Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Maple Leaf Fall / Thanksgiving Shaker Card


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

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