Hiya everyone!
This is one of the cards that I
designed for my card class last weekend. It's a fall/Thankgiving shaker card. I
made 2 different versions: one with seed beads as the shaker & one with
chunky orange glitter. (see photo below) I got the idea for this card based off
of a card I saw on Pinterest. I changed it up quite a lot though with
different paper colors, an embossed background, and the addition of
the patterned paper & the "So Grateful For You" sentiment. The
inside is completely my own. (see photo below)
As often as possible, I try t0
make my class cards a little more universal in that they don't have to be
use for the occasion they were originally designed. Sometimes I try to
make them so that my card ladies can change the
card into whatever occasion they desire, and my co-instructor and I
always make sure to have extra stamp sets (especially those with sentiments)
and other supplies on hand so that they can easily do so. We always encourage
our ladies to let their creativity flow and change up the cards however
they'd like. So with this card, I made it so that it can be used
for Thanksgiving, or as a thank you card, or, by changing the
sentiments, a birthday card, or whatever.
Maple
Leaf Fall/Thanksgiving Window Shaker
Card
by Dawn U.K. – Oct. 2017
Techniques
Explored:
1) Watercoloring
with ink pads & a brush
2) Stamping
with markers
3) Making a
shaker card
Cardstock
& Paper:
² Very
Vanilla:
o 5½” x 8½”,
scored at 4¼”
o 3¾” x 5”
² Wild
Wasabi:
o 4¼” x 5½”
o 4” x 5¼”
² Delightful
Dijon: 4”
x 4”
² Whisper
White thick cardstock: 4¼” x 4¼”
² Fall
Patterned Paper: 2” x 5½”
² White
Foam: 4” x 4”
² Clear
Acetate: 4” x 4”
Ink
Pads:
² Black
StazOn
² Wild
Wasabi
² Soft Sky
Stamps:
² Seasonally
Scattered (S.U.-retired)
² Happy
Scenes (S.U.-retired)
² Light-hearted
Leaves (S.U.-retired)
Cutting
Dies:
² Leaflets
Framelits (S.U.)
² 3¾” Circle
(Sizzix)
Embossing
Folders:
² Foliage
(Darice)
Other
Supplies:
² Ugly washi
tape
² #3 paint
brush
² Container
for water
² 2014-2016
In Color Markers: Tangelo Twist, Hello Honey, Mossy Meadow (S.U.-retired)
² Seed beads
or small chunky glitter in orange, dark yellow, &/or green
² Swiffer
sheet
² Big Shot
² Adhesive
Remover Square
² Silicone
Craft Sheet
² Snail
Adhesive
² Tombow
Liquid Glue
² Stampin’
Pierce Mat
² Paper
Snips
² Stampin’
Trimmer
² Bone
Folder
² Clear
Blocks
Instructions:
1)
Take the 4¼” x 4¼” heavy white cardstock piece & stamp the
fall scene (from Happy Scenes) in the center using StazOn Black ink pad. To get
the best results, use a stamping mat, & stamp while standing up to get
the most even pressure. Hold the stamp in place for about 10 seconds to
allow the ink some time to absorb into the paper. The stamp will probably be
stuck to the paper, so peel it off carefully.
2)
Let the ink dry for a minute, then watercolor the sky &
grass by using a paintbrush, a little water, & an ink pad to color the
image. Here’s how: The image is stamped in StazOn, a solvent ink, which
does not bleed when wet. The coloring is done with dye inks, which do interact
with water, but not with the StazOn. To do the sky, take the Soft Sky ink pad
&, while closed, squeeze it together with your hands. Now open the ink pad;
some of the ink should be pooled on the inside cover of the pad. If not, then
close it again & squeeze harder this time! J (If it still doesn't work,
you may need to re-ink your ink pad.) Take a small paintbrush (a #2, 3, or 4),
dip it into the water, tap it off on the edge of the container to knock off
excess water drops (you do not want your brush dripping wet), & then dip
the tip of the brush into the
edge of the pooled ink. Swirl the brush tip
around to get some of the watered-down ink onto the brush, & then, with
broad strokes, quickly brush over the sky area of the image all the way to the
top of the paper. Try not to color over the same areas too many times; you do
not want to get the paper too wet or it will begin to pill & possibly tear.
Once the sky is done, watercolor the grass with Wild Wasabi ink all the way to
the bottom of the paper using the same technique.
3)
Either wait for your paper to dry, or hit it with a heat gun for a
bit. It is normal for the paper to curl or buckle a little as it dries, but
this won't be a problem. Once your paper has dried, color
in the leaves & pumpkins with markers as desired.
4)
For the die-cutting, take the 4” x 4” piece of Delightful Dijon
& the 4” x 4” foam piece & cut a 3¾” circle & a large maple leaf
(from Leaflets Framelits) out of them. You can cut through both sheets with
both dies at the same time. Use some ugly washi tape to hold the dies in place
while running them through the machine.
5)
Die cut a 3¾” circle from the piece of acetate. You have to cut
the acetate by itself; the die will not cut through multiple layers when one of
them is acetate. Again, use the ugly washi to hold the die in place.
6)
Decide which way you want your leaf cutout to go by placing it
over the stamped scene. Once you’ve decided, put down the non-stick mat, &
place the foam circle/leaf window on it so that it lies face-down on the table.
Cover it entirely with tape runner all the way to the edges, especially around
the leaf opening, but try not to get any adhesive on the inside of the leaf
opening. Use the adhesive remover square to pick up any stray adhesive. Do not
use glue as glue will only absorb into the foam & end up not sticking to
anything. Then position the leaf window over the scene image & press it
down firmly all over, especially around the leaf opening. Trim off any excess
paper around the foam circle.
7)
Again, cover the entire piece of foam with tape runner
adhesive. Be careful not to get any adhesive inside the leaf cutout. Be sure to
get adhesive all around the edges of the leaf so your shaker contents won’t
leak out.
8)
Decide what you want to put inside the leaf for your
shaker. Seed beads or small, chunky glitter both work perfectly. Now
place several pinches of whatever you have chosen into the center of the leaf,
maybe about a half teaspoon worth or so.
9)
Take your acetate circle & wipe both sides of it with a dry
Swiffer pad to release some of its static electricity, then carefully place it
on top of the shaker. Press it on firmly, especially around the leaf edges
& rub over all of the adhesive areas to make sure there is a strong hold.
Trim off any over-hanging edges.
10) Test
your shaker. I know you want to. J Unless you are perfect (which no
one is), it is normal for some of the beads or glitter to stick to the edges of
the leaf due to some stray adhesive.
11) Stamp
the “So Grateful for You” sentiment on the front of the Dijon circle with the
leaf cutout. To do this, place the sentiment on an acrylic block so that it is
curved, then hold it over the Dijon circle to see where& how much adjusting
is needed to bend the stamp to match it to the shape of the circle.
Continue to adjust it until the curve of the stamp roughly matches the curve of
the circle. If the stamp doesn’t want to shape or stick to the block, the back
of the stamp (and/or the stamp block) just needs to be washed. Color the
stamp with marker ink (dye ink only!) I used Mossy Meadow on the word
“grateful” & Tangerine Tango on the rest. Be sure to huff on the stamp
first to remoisten the ink before stamping on the paper.
12) Put
tape runner all over the back of the Dijon circle with the leaf cutout. Be sure
to get all the edges around the leaf covered. Remember to use the adhesive
remover square to pick up any stray adhesive.
13) Carefully
place the Dijon circle onto the shaker, making sure to line up the leaf cutout
in the foam with the leaf cutout of the paper as best as you can. Press & rub
the paper all over. Trim off any excess edges hanging out.
14) For
the card inside: take the 3¾” x 5” piece of Vanilla cardstock & stamp the
word “Thanks” on it (from the Seasonally Scattered stamp set). Use the Tangelo
Twist, Hello Honey, & Mossy Meadow markers to randomly color the entire
stamp. When coloring a stamp, always go from the lightest color to the darkest
so that dark ink doesn’t end up on the tip of the light marker. Just do random
scribbles of color here & there, making sure the entire stamp is covered
with ink, then huff on the stamp before stamping.
15) Take
the 4” x 5¼” piece of Wild Wasabi & attach it to the card inside.
16) Emboss
the leftover Dijon leaf & the 4¼” x 5½” piece of Wild Wasabi using the
Foliage embossing folder.
17) Attach
the Dijon leaf to the leftover foam leaf. Remember: no glue on foam. Use tape
runner.
18) Attach
the leaf to the “thanks” piece crookedly so that some of the leaf hangs off the
left edge of the paper & then trim off the overhang. Attach the
Vanilla “thanks” piece to the card inside.
19) For
the card front you have your choice of adhesives. Since the Wasabi paper is
embossed & the shaker a little heavy, I prefer to attach everything using
craft glue because I think it has a better hold on uneven (i.e. embossed)
surfaces & has a stronger hold to keep the shaker attached. But you can use
whatever adhesive you prefer.
20) Glue
the Wild Wasabi piece to the card front. Be sure to rub it down &
press on it for 15 seconds or so to give the glue a chance to set. Trim off any
excess.
21) Glue
the strip of patterned paper vertically in the center of the card front, and
them press & trim as before.
22) Glue
the shaker to the center of the card. The glue will give you a few seconds to
mess around with the positioning so you can get it “just so”. Once in place,
press on it for about 30 seconds or so to make sure that it sticks to the
embossed surface.
I hope you will give this card a try. It isn't very complicated;
it just has a lot of steps.
I welcome any and all comments, so
please feel free to let me know what you think of this project. If you made it,
let me know how it turned out. Were my instructions clear and accurate? Was the print they were typed in too small? Did you
enjoy this project? What changes did you make to the design of the
card? I'm really interested in hearing from you!
Until next time, take care & happy crafting!
~Dawn
