This card was inspired by the As You See It Challenge blog for which I am a designer. I have been MIA for a bit as I wrestle the Busy Beast called Life, but I hope to keep up with the new two week schedule for the AYSI challenges.
Here’s the challenge:
Whoohoo! Canada Day celebrations with the colours of our flag: red and white! The first red thing I thought of was our maple leaf. The second was … ladybugs.
I love ladybugs.
The “fly” in Inking on the Fly is actually a reference to … ladybugs. Not airplanes, not birds or butterflies – just sweet little aphid-killers, lol!
So, here’s my take on the red and white challenge:
I used a combination of the “Love You Lots” hostess set and the “Weather Together” stamp set and framelits from Stampin’ Up! Aren’t those ladybugs cute, snuggling under that umbrella!! I stamped the umbrella parts and the ladybugs on the Whisper White cardstock. Then I stamped the same umbrella image on a piece of Real Red cardstock before die cutting it with the coordinating umbrella framelit. It was attached over top of the first umbrella image with Stampin’ Up Dimensionals. The ladybugs were stamped a second time on Watermelon Wonder cardstock, coloured with Real Red ink and a Blender Pen, then cut out by hand so they could be adhered with Tombo Multipurpose Liquid Glue over the prestamped image.
I added some shading to the umbrella with Smoky Slate ink and a Blender Pen. I also added shading under the ladybugs so that they weren’t all floating in the air.
The rest is pretty straight forward with die cutting the rain drops, stamping the sentiment, layering the cardstock and tying on the beautiful Real Red Ribbon.
This is the year that I turned 42 and I really wanted a shirt with a quote from “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy“. When I couldn’t find one, I decided I would make my own.
I wanted to share with you how I did it, using Freezer Paper, Tulip Fabric Paint, Stampin’ Up thinlits and dies and the Big Shot die cutting machine. For the featured project, I used Little Letters thinlits (recently retired) and the long retired Typeset Alphabet Bigz Die.
First thing to do is to select a t-shirt. This one is a cheap thin shirt that I purchased on sale at Superstore. It is a cotton blend and is nice and smooth to take the paint easily.
I put a large piece of cardboard inside the t-shirt to prevent paint from leaking through the shirt onto the back. What a mess that would be! I did some eyeball measurements in addition to a few actual measurements to do my best to make sure my letters would be straight and centered. Then I began cutting out the letters using my Big Shot and the freezer paper.
Washi tape is a gentle way to secure the freezer paper in place as I positioned them on my shirt. Don’t forget to check and double check your spelling!!
Then I ironed the freezer paper with a medium heat, careful to avoid the washi tape, removing it as the freezer paper began to adhere to the fabric.
(I had to very carefully take the cardboard out of the shirt for this step, so I could slide it onto the ironing board. – when I do this again, I will probably put the shirt on the ironing board during the placement of the letters, then add the protective cardboard just for the painting process.)
You’ll notice that some of the letters are missing the centers. You could leave it that way or add them in later (don’t forget to save them when you die cut the letters to begin with!)
It can be a challenge to get those little bits straight in these small letters. I took my time.
When everything is in place and secured with the iron, you can use the fabric paint and a foam brush to apply paint to your stenciled letters. I used a stippling motion with my brush positioned horizontally, then vertically, on the letters to ensure full coverage.
I had to be careful when painting my large letters as there were small spaces in between each letter. This is what it looked like after two coats of fabric paint. (I didn’t even wait between coats)
As soon as your fabric paint is pretty well absorbed (make sure there aren’t any pools of paint- you shouldn’t be using that much!), you can start slowly peeling off the freezer paper.
I used my paper-piercing tool to help me lift the smaller pieces of freezer paper for removal. My paint wasn’t completely dry and I didn’t want to get any on my fingers or cause the paint to smudge.
Finally, I allowed the shirt to dry overnight. The last step was to turn the shirt inside out and heat-set the paint in the dryer.
The result is a cute, custom-made t-shirt! I can’t wait to make more!
I hope you’ll give it a try! Stampin’ Up! has a new set of Large Letter Framelits that would be perfect for this project!
Ah. It’s good to be back and have something to share. I hope you will be patient with me and my sporadic posts. I’m hoping to post at least every two weeks from now on, in line with the new As You See It Challenge schedule. I hope you will keep coming back to check things out.
Here’s the sketch for today’s challenge:
I decided to play this one up a bit and try a technique that I found online. I can’t for the life of me, remember who posted the tutorial that I followed to create this card, otherwise, I would have just posted a link to her video. If you know who, please say so in the comments. I have a simple picture tutorial to guide you through how this design is made. It’s pretty awesome!!
(June 2017 edit: One reader found the tutorial for me! It was Jennifer McGuire and you can find it by clicking here. Special thanks to Jessica G. for taking the time to share the link in the comments. <3 Thanks Jessica!)
Here’s my card:
I used Thick Whisper White Cardstock, Schoolhouse Designer Series Paper, and Cardstock Vellum with Whisper White Cardstock for the card base. Here’s a photo tutorial to show how you can create this kind of Cleverness with Vellum:
The Cardstock Vellum is scored 1″ from the top.
Use your Bone Folder to make that score line into a crisp fold, then adhere the 1″ flap to the wrong side of your Designer Series Paper (DSP). I like the look of a bright and bold DSP.
You will end up with the right side of your DSP looking like this, with the Vellum attached at the top.
Then you will attach a piece of cardstock (I used the Thick Whisper White) to the wrong side of your DSP. Not only will this give your cardbase more structure, but it will also hide the 1″ piece of Vellum and your adhesive marks.
The next step is to cut the top of your two Whisper White cardstock pieces. I cut them both at the same time so that they will match each other EXACTLY. Because the Whisper White Cardstock is so thin, the die cuts through both layers with ease.
To create the half circle shape at the top, place your circle framelit where you want it, then only have the top plate cover where you want the cut part to be. It won’t cut where there isn’t any pressure. Doing it on an angle like this is an option that makes the card playful and fun.
This is what it will look like when you take the two pieces of whisper white out. Keep them together for the next step, too.
Place the two pieces of Whisper White cardstock in your cutter, so that the ruler cutting area lines up with the ends of the half circle cut in your cardstock. You will use the sliding trimmer blade to cut one side, then the other, keeping the paper in place. Be sure to lift the blade in between, so you don’t cut the circle clean off!!
Now you will have two identical pieces to attach to your vellum on the card front! The cleverness ensues!!
It’s easy to attach the two cut Whisper White pieces. Just apply adhesive to the front of one, hold the Vellum up and out of the way while you lay your piece over the patterned paper piece (adhesive side up!). Then lay the Vellum layer down flat over it. Then you can stamp and washi tape your other piece before adhering it over top to create a vellum sandwich.
The stamp set used here is the Feel Goods set. Sadly, it is retiring at the end of May, so if you love it, GET IT!
The washi tape at the bottom of the card is from the “This is the Life” Project Life kit from Stampin’ Up! This is on the retiring list as well AND is on sale.
Now that you’ve read through this tutorial and know how to make the bones of this card, try it out and see what you can create. I added a bit of flourish with a Gold Basic Metal Button (retiring), Black Baker’s Twine, Gold Metallic Thread, and two die cut leaves using the Rose Garden Thinlits: one cut from Vellum Cardstock, the other cut from Tangelo Twist Cardstock.
Be sure to check out the other cards created by our Design Team over at the As You See It Challenge Blog. And now there are no excuses, you have two whole weeks to participate in the challenge – hey, you could even submit more than one!
You can also click on the SHOP NOW button on this website to see what else is on the retiring list.
Whoohoo! Canada Day celebrations with the colours of our flag: red and white! The first red thing I thought of was our maple leaf. The second was … ladybugs.
I used a combination of the “Love You Lots” hostess set and the “Weather Together” stamp set and framelits from Stampin’ Up! Aren’t those ladybugs cute, snuggling under that umbrella!! I stamped the umbrella parts and the ladybugs on the Whisper White cardstock. Then I stamped the same umbrella image on a piece of Real Red cardstock before die cutting it with the coordinating umbrella framelit. It was attached over top of the first umbrella image with Stampin’ Up Dimensionals. The ladybugs were stamped a second time on Watermelon Wonder cardstock, coloured with Real Red ink and a Blender Pen, then cut out by hand so they could be adhered with Tombo Multipurpose Liquid Glue over the prestamped image.
I added some shading to the umbrella with Smoky Slate ink and a Blender Pen. I also added shading under the ladybugs so that they weren’t all floating in the air.
Glad you stopped by! Be sure to participate in this challenge at the As You See It Challenge Blog.
