T his is my Coffee & Crafts Class for July 2019. Following feedback from my ladies, I designed this with our three levels of Crafter in mind - Beginner, Casual and Avid. All three levels are on this one document - hopefully it won't be too confusing!
Project Recipe
The Beginner Crafter.
To make this card you will need the following:-
1 @ 6" x 8" piece of Old Olive Cardstock which you will score at 4" to make a 6" x 4" folded card base.
2 @ 5 3/4" x 3 3/4" Whisper White Cardstock
1@ 3 3/4" x 2" Old Olive Cardstock
Scraps of Old Olive and Whisper White Cardstock for die and sentiment.
Take your scored piece of Old Olive Cardstock and fold it at the score line, using a bone folder to give it a crisp fold. Put this to one side.
Using one of the 'bulb' stamps from the Making Christmas Bright Stamps, randomly stamp one of the pieces of Whisper White Cardstock using Daffodil Delight, Coastal Cabana, Poppy Parade and Old Olive inks (apologies for the different colours and stamp in this photo - I changed my mind but forgot to retake this picture - doh!).
Once all your bulbs are stamped, use the tiny 'bulb fitting' stamp and Tuxedo Black Memento Ink to stamp the fitting at the bottom of each bulb, lining up the top edge of this stamp with the bottom edge of your bulb.
Take your piece of Old Olive Cardstock and adhere it to the centre of the stamped Whisper White piece.
Using the 'Merry' die from the Merry Christmas Dies set, cut out one word from a scrap of Old Olive Cardstock. Take care when removing the diecut from the die so you don't tear it.
Using slivers cut from the edges of a Stampin' Dimensionals sheet, adhere your word to the Old Olive rectangle on your card.
Adhere the whole thing to the front of your Old Olive Card Base.
Using Old Olive and Poppy Parade inks, stamp a 'Christmas' banner using stamps from the Merry Christmas To All stamp set onto a scrap of Whisper White Cardstock. Cut this out using the large banner die from the Merry Christmas Dies.
Adhere this to the lower right hand side of your stamped border as shown in the photo.
Using the 'string of bulbs' stamp from the Making Christmas Bright Stamp Set and Tuxedo Black Memento ink, stamp the image across the lower edge of your second Whisper White Cardstock piece, You will need to stamp this a second time (and third if you have started stamping in the centre of the piece) so that the string reaches the edges.
Colour in each bulb using the following Stampin' Write Markers:- Daffodil Delight, Coastal Cabana, Poppy Parade and Old Olive.
Adhere this piece to the inside of your card. Your card is now complete - sit back and admire your handiwork.
The Casual Crafter.
Complete the card as described in the instructions for the Beginner Crafter.
For the rest of this project you will need:-
1 @ Kraft Pillow Box
1@ 3 3/4" x 2" Whisper White Cardstock
1 @ 4" x 2 1/4" Old Olive Cardstock
20" (50 cm) Old Olive/Pretty Peacock 3/8" Reversible Ribbon
6" (15 cm) Linen Thread
Take your piece of Whisper White Cardstock and, as you did for the card, randomly stamp the christmas bulb and fitting using the four ink colours.
Using a corner rounder punch, round two opposite corners on the short side of your card.
Take the Old Olive piece of card and, using the corner rounder, round off two corners as above.
Adhere the stamped piece to the Old Olive piece, leaving an even border all round.
Punch a small hole in the centre of the short, rounded end of your tag.
On a scrap of Whisper White cardstock, stamp out the word 'Christmas' and the border as for the card. Cut this out using the large banner die.
Cut the word 'Merry' from a scrap of Old Olive Cardstock and, as before, use slivers of Stampin' Dimensionals to attach this to your tag, bearing in mind that it will overhang the edges of your tag slightly at each end of the word. (Please ignore the embossing on the word - you haven't missed a step, I just forgot to take the right photo again - another doh!)
Attach the 'Christmas' Banner to the tag as shown, again using Stampin' Dimensionals.
'Pop up' your Pillow box and tuck in the ends (don't forget to include your gift).
Using the length of Reversible Ribbon, wrap this around the box so it holds the ends closed, leaving equal amounts of ribbon close to one end on top of the box. Tie a bow and trim off the ribbon ends to a point.
Attach the Linen Thread to the tag through the small hole, then tie this around the knot in your bow, tucking the tag under the bow ears.
Your box are card are both now complete.
The Avid Crafter.
In addition to the items listed for the Beginner and Casual instructions, you will need:-
Copper Embossing Powder
Heat Tool
Christmas Bulb Builder Punch
A piece of Glad Press & Seal Wrap (I got mine through Amazon as I haven't found any bricks and mortar shops in the UK that sell it).
On scraps of Whisper White Cardstock, stamp out 6 or 7 bulbs in each colour. Before stamping the fittings, punch out a template using the Christmas Bulb Builder Punch on a scrap of card. You will then use this as a guide for stamping the fittings below the bulb so that they can both be punched out at the same time (see the photo).
Once you have stamped all your bulbs and fittings, punch them all out being careful not to lose the tiny pieces.
Adhere a fitting to the bottom of each bulb using the little tab.
Take one of your Whisper White Cardstock pieces and position your bulbs randomly over the sheet - NOTE:- do NOT stick these down at this stage.
Take a piece of Press & Seal Wrap and, being careful not to let the piece stick to itself, press it once onto piece of cloth (I usually use my clothes) so that you de-tack it slightly otherwise it can leave a slightly sticky residue when you remove it (I learnt that one the hard way!).
Carefully cover your bulb layout gently with the Press & Seal, ensuring it doesn't wrinkle. You can, at this stage, carefully reposition your bulbs if you aren't happy with the final look.
Once happy, press the wrap down over the layout so that it also attaches to the backing card. Use a bone folder to rub over the piece to ensure nothing will move.
Turn your layered piece of card over and trim off the overlapping wrap and bulb sections with a pair of scissors (NOTE:- do not use your best scissors as these will get sticky).
Using die #7 from the Stitched Nested Labels Dies (I number mine from the largest being #8 and the smallest #1) lay it over your layered piece so it is centred with an even border and run it though your die cutting machine.
(Yes, I know the photo shows a scalloped rectangular die cut - I misplaced my Stitched Nested Labels Dies when I made the original sample - yet another doh!)
Using the 'Merry' word, cut out four in Old Olive Cardstock and two in Whisper White Cardstock. This will be enough for both the card and the tag.
Take one of the Old Olive words and attach it carefully to a second Old Olive word using the Fine Tip Adhesive. Repeat this with the other two Old Olive words.
Once dry, use a couple of Sticky Notes to mask off the top half of each of your layered Old Olive Words.
Once happy with the position, carefully cover the bottom half of the word with Versamark Ink by applying the pad directly to the card over a scrap of paper.
Carefully move the word to a clean scrap of paper, then cover the inked section with the Copper Embossing Powder. Lift the word and tip the excess powder back into the pot.
Check that you don't have any little bits of powder hanging off the edges of your word, then heat the powder with your heat gun until it has melted. Leave this to set for a couple of minutes before removing the Sticky Notes.
Repeat this with your second layered word.
Take the layered word and attach it to one of the Whisper White words using the Fine Tip Adhesive, moving it slightly to the right and down so that the Whisper White word forms a highlight behind your embossed word.
Repeat this with the second pair of word dies cuts. Allow these to dry.
Carefully peel the Press & Seal with the attached bulbs from your frame and place it on your worktop with the back facing up. Attach a couple of Stampin' Dimensionals to the backs of each bulb.
Remove the backs from the dimensionals then carefully lay this frame back over the Whisper White frame so that the edges of the Press & Seal line up with the edges of the card. You can give yourself a bit of 'wiggle room' when attaching the bulbs by adding a tiny drop of liquid adhesive to each dimensional. This stops it from sticking straight away giving you a small window where you can move the bulb slightly if not quite in the right position.
Once happy with the position, press the bulbs down so they stick fully to the card (if you used liquid adhesive, make sure this dries before continuing), then carefully peel the Press & Seal away from the bulbs. You now have your floating frame.
Repeat this with the piece cut from the centre of the card - this will be your tag.
Attach the frame to your card base then one embossed word and one Christmas banner to your card as for the previous levels.
Stamp and colour your second Whisper White Cardstock piece as for the Beginner level, and adhere to the inside of your card.
Assemble your tag and make up your Pillow Box as explained for the Casual Crafter, although instead of cutting a straight rectangle and rounding the corners for your tag background, use the #8 Stitched Nested Labels Die.
Your projects are now complete - sit back and admire your handiwork.