Since this is my first CLASSroom post for the new year, I wanted to wish you all a wonderful 2014 and start off the year with one of my very favorite kind of projects -- a calendar!
I know this is a tad bit late for January, but hopefully this project will give you some great ideas for future monthly projects! The area I'm focusing most on today is a custom background paper, made with any die ... here's how it's done:
1. I started by cutting the size of background paper I would be using -- originally, I planned on an A2 sized card so I cut a piece of scrap cardstock 4.25" x 5.50". The cardstock color doesn't matter, as it will just be used as a template.
2. Next, you will be creating a template so place your die (and cut) the piece of cardstock the way you want your pattern to appear later on your finished project:
In my test runs, I used this Memory Box Beaded Snowflake Die but ended up just using My Favorite Things Let It Snowflake die set on my calendar. Ellen carries plenty of other snowflake dies that would also work well for this technique -- you can find all snowflake dies HERE.
3. Then place your template over the piece of cardstock you will use for your project (I used Neenah Natural White for both my template and my project -- my apologies, I should have used a different color for the template so you could tell them apart better), using a temporary adhesive to hold down the template:
4. Next, I used the Copic Airbrush System to airbrush B00 Copic Sketch marker through the die cut template. Alternately, you could use a dye ink and sponge applicator to sponge color through the template:
As I mentioned above, I ended up using a smaller scale snowflake die for my project:
I created the calendar piece using My Favorite Things' Journal It-Calendar Basics clear stamp set. I stamped the calendar onto a piece of my custom snowflake background paper with Memento Rich Cocoa ink, die cut it with MFT's Pierced Rectangle STAX, then started stamping the date numbers beginning with all the "1's". I found it easier to stamp all of one number at a time:
It went pretty quickly this way:
Next, I stamped this sweet MFT Trim the Branches Snowman, omiting his hanging ornaments (another way to get more mileage from your holiday stamps!) with Rich Cocoa ink onto Neenah Natural White cardstock:
And colored him with the Copic Sketch markers shown below. I used BG0000 to outline the snowman's body to give him an icy feeling, and C1 to create shadows under his hat, eyes, nose, mouth and scarf:
Mr. Snowman was hand trimmed, leaving a snow mound for him to sit on, and popped up on Copic Foam Tape.
To finish my calendar, I glittered two of the snowflakes I die cut earlier with Tim Holtz's Clear Rock Candy Distress Glitter and popped them up on rolled up Glue Dots -- this is a great way to give a little lift to elements on your project and the bonus is they are clear and therefore less likely to show on smaller items. I wish I could capture how truly gorgeous this glitter is in person -- hopefully clicking on the photo below will let you see just a little of its beauty:
Finally, I used a Fishtale Flags STAX die to die cut a piece of my favorite Lifestyle Crafts Teal Blue Shape 'N Tape to accent the top right corner of the calendar.
I hope this technique gives you all kinds of ideas on how to use your dies to create custom backgrounds! ~ Sharon
