Good Friends and Good Memories

Would you like to experiment with a design like this? You'll find a supply list below, including a link to the stencil I used from A Colorful Life Designs. Follow the link and use discount code ChrisFan10 to save 10% on your entire order! (Master Creator Bundles are excluded as they already have a 20% discount built in.)

This card was time consuming but fun to create. It was also frustrating …. read on to find out why.

Let’s get Started:

Card Base: 5.5 x 8.5, scored and folded at 4..25

Border: 5.3/8 x 4.1/8

Card Face: trimmed down to approx. 5.25 x 3

Card Face:

• I laid the card face onto the grip mat and positioned the Screen Door stencil snuggly against the bottom and left-hand side.

• I used a pencil to lightly trace the top and right-hand edges of the stencil onto the cardstock.

• I added mint tape along the edges to mask off the remaining cardstock so it could be used for another project.

• I applied medium blue ink to the top ⅔ of the stencil, being careful not to shift the fine dividing lines in the door. I allowed variations in the ink.

• I applied medium green ink to the bottom of the stencil, allowing variations in the tone and again being careful not to shift the thin dividing pieces.

• I decided that I wanted more definition in the sky, so I brought in the Cloud Edger stencil and placed it directly over the first one **.

• I added the same blue ink here and there to create the look of a summer sky.

• I added tiny birds with a micro liner.

• After removing the stencils I carefully trimmed the die-cut silhouette so that it would end with the ink, and not extend into the white border (created by the stencil) . I glued this die cut in place to create the sense of looking through the door at the children playing on the swing.

• I used the pencil lines to trim this piece down to resemble a screen door.

• I realized that the silhouette die cut should be entirely behind the door - so I cut white strips and glued them over the center portions of the door. I followed this with strips cut to size and glued around the edges of the door.

** See Layered Stencilling under Techniques in the header for more complete information on this process.

Other:

• I pulled a yellow polka dot background,out of my Ready to Go Binder ***, and shaped the corners with a corner rounder.

• I aligned the screen door to the bottom edge of this and glued it to the polka-dot layer.

• I drew door hinges on the left-hand side of the door and coloured them with gold gel pen. I outlined these with a black fine liner.

• I cut a narrow strip of card stock and stamped a polka dot pattern in peach onto it. I cut two short pieces of this strip and glued them in place as shown. These -hopefully - look like a strip of border on the wall.

• I stamped the sentiment with versa mark and sprinkled it with gold embossing powder. After setting this with my heat gun, I used a die to cut it down to size.

• I used Mint Tape to create a dividing line at the fold on the card base, and then used Versafine Onyx to create a black border around the edges of the card front.

*** See Ready to Go Binder under Techniques in the header to learn how I use this tool to save money and increase efficiency.

Assembly

• I glued the polka dot border layer to the card base, centering carefully.

• I added the sentiment to the right hand side.

• I added 3 pieces of bling to the sentiment, and one more to becomethe door knob.

Final Thoughts:

As mentioned above, this card was fun, time consuming and frustrating. The first two are covered above, and now for the third.

My sentiment was initially quite a bit smaller and better proportioned for this design. BUT: I had applied liquid glue to the back of this sentiment and put it in place with a weight on top to ensure good contact. When I removed the weight I saw that the sentiment had shifted - a LOT. I couldn’t leave it (it was it was very crooked)) and I couldn’t remove it. In order to salvage the card I created another sentiment, much larger so that it would completely cover the first one.

But aside from THAT - I like the card.

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Supplies: (and links where possible)

I have listed which products I have used, and where they may be purchased. It's a huge marketplace and in most instances, there are multiple sources and many alternatives to choose from.

Stencils:

Screen Door, A Colorful Life Designs

Cloud Edger, A Colorful Life Designs

Dies: Summer Fun, Joy! Crafts,Ecstasy Crafts

Waffle Flower Grip Mat, 8.5 x 6.5, Scrapbook.com

Ink: Stampin’ Up!

Blending Brushes: Stampin’ Up!

Versamark Embossing Ink, Simon Says Stamp

Gold Embossing Powder, Stampin’ Up!

Microliners, Amazon

Bling: Rainbow Pearl Twilight and Satin Gold Mat, A Colorful Life Designs

Adhesive: Tombow Aqua, Michaels

Card Base & Card Face: Accent 100 lb., Amazon

Do you have comments or thoughts to share on this design? Drop me a line in the Contact section in the header - I’d love to hear from you!

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