Elegant Bird Card (March Class Project)

You know, I get crazy about all the birds flying around on cards and scrapbook pages and journals . . . I just don't like 'em!!!!  That is, until I saw a card by Lisa Young.  I loved the flower and just had to try it myself!  So this was the third card for our March classes.  Of course, I made just a few tweaks to her card to fit my tastes a little better

The card itself is Pool Party card stock (8-1/2" x 5-1/2"); a 5-1/4" x 4" piece of Soft Suede is layered on top, then a 3-7/8" x 5-1/8" piece of Naturals White card stock was embossed with the Elegant Bouquet embossing folder and layered over the Soft Suede.  The bird body & wing were cut with the Elegant Bird Bigz Die from Attique Boutique Designer Series Paper (both are available only through the end of April from the 2012 Occasions Mini Catalog); the wing was run through the Crimper to give it a little texture.  The same DSP was used to cut the leaves with the Little Leaves Sizzlits Die.  Three flowers were cut from Pool Party card stock with the Fun Flowers Bigz Die.  I inked up the Music Notes Stampin' Around Wheel with Soft Suede Classic Ink to make the banner on a 1-1/4" wide strip of Very Vanilla card stock; used a square punch to cut the "V" at the end of the banner.  The Tiny Tags at the bottom were stamped with Soft Suede Classic Ink on Very Vanilla card stock and then punched out with the Jewelry Tag Punch.

Now . . . to the assembly -- before putting anything together, I used a Stampin' Sponge to distress the edges of pretty much everything except the Soft Suede layer of card stock and the Little Leaves.  Then I followed this sequence:

1. Adhere the embossed and distressed Naturals White card stock to the Soft Suede card stock.
2. Adhere the music banner as shown over the Naturals White card stock.
3. Adhere the Little Leaves as shown over the music Banner.
3. Adhere the bird body over the banner and leaves; scrunch up the wing and adhere it over the bird body.
4. Cut a length of Very Vanilla Seam Binding Ribbon and wrap it around your fingers twice, leaving ends at least as long as the loops.  Tie a piece of Linen Thread around the center of the loops to create the bow.  Adhere over the bird.
5. Line up the three flowers and use the Paper Piercing Tool to punch a hole in the center; attach a Vintage brad through all three layers, and then drop the  flowers into a bowl of water (or put the flower on some paper towels and spritz them with water until they're very damp).  Pull the flower out of the water and scrunch the petals toward the center of the flower, one layer at a time.  When the flower looks like you want it to, set it on a per towel to try and harden.  When dry, spritz with a Soft Suede Stampin' Write Marker and the Spritzer Tool.  Adhere to front of card over bow (I used a puddle of Tombow Multi-purpose Liquid Glue to attach the flower).
6. Tuck the two tags up under the flower and adhere to the card with Mini Glue Dots.

That's it . . . a very elegant spring card!

Cath  ;D


 

Tissue Flower Box (March Class Project)

Isn't this just the coolest flower to decorate a gift box?  And so easy to make!  Just cut 15 circles or flowers from tissue paper (I used the larger of the two scallop circles on the Scallop Circles #2 Bigz Die).  Use the same type of tissue paper you would use to fluff up a gift bag.  Insert a fairly large brad into the center through all layers, and then start scrunching the layers toward the center of the flower one layer at a time.  (Important Note: don't scrunch down -- just in . . . toward the center; otherwise you'll crush the middle and top of the flower.)  Once you've scrunched all the layers toward the center, start pulling them all back out -- one layer at a time.  When all of the layers are fluffed out, you'll have this gorgeous flower!

To make the box, refer to my Simple Box Instructions.  For this 4" x 4" x 4" box I used one 12" x 12" sheet of card stock scored at 4" from each edge; for the lid I used 1/4 sheet of 12" x 12" Designer Series Paper (6" x 6"), scored at 15/16" from each edge.  This makes a lid that's slightly larger than the box so it fits snugly onto the top.

To attach the flower, close the brad prongs at the bottom of the flower and insert them into the center of the box top (to find the center, draw an "X" from corner to corner on the inside of the lid); open the prongs on the inside of the box.  Wrap Seam Binding Ribbon around the brad between the lid and the flower and tie a loose bow.  The tag was made with the Lots of Tags Sizzlits Die and stamped with the "Thanks" image from the Rue Des Fleurs stamp set (2012 Occasions Mini Catalog, available through April 30, 2012).

This is a great way to use up your old 12" x 12" card stock and DSP.

Enjoy!

Cath  ;D

Folded DSP Card (March Class Project)

Here's another great way to use up old Designer Series Paper ("DSP").  This card was made from one 12" x 12" sheet of DSP cut down to 8-1/2" x 11". 

Follow the diagram below to score and cut the paper.  Fold the corners to the inside on the score lines, and then fold the paper to create the card, beginning with panel 1 and ending with panel 4 (click on image for a closer view).

The trim was made from the remaining 3-1/2" strip of DSP using the Scallop Trim Edge Punch; the rosette was also made from the extra DSP using the Designer Rosette Bigz XL Die ). Click here to view instructions for making a rosette. For this small rosette, I cut the shape in half length-wise, and add a scoreline half-way between each of the scorelines from the die.

The flower on top of the rosette was made from the Doily Triple-Layer Punch. A Designer Button topped the rosette, and then it was tied together with a piece of Linen Thread, and glued on top of the rosette.

For a special touch, use another piece of DSP to make a matching envelope.  This is where the new Simply Scored Diagonal Plate comes in handy.  Watch this video for information about this fun new Stampin' Up! tool, including instructions for making envelopes. 

Cath  ;D