Piercing - could it possibly be that all those body piercings have lead to the popularity of this technique? LOL! I highly doubt it, but it is one of those techniques that adds so much texture to a project! I for one have fallen in love with it from the day that Stampin' Up! came out with their piercing mat. I hadn't heard of it before, but had only done all sorts of other different stitchery hobbies throughout my life - including sewing, embroidery and needlepoint. So for me it was a love at first sight sort of experience.
I wasn't happy with just straight stitches though and this lead me on my quest to find other products that could help me with my quandary. As an interior designer I had the occasion to select a "folksy" accent piece for one of the homes I was designing and it had this beautiful pierced tin design. I wanted to have something like this for adding designs to paper and so my search began. This is how I learned of the Ornare products. These stencils come with beautiful designs - the holes are perfectly spaced for piercing or "pricking" designs into paper crafting projects.
A huge thanks goes out to Beth for her assistance in getting my mind spinning this month. Sometimes design work is about teamwork and Beth gave me the word that got my mind spinning in the right direction this month. Being under the gun for time with everything I have to get done these days I popped in to work this morning and said - "Help, I need to create something now and I have no idea what I'm going to do!" So we began exploring. I have created a calendar with themes, color selections and products I want to share more information on how to use with you each month for the newsletter. This month's themes are:
- Fourth of July
- Red, White and Blue
- Piercing/Ornare
I said to Beth - I need something that I can create that shows the versatility of pierced designs AND that correlates to my themes this month. The first word she said was, "Fireworks!" Yep, I was doing a happy dance because it hit me like a lightning bolt. Gotta love those moments - this piece came together so quickly after that. Can you envision yourself sitting on this beach chair overlooking the fireworks show at Martha's Vineyard? A girl can wish, right!
Sapphire cardstock was selected to represent the night sky and my all time favorite Ornare template to create the fireworks. The versatility of this template allows you to use so many different pieces of it independently or together. But I'd best not get ahead of myself so I will now start with the step by step directions.
Step 1.
Begin by stamping the new Lockhart Beach Chair using Black Memento Ink. I have to tell you that I absolutely love how this ink went on so precisely and allowed for the fine details. I had absolutely no problem with the ink bleeding as I used my Copic Sketch markers to color in this image. I plan on adding a test butterfly to my list to give you an unbiased opinion, but I do believe that this just might be another ink that can go on the "approved" list for use with Copics.
To create this project I used a whole gamut of colors. When I color one of Karen's images I use her original example as a guide to help me "see" the design through her eyes. Where did she shade it vs where are the light spots? Do those spots "work for me"? I can not tell you how much of a timesaver it is for me to have my computer screen open to the image on my website that showcases the colored design. I may not color it the same colors, but it does give me a wonderful reference point as to what part of the image deserves to be highlighted, what is flowers vs. leaves, etc. The colors that I selected for this project are: R20, R27, R29, B95, B97, B99, E31, E55, and Y21. The Prismacolor pencils that I used at the end to add just a little more texture are: Burnt Ochre, GingerRoot, Chocolate, 20% Warm Gray, and Crimson Lake.
Step 2.
Cut out the chair and it's surroundings using a cutting knife and self-healing mat. Using these tools allows me to cut out the tiniest of spaces. I do cut around the exterior of the image with my tiny pointed scissors before beginning to use my blade on the interior portions.
Step 3.
Next create the itty bitty booklet that will be used to hold the invitation to the Fourth of July party. Simply cut a strip of Cranberry cardstock 2 3/4"w x 11"l and score at 2 3/4", 5 1/2" and again at 8 1/4". I want to share a picture here with you to show you why it is that I prefer to use the Scor-It over any other scoring device on the market.
I made this picture quite large so that you can see the metal band that is down the center of this tool. It is a "mountain" and "valley" that are created when using this tool that leads to the most precise and crisp score lines.Your paper will not crack when you fold it and therefore you will always have beautiful, precise folds. I am such a nitpicker for details and this is one that I just can't seem to get past when creating my cards - LOL!
Step 4.
Punch the hole through which you will thread the ribbon. You could use a 1/8" hole punch for this portion, but I really like the look of the "slot" that is created by using this Making Memories tool. I have tried the Basic Grey tool that does something similar, but I find that the Making Memories one is much eaiser to use. I was actually able to punch through all four layers and have the holes line up perfectly by keeping my tool in place and just pushing the spring loaded device four times. With each push it cut through another layer and therefore all four layers line up perfectly.
You will also need to punch one last hole in the back spine of this invitation as shown below.
To stamp only a portion of the sentiment I mask off the part I don't want to ink with a small piece of tape. Ink the stamp with Versamark, remove the tape and then stamp where desired. To make the white pop off the page I used White Detail embossing powder.
You will notice that this portion remains empty Ü This is the spot where you can print your invitaion or place an insert.
Step 4.
The tools that I find helpful in addition to the piercing template are a special piercing tool and a special piercing pad. These tools are designed specifically for these templates. I have found that my regular paper piercing tool has too wide of a point. It does not fit all the way through the template and thus the pierced detail is not as defined and it is harder to recognize the pattern. The density of the piercing pad is gauged so that when piercing it is firm enough to hold your cardstock so that it will not dent in unwanted places, yet will "give" enough to make the piercing task easy.
Begin by piercing the center firework using the center design on the Border Stencil. The key to success when pricking is to hold your stencil firmly in place without moving it. If necessary adhere the stencil in place using a low tack tape. Hold the piercing tool as vertical as possible so that when you prick, your holes will be nice and round. Always try and prick to the same depth so that the diameter of the holes will be equal.
It is helpful to develop a "system" when pricking your design to help you stay "on track". I start at the bottom and work my way up the entire designs main line. I then go back and complete all the little parts off to the left side and then follow up with all the little parts on the right side - again working from bottom to top. This is what works for me. It is helpful to just think about where you are pricking and develop your own little "system".
Tip: If when you lift your stencil from your paper you realize that you missed pricking a portion of your design hold the paper and stencil up to the light aligning the pattern. Insert the piercing tool in one of the holes and lay your work back down on your work surface. Then align the remainder of the holes before beginning work again.
The two outermost "fireworks" were created using a portion of the design on the right side of the Border Stencil template.
Step 5.
Being that I wanted the fireworks to continue on to the red invitation I positioned the front portion of the invitation and using temporary adhesive I adhered it in place as shown above. By positioning it first and then piercing the design it matched up perfectly.
Flip over the entire piece of work and using the pattern that you have pricked previously go over the lower portion of the design that is attached to the Cranberry cardstock. As you can see I felt that the line needed to extend slightly so that my firework start point would be hidden behind the beach chair. Using a pencil I drew a soft line to continue the "tail" of the firework and continued to pierce evenly down it's length.
There are two different appearances or designs that are achieved when piercing - a flat design and a raised design. The flat design appears on the same side of the paper on which the template is placed - the Sapphire Blue above shows an example of this type of piercing. The raised design is on the opposite side, as shown on the Cranberry Red cardstock above. Depending on the look you would like to achieve select which version would be best for the piece you are creating.
Step 6.
Two slots were created to hold the invitation in place by creating 7/8" diagonal cuts using a metal edged ruler, cutting blade and self-healing mat. To determine placement align the fireworks on the two pieces and then mark the top corner of the invitation with a pencil. I cut my slot approximately 3/8" in from that corner.
Insert the invitation in to this slot and then mark the opposite corner with pencil and cut that slot approximately 3/8" from that corner.
Step 7.
Create the front greeting on the card by once again inking only a portion of the sentiment with Versamark ink. Stamp and apply White embossing powder. As you can see in the image above I happened to catch a corner of the next word and thus had excess white powder. The tool that I have found that works so well for me is called the "Ultimate Wipeout" - how appropriate - LOL! Use this tool to "wipe out" any excess powder on your project.
I hope this inspires you to try using your piercing templates to create texture on your projects. Use it in a purely decorative manner as a background or border, or use it in an unconventional manner to add an accent to the focal portion of your image as shown above. Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!
