Creating with transparencies can be tricky at times. The fact that you can see right through them is what makes them so appealing and yet somewhat tricky. Today my brown cardstocks arrived here at our office and I just couldn't help but put them to use. I also created another post on my blog Simple Dreams using this same paper - LOL! In searching for the black cardstock I happened on these beautiful browns and thought, if the White Color Pencil Technique looks good on black, then why not brown?!? I invite you to view my other post for a completely different project than this one Ü
To begin I determined the overall size of the card I wanted to create, 4 1/4" square. I then cut my transparency to that size. Next the Chocolate Brown cardstock was cut to 4 1/4" x 5 1/2" and scored at 4 1/4". To add interest to the inside layer of the card, Aged Sheet Music was second generation stamped in New Canvas. By second generation I mean that I inked the scrapblock and stamped it off first on a piece of scrap paper and then stamped it on the Chocolate Brown. This gives a much lighter impression and is much more of a "backdrop" rather than so distinct.
I knew that I wanted only the front of my card to be clear and so I figured out the size of my journal square and cut down the "flap" using a decorative victorian edge scissors to be approximately 3/4" wide. Applying adhesive to the back, inside portion of this flap I adhered the transparency without any visible signs of adhesive. Being the stamps I used were more "vintage" in style I opted to sew on the flap as well. The adhesive held the transparency in place perfectly as I I sewed right next to it, thus giving it a more textural feel. To create a rough edge on my projects I resorted to the oldest tool I have - I used the good old fashioned fingernail to achieve the ragged edge results on the edges of cards Ü.
Next I stamped and colored the Journal Box using Rich Cocoa Memento Ink on the Golden Brown cardstock. These new Journal Boxes, created by Lesley Langdon, are fabulous. I love the thought of using them on both cards and scrapbook pages. Now I just need to get some pictures down here at my office so that I can start making scrapbook pages! You can refer back to my post on Simple Dreams as well as an earlier post here in the Classroom for ideas on how to use your white Prismacolor color pencil. The sentiment is from Mona LIsa's Friend Centers. It was stamped using Walnut Stain. The tone of this brown is definitely darker than that of the Rich Cocoa and I wanted the sentiment to stand out. Unfortunately I should have used my stamp-a-ma-jig to get the placement of this sentiment better. Having only eyeballed it, I ended up stamping it on the journal lines and being the perfectionist I am, well...
To adhere the journal block to the transparency face I used removable tape to hold it in place as I sewed the two corners to affix it. Remember to pull your threads to the back side of the card to tie them off or another trick I learned in sewing class is to just back stitch at both the start and finish.
The angel from Storybook made the perfect corner embellishment for this creation. I inked the angel with Palette, New Canvas and stamped her on the Chocolate Brown. Using detail scissors I cut her out and added Crystal Snow glitter to her wing tips and skirt, affixing her to the front surface of my card with dimensionals. As a final touch I added a soft white sparkley sheer ribbon and some tiny little pearls.
These pearls are on their final days, once they are gone we will not be purchasing more of them. So if you have fallen in love with them please visit our store soon. We have marked down the pricing on the Joy Craft pearls from $4.49 to $2.49. (You can easily tell the old from the new being the old are in a rectangle arrangement, where as the new are in a spiral. Even though they are a completely different product from the KaiserCraft pearls we just couldn't justify the huge variance in price and so we are closing out of them. They are a superior value at this point being there are more of the small size pearls that I love so much and use more often in these packages. I know that I am planning on saving several packages for myself!
So today's transparency tip is to avoid adhesive marks by sewing instead.
