Hello everyone and happy Satur-YAY! It's the weekend and there's no better way to celebrate than by getting your craft on! Today, I'm creating some Halloween themed projects and while creating, I decided it was time to step out of my A2 sized card box, and create something a little different. So in today's Satur-YAY video, I'm going to walk you through three projects. I'll start with a card and then translate that card into a tag project and a treat box.
When I first saw the Avery Elle Boo dies, I knew I had to cut that intricate spider web out of some vellum. And I imagined this intricate die cut peeking through a partial die cut window with Julie's adorable Got Candy? stamp set pumpkins and little spidey as accents. The products really did inspire these projects. I love it when the products speak to me and tell me how they want to be used. ;)
I started by stamping and coloring the images from the Got Candy? stamp set on Smooth Bristol. Thanks to Nichol Magouirk, I've discovered that the Smooth Bristol is fabulous for Zig Clean Color Real Brush Marker coloring. I love my Clean Color Brush Markers, but had been having trouble achieving the blend I wanted on plain card stock. The Smooth Bristol has changed my world, and allowed me to get fabulous blends with these markers. I loved them before, and now I cannot live without them! I'll show you the difference between the blends on Neenah and Smooth Bristol in the video below.
I like to stamp and color multiple images at once. I can then cut them out and have them ready for other projects that I might want to create. In this case, it worked out perfectly to have extras on hand to create my treat box and tag.
To add a little texture to the plain white card base, I used the Hero Arts Woodgrain background stamp by Lia Griffith. I used Soft Granite ink and stamped it off on scratch paper prior to stamping it on my card front. This gave me a very soft impression on the card front and added just the right amount of texture. This background stamp can be used year round to create subtle texture and interest on your projects. You could also use the Essentials by Ellen Woodgrain Embossed card stock to achieve a similar effect (I'll link that below so it's easy to find).
To create the window on the front of my card, I used a partial die cutting technique. This is a fun way to get more out of your dies. Partial die cutting opens the door to so many possibilities. My favorite tool for partial die cutting is the On The Edge cutting pads from Sizzix. These smaller cutting pads allow me to position dies in various positions and achieve more precise cuts than I can with the standard cutting pads. I'll show you exactly how to achieve this in the video tutorial below.
Once my window was cut, I sandwiched my spider web between the card base and the card front. I used foam tape to adhere the card front on to the card base to give some dimension to the card. I love the way this intricate die cut fills the window. I added a little Wink Of Stella Clear Glitter Brush marker to the spider web to add shimmer.
I adhered the rest of my images, including the pumpkins, sentiment strip and spider to my card. I also added some silver thread and sparkling clear sequins to give some shine to this Halloween card.
Once I created my card, I used the same concepts to create a tag and a treat box. It's very easy to recreate a project in a different form once you have your design nailed down. The smaller size of the tag and treat box called for some slight adjustments, but they were quick and easy to figure out.
For the tag, I used the My Favorite Things Stitched Traditional Tags dies. I love the stitched detail on the edge of these cards. In fact, I think if I were to create the card again, I might use a stitched rectangle die to die cut my card front. It's subtle details like the stitching that really adds just the right finishing touch to your projects.
The smaller size of the tag called for just a couple of adjustments. Instead of two pumpkins, I used just one. I incorporated the same paper that I used on the card project, just in a little different way. I chose to layer it up with the sentiment strip instead of attaching it at the top like I did in the card. I knew the tag would have plenty going on at the top with the twine and thread I added, so keeping the focus concentrated in one area was the best choice for this project.
The used the Lawn Fawn Pillow Box die for the treat box I created. This pillow box is perfect because it's large enough for a gift card and is also a great size for candy, jewelry or other small gifts. I chose to use Bazzill Card Shoppe card stock in Alpaca for my box base. Just wanted to switch it up from the stark white I was using.
Once again, I chose to do a partial die cut window...but this required a little alteration to one of the tabs on the box to keep the tab from showing through the window. It was a quick fix, and I'll show you how I did it in the video tutorial. I also chose to back the window with some acetate. This allows me to fill the box with candy without it spilling out.
Halloween may not be something you usually create cards for, but this concept would also be fantastic for flower dies, sentiments and many other types of die cuts and stamps. In fact, I'd love to see your spin on this idea. You can share the projects you create on Instagram or Twitter and use the hashtag #EllenHutsonSaturYay so that we can all see what you're creating!
Try making your own projects (cards, tags, treat boxes, whatevs) with peek a boo windows. Or try taking a card design and using it to create other projects, like I did with the tag and
