Carla's Western Adventure

Are you ready to ride out on a grand adventure with Carla?

She has created three fabulous cards full of excitement, glorious scenery and all the trappings every rider needs for long days and nights spent on the trail. Her first two cards feature lots of additional stamping and various colouring mediums to achieve wonderful backgrounds for the silhouette images. The last card includes western-themed die cuts, papers and embellishments for a coordinated design.

For more of Carla's fabulous work, click the link below:

Carla's Blog