September 2012 Card Group Projects

It was our 'crafternoon' today, our monthly card group get together.  Only two cards this month as they're a bit time consuming.  The ladies asked if they could make a trees reflection card again and I was happy to oblige as it's such a wow card to make.

To make the trees panel I first stamped the line of trees towards the top of the Whisper White panel, then I stamped the line of trees onto a piece of acetate (using black StazOn ink), flipped the acetate over so it was ink side down, carefully positioned it underneath my first stamped row of trees and then went over the acetate with my brayer using firm pressure.  When you remove the acetate you should see an upside down row of trees with a paler impression which acts as the reflection.  Next I punched two 1" circles to act as masks for the moon.  I put repositionable glue on the back and placed the circles where I wanted my moons to be and then got busy sponging.  I sponged the ground first, applying River Rock and then Always Artichoke inks with sponge daubers - I used long strokes with the dauber rather than patting the dauber down, that way you don't get the circle shapes from the end of the dauber - been there, done that!  I then used sponges to apply the blue inks - Bashful Blue, followed by Not Quite Navy and then Night of Navy, just for the sky, to finish.  I edged the panel with Night of Navy ink applied with a sponge dauber and peeled off the moon masks.  I stamped the sentiment, matted the trees panel to a square of Always Artichoke CS and applied the square to the front of a 5 1/4" square white card.  This card design is versatile, it doesn't have to be a Christmas card, so I took other sentiment stamps so the ladies could choose what they wanted.

Card two was a telescoping snowman card.  These are such fun cards to make and I thought the ladies would love making these!  There's lots of die cutting and a bit of punching involved to get all the pieces you need and then it's an assembly job finished with a bit of embellishing.  The card fits into a 5 14" square envelope.  I used Nestabilities dies for my circles, a square Nestie die for the hat - trimmed down a bit and the top corners rounded - and a Labels Trio die for the hat brim.  The edges of the white circles were sponged with Baja Breeze ink.  I cut out a Pumpkin Pie triangle shape for the carrot nose, sponged the edges with Cajun Craze ink, used a 1/4" circle punch for the eyes and an 1/8" circle punch for the mouth bits.  I sponged Pretty in Pink ink to give him rosy cheeks, added white gel pen highlights to the eyes and popped the nose up.   I stamped 3 buttons using a stamp from the SU! Button Button set onto Real Red CS, punched them out with a 1/2" circle punch and they went on the middle circle.  For the bottom circle I stamped snowflakes in Baja Breeze ink and the lovely 'Snowflakes are snowmen waiting to happen!' sentiment.   I added some gingham ribbon to the hat and taped a loop of silver cord behind so that the card can be hung up.  I saved the piece of black CS when I trimmed the square to make the hat, I rounded the corners of the piece and glued it to the back of the hat to cover up the taped loop so the back looks nice and neat.

Here he is telescoped up.  We're having to have some work done to our house at the moment so we've got various workmen around and about.  The head builder popped in for a chat and a cup of tea just as I had placed this card on the table ready to take this photo.  I handed him his mug of tea and he promptly placed it on my card 'cos he thought it was a coaster - he didn't have his glasses on!  Luckily, the mug was drip free so no damage done! 

This photo shows him opened out. 

There's a video tutorial here on Barb's blog if you'd like to see how to put a telescoping card together.  The wonderful idea for the telescoping snowman card came from a card I saw on Becky's Inking Idaho blog  post here if you'd like to check that out.

Supplies for trees reflection card:
Stamps: SU! Lovely as a Tree & Four the Holidays sets
CS: PaperMania square white card blank, SU! Always Artichoke & Whisper White, acetate
Ink: Black StazOn, SU! Bashful Blue, Not Quite Navy, Night of Navy, River Rock & Always Artichoke
Tools: brayer, 1" circle punch, Stamp-a-ma-jig, sponges & sponge daubers



Supplies for telescoping snowman card:
Stamps: SU! Button, Button set, Butterfly Kisses 'Frosty' clear set, PSX 'Snowflake Medley'
CS: SU! Basic Black, Whisper White, Pumpkin Pie & Real Red
Ink: Memento Tuxedo Black, SU! Baja Breeze, Pretty in Pink, & Cajun Craze, white gel pen
Tools: Plain & scalloped circle Nestabilities dies, square Nestability die, Spellbinder's Labels Trio die, corner rounder punch, 1/8", 1/4" & 1/2" circle punches, paper piercer, sponge daubers
Embellishments & accessories: silver brads, red gingham ribbon, silver cord, 3d foam pads