Handmade cards can be created just for the fun of it but often times, they are created with someone special in mind. Today's card was created for my lovely daughter-in-law who is celebrating her birthday in just a couple days. Shannon is a cupcake-girl. She loves all things sweet but especially cupcakes. When I saw the beautiful cupcake clear stamp set by Avery Elle in the shop, I knew I just had to have it for this special occasion.
This project also seemed to be the perfect time to try out a technique idea I've had in my head for quite some time. I've named it Shadow Paper Piecing and I'm pretty excited with how it turned out. I adore vellum with its lovely soft frosted look and its translucent properties.
Image Source: Pinterest
Years ago, before I started paper crafting I was an avid heirloom sewing fan. I love sewing and doing handwork and working with vellum reminded me of a beautiful stitching technique I used to paintstainkingly do called shadow embroidery. It occured to me to try a spin-off of this technique in paper crafting. Don't worry! It's so much quicker and easier than the original idea!
How to do Shadow Paper Piecing
- Stamp your image onto your vellum panel.
- Stamp image again into cardstock or patterned paper.
- Cut out colored paper image carefully along outside stamped lines.
- Apply thin layer of liquid adhesive (I used Glossy Accents) over the right side of the cut out patterned paper.
- Adhere to reverse side of vellum.
- Press surface of vellum firmly to adhere under-layer.
- Repeat with other sections of design until complete.
Here's what your vellum layer will look like after it has been shadow paper pieced.
By using the shadow paper piecing technique you get a nice smooth stamped surface and a lovely subtle hint at the color and pattern underneath.
Next step of my design was to stamp the sentiment and create my patterned paper layers.
To step it up a notch, I then created a little stitched pocket to hold sequins under the vellum. I love how it adds to the festive look of the birthday design.
The sequins are then repeated on top of the vellum as an accent and some lovely dimensional swirls are created by adding in some glossy accents. In the above image, the Glossy Accents has just been applied and is still wet. in the image below, it has dried but I love how it still looks wet.
Today I'm also sharing a little sneak of one of my projects using the new Essentials by Ellen Stamps and Dies. This one features the Brushstroke Christmast Stamp Set and the Brushstroke Joy Die! These products will be fully revealed and available for ordering on October 4th, World Card-making Day!
Thanks for joining me today in the CLASSroom!
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