Card making: Make a card for a man using an acetate overlay. Plus 3 ideas to steal.

Hello hello.

It's Father's Day on Sunday meaning there's still a couple of days left to make a card if you're that way inclined. And if you're not one for lots of layering or die-cutting then here's an idea for a simple Dad-friendly card using acetate.

This is the card I gave my Dad for his birthday this year:

As he's interested in all things astronomical I thought this map of the stars would be ideal as a base. And, as it's simply a sheet of 6x6 patterned paper from the Basic Grey Aurora range, all I had to do was tear it off the pad and stick it on to a 6x6 card. How's that for a quick and easy first layer?

To introduce a little more detail I added a square of star design acetate on top securing it with a few strips of washi-tape and a length of string threaded through holes I punched through the card/paper/acetate.

[The acetate was left over from the Luxury Foiled Acetate 'Rainbow Collection' that Hunkydory sent me to use in my '10 Ways with Acetate' feature in a recent issue of Papercraft Inspirations magazine].

And the finishing touch - as it so often is for me - was a snippet I'd set free from an old children's encyclopedia:

3 ideas to steal and use on a card of your own:

1. Use the whole sheet: if you come across a 6x6 paper that has a fancy, all over design, that you can't bring yourself to cut into ... don't! Just stick it straight onto a card and you're almost done! For a card to be special it doesn't necessarily need to have lots of layers. How many layers are there on the majority of cards you'd buy from a shop?
2. Fix acetate down using washi tape: forget about trying to 'hide' all evidence of adhesive somewhere under an embellishment wher eit won't be seen; just use some attractive tape to hold it in place. So much easier! 
3. Personalise your sentiment by finding the 'right words' in an old book: thinking of something other than 'Happy Birthday' to say can be a challenge, so simply find yourself a book you don't mind cutting into and browse for a phrase that will say it for you. It can really show your recipient that it was them specifically you were thinking about when you made the card and that it wasn't just another generic greeting. 

And if you really can't face cutting into a book, let me do it for you - there's lots of vintage paper pack options in my shop and if there's nothing there that quite suits, you can commission your own custom collection of pages. Just get in touch and both me - and my collection of old books - will be happy to help out!

Enjoy your weekend. 

Julie

Card making: A fun (and feminist) acetate pop up card!

Hello hello.

The current issue of Papercraft Inspirations magazine  [Issue 140, July 2015, on sale since May 26th], features 'Acetate' in my regular '10 Ways With' feature.

One of my 10 projects was based on a design that uses a strip of acetate, passed into a slot in a base, as a pop-up mechanism:

 And while the method was fresh in my mind I made a second card to share here.

This time I've used the 'Girls' sets of stamps from AHA Arts. [I bought mine direct from the designer AshleyG on Etsy, but she no longer stocks them there. In the UK they're available here from That's Crafty!]. Isn't that just the best sentiment??

I made this card for a 14 year old girl ... although it's a sentiment I think we could all do with reminding ourselves from time to time!

In the right light the acetate can  almost disappear making whatever you add to the front look almost as if it's free-standing or, in this instance, free-floating!

The rest of the card is made from scoring an folding a strip of card or - as I used here - double-sided paper from a 12x12 sheet:

For more acetate-inspired designs you can check out my Papercraft Inspirations feature and I hope something in this post had inspired you to either:

• (a) get your crafting supplies out or 
• (b) consider your own superhero side! 

Me? I'm just off to find my cape [although I think I'll give the wearing-my-undies-over-my-lycra look a miss this time round ...].

See you soon.

Julie :-)

Cardmaking: with skulls and stripes

Hi you.

It's my day to post on the 3DJean design team blog today and, as usual ... because I like to make the most with what I've already got ... I'm sharing my project with you here too. [Now where would I get an idea like that from?] ;-)

So, here's the card:

It was a birthday card for a girl who turned 13 and, after seeing her wearing the current trend for skulls and studs ... I wanted to create a fun, punkish-skully-but-still-cute card for her.

[For the record: there's only been a short period in my life when I didn't like skulls and studs! I have to thoroughly resist the temptation to talk about when I wore all that the first time around ... partly because it makes me sounds ancient .. and partly because it really wasn't the first time around! Nothing's new is it? Fashion just goes around and around.]

I've gone off on one again haven't I? OK, back to the card:

The gorgeous turqouise stripe backing paper, and the blue + pink checks on the die-cut heart comes from the 6x6 Les Edition de Infocrea pad from 3DJean. And that gloriously neon frame is a very old BamPop design.

The skull charm is from The Ribbon Girl and everything else was either loitering around in my stash for years, or borrowed [like the heart bunting die] ... so I can't really give you any more info on those. [Call myself a professional? Sheesh!]

 Anyway ...



So, what do you think? A good balance of cute and edgy for a teenage girl's card? [Who am I kidding ... I like it now and it's a loooong time since I was a teenager!].

 

*Goes off to polish-up skull earrings*

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I'll be back later this week [maybe tomorrow, maybe Thursday] with the final 'approach' in my Push-Up Bra Blogging series.

 

I was planning a round-up post for the final final post, where I'll try to tie-up any loose ends and answer any burning questions so ... do you have any?

 

If you do - or if there's anything at all you'd like to raise or suggest:

• just leave a comment on any Push-Up post, email me [my address is in a link in my blog sidebar >>], Facebook me, Tweet ... shout really loudly when the wind's in the right direction. you get the idea.
• I'm happy to keep any questions 'anonymous'!

p.s: I need less than £90 now to reach my target so, if youve got £1 to spare ... you can donate it here.]

 

Julie :-)