Hello! Welcome to the inaugural edition of
Technique Tuesday! Every few weeks, on a Tuesday, I intend to share with you a new technique.
(DISCLAIMER: the technique is new to me and this blog, it may have actually been invented by someone else, and in all cases, I will attempt to give credit where it is due, if possible). So check back once in awhile to see new technique I'm playing with.
This week, I started with the
Shadow Box Tutorial I found on SplitCoastStampers.com and then modified it a bit to add the shaker feature. Scroll down past the next picture to get my step-by-step tutorial.
(1)
Pick a theme. I chose birthday, which drove my color and decoration decisions.
(2)
Gather supplies:
a. Cardstock (I used
Melon Mambo,
Dapper Denim,
Emerald Envy,
Daffodil Delight,
Pumpkin Pie, and
Whisper White)
b.
window sheets
c. strong strips of adhesive (I used now-retired sticky strip, but any strong strip adhesive will work)
d. filler (i.e. sequins, beads, confetti, punched pieces - I used stars punched from cardstock using a Stampin' Up!'s
Confetti Stars punch)
e. a scoring tool/system (I used a score board and bone folder)
f. a paper trimmer
g. nesting* dies and die cutting machine (nesting only necessary if you wish to have a border around your opening) - you could also use punches. The shape doesn't have to be oval, either - it could be a heart or star, or something else that fits your theme. I used some retired SU! Oval Framelits.
h. stamps (I used
Balloon Celebration, which is available bundled with the balloon punch I used)
i. ink (I used Basic Black, Dapper Denim, Melon Mambo, Emerald Envy, Daffodil Delight and Pumpkin Pie).
j. embellishments (I used stamped and punched balloons from the
Balloon Celebration bundle)
(3) To make a card similar to mine:
a. cut 2 pieces of cardstock, each 4.25”x5.5”. These will be the back and front. On my example, these are the Melon Mambo pieces. Score them at ½” and 1” on both ends. The scores should run parallel to the shorter dimension. Choose one of these to be the front, and use your die to make a hole centered in the middle section of it. If you want to stamp on front or back pieces, I would recommend doing it while it is still flat. Once you are happy, you can fold the front. Starting on one end, fold at the first score mark in one direction and at the other score mark in the opposite direction. Then do the other end so that it is symmetrical. Repeat on the back piece. Set them aside.
b. cut one piece of cardstock to 3.5”x4.25” and use a die to cut a hole centered in it. This die should be smaller than the one use on the front so that you can see it through the hole on the front piece. Do your beost to center it, but if it’s slightly off, you can trim a small amount from each edge to align it better. This will create a layer similar to the orange rim on my example. Set this aside.
c. Next, cut two pieces of window sheets to measure 3.5”x4.25”. Line the entire perimeter of one window sheet with adhesive. Sprinkle your filling on. Then, carefully aligning it, place the second window sheet on top so that the edges line up perfectly with the first window sheet. Press edges tightly to secure adhesive, sealing in the filling.
d. Now we will assemble the front panel of the card. Adhere the window sheet/filler packet to the back of the front panel (the melon mambo piece in my example). Next adhere the window rim (the orange piece in my example) to behind the window sheet packet, making sure that the border it forms through the window is even. If you need to trim a bit off the edges of the orange piece in order to get it to be centered with in the Mambo window, you may. Just leave yourself enough room for adhesive. Set this assembly aside.
e. Cut 1 piece of cardstock to be 3.5” x 4.25”. This will be the inside part that you can see through the window. On my example, it’s the white panel with the banners on it. Go ahead and decorate this. It is helpful if you hold the front window over it to see where you need to decorate. Adhere it the middle panel of the back.
f. Adhere the front and back by running strips of adhesive down the outermost flap of each end of the front and back. Carefully and an put them together.
g. Decorate the front with die cuts, punched shapes, embellishments, stickers, ribbon, etc.
h. if you want a place to sign it, you can sign the back as is, or you can decorate the back and then sign on the decoration. You could also put a little pocket back there to hold a folded check, money or gift card.
If you try this, give me a shout out in the comments - I'd love to see what you did and hear your feedback! Happy Stampin'!!!
