Tuesday 23 May 2017

My Lil' Girl Project - New Baby Card

Hello everyone well here goes my first actual project blog. I hope you all enjoy reading it and even learn a little something from it.

This beautiful kit is actually a collaboration between Jodi - Throwing Some Scraps Around (TSSA) and Dana - Made By Keuntje (MBK) and is available from either of their Etsy shops
TSSA: http://etsy.me/1pnMcjO
MBK: http://etsy.me/2ikOlxy

So lets start with a general run down of what you will find useful to have to hand.
A4 sheet of 300gsm white card
Printed off design sheets
6" x 6" white card blank
Scissors
Foam Mat
Large Ball tool
Wet re-positional glue
Strong red lined double sided tape
Foam double sided tape
Foam double sided sticky pads
Metal Ruler
Glass cutting mat
Corner Rounder Punch


This particular card is an easel style so I am using a 6" x 6" size card blank as once it is completed because of the way the card is displayed it actually appears to be bigger and more substantial than it actually is.

Begin by cutting a piece of the plain white card to measure 6" x 6" for your front and use your corner rounder to round off the corners of this, your card blank, your main image for the front of the card and your insert image.  These two images were printed off at 5.75" x 5.75" so  I had a small white boarder all around them.
I would usually mat the front image onto a piece of mirror card but as this is for a new baby I chose to keep the look clean and simple and stick to white. These pieces can then be put to one side.

Next cut out the images that will create the 3D elements of your design - in this case two layers of 'organza' and the footprint topper and the four pieces that will go together to produce the ribbon that makes up the easel stopper. Use super tacky glue to stick your ribbon pieces together and use paper clips to hold them until they are securely set. Again put to one side.
We can now begin to work on the front topper of our card. Taking the two images of the 'organza' cut them out then cut out the centre white squares but leave a small white edge as this will help you to create depth when you stick them together.


Using your foam mat and a larger ball tool work your way around them one at a time gentle pressing down the darker areas of 'organza' to create dips then go around again gently curving and shaping the lighter areas of 'organza' so eventually both pieces have a natural wavy look.
You can use your fingers to manipulate the outer edge into a slight downward curve to create extra depth. Always be careful to work gently with paper in this way so that you do not actually crease it at all and the actual heat from your fingers will do much of the work for you. Taking your footprint topper use your ball tool and gently run around the back edge, again creating a gentle downward dip to give depth. Using narrow red lined tape stick your front image onto the 6" x 6" square of plain white card making sure you leave an even white edge all around it. (You may prefer to use re-positional wet glue for this stage as it will allow you time to adjust your image if necessary).  Take the slightly larger 'organza' frame and place red liner tape around the back inside edge, line it up with the inner edge of the frame on your main front image and stick down. Take the second slightly smaller 'organza' frame and again apply narrow tape to the back inner square edge then add a few small double sided pads around the centre of the frame.
Line the inner edge up to the inner edge of the first layer and stick firmly down flat then remove the backing of the pads and stick these down. This double sticking method produces a 3D effect that allows you to see the different layers of 'organza'. Finish your front off by running double sided foam tape around the back outer edge of the footprint topper and placing it squarely on the center of the front covering any raw edges on the frame layers. Put your completed front to one side.

Taking your card blank place it with the folded edge across the top, open it up and fold the top section down towards the centre, gently but firmly run a scoring tool across the fold to create your easel without adding any creases. Using strong tape stick your completed front onto the front of your card lining up the lower edges and sides. Remember you are only sticking the bottom half of the topper to allow it to stand as an easel.  I find the easiest way to make sure that I get this correct is to apply the tape to the actual card blank and not the topper.
Open your card up and using strong tape on the back of all four edges stick the insert of your card down making sure that it is placed centrally with an even edge all around it.
Take your now stuck and dried paper ribbon and using wet re-positional glue place it above the sentiment (my own in this case) and the word art to create your easel stopper.

That basically is your card finished. When it is standing there is plenty of room on the back for the sender to write their message. In this instance because there is a certain amount of depth to the stopper that you wouldn't want to flatten if I was giving the card by hand I would use a slightly over large (7" x 7") envelope which would expand to accommodate the extra depth.  If I was going to post it I would use a presentation box which can be readily purchased or there are many online tutorials enabling you to make your own quite easily.


There we go a pretty little card to welcome a new baby girl into the world.  Watch this space for my next project which will be a small matching gift.

If you have any questions or comments (good or bad) or suggestions please feel free to ask or post the and I will respond as soon as I can.

bye for now Karen xx








2 comments:

  1. I am so amazed by this!!! Love it Karen!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Karen. This turned out so well. Good luck with your crafting and your blog.

    ReplyDelete