Pop-up Card: Don't invite the gnomes!

Yesterday I thought a lot about my brother-in-law, Karl, who would have celebrated his 37th birthday. Sadly, we lost Karl at the age of 20 in a car accident. My son, Karl, never knew his uncle and namesake. 

Karl always liked my sick humor cards. The last card that he received from me was a rubber stamped depiction of the phrase "It's all fun and games until somebody loses an eye!" complete with an eyeball rolling across the floor and a kid with a bloody eye socket.

Good times!

I'm sure it was Karl's influence that caused me to look at my adorable new Gnome Sweet Gnome rubber stamp set from Lawn Fawn and immediately visualize those gnomes going rogue . . .

Happy Birthday, Karl! We miss you!

 

Supply Links:

InLinkz.com

In other news, I'm quite excited to be a student at True Scrap 3 this weekend! There is still time to sign up! Here is the link:

Pop-up Mothers Day Card using Print2Cut

Yes, yes, I fell off the face of the earth again. I know. It happens.

Too frequently.

*sigh*

I've been working on a fun project involving a corporate client and some custom pop-ups. It's really cool, actually, and I wouldn't have been able to achieve the same level of professionalism without a handy assist from my Sizzix eclips machine with eCal software, and the Print2Cut feature.

Since I am unable to share any photos of the corporate work, I thought I would share my new Print2Cut skills by cutting out some amazing digital art from Allison Strine.

Allison's vivid collage-y ladybirds, which can be purchased on jewelry, cards, art prints, magnets, etc. through her Etsy shop, are also available as digital collage sheets. In the past, I would have had to fussy cut the images using detail scissors, but not any more!

Thanks to Print2Cut, I can let the eclips cut out my collage elements perfectly! In this case, I used two birds from the Sweet Tweet Collage Sheet cut out using Print2Cut and then adhered to my pop-up die, (Scalloped Circle Pop-up, cut from clear) the Inchie Love Sheet for the front of the card, and, for the greeting, the Inchie Alphabet Collage Sheet.
 

If you are interested in my method for using Print2Cut with detailed JPEG's like this, then here is a video where you can watch me do it.

One thing to note - my way is not the only way. It may not even be the best way, but it works, so I'm going with it. There are other ways to get your cut layer for intricate images like this. If you have image editing software like Photoshop (or Elements) then you can pull a copy of your image into that software, fill it with solid black, and then import the black image into eCal and the onboard trace will give you a perfect outline without all the extra goop in the middle.

However, for the purposes of this tutorial, I challenged myself to do it all in eCal and not rely on any other software. 

  

EDITED TO ADD: Oooh! I just got an excellent tip from Kevin at Sizzix to use the "Style/Blackout" option on the Shadow Layer and then I can skip the break apart step. Brilliant! Love Print2Cut!

The card itself is a 6x12 strip of white cardstock, folded in half. A printed section of the Love collage sheet is glued to the front of the card.

Inside, I cut two 5.75" squares of patterned paper for the interior panels and then cut my Scalloped Circle Pop-up die from thin clear plastic so it wouldn't be visible. The collage elements are attached to the tiers of the pop-up and a few flowers were sprinkled in the background. Thanks to Allison Strine and Print2Cut, this Mother's Day card was a cinch!

Here are my supply links for the card. 

Sizzix 657130 Scalloped Circle Insert Sizzix eclips w/eCal software Sizzix Big Shot machine Allison Strine Sweet Tweet Collage Sheet Allison Strine Love Inchie Collage Sheet Allison Strine Inchie Alpha Collage Sheet Basic Grey Indian Summer "Cordovan" paper Petaloo Flora Doodles Jeweled Flowers Grafix thin plastic Bazzill White Cardstock

InLinkz.com

CLASS: Pop-up Layouts - Seasons & For the Record

Next Saturday, April 7th, 2012, is my monthly teaching date at Scrapp'n Savvy, in Spring, TX. My regular students know that we rotate between mini-albums, cards and layout classes, but note that we are swapping the album and cards this quarter so the May class will be a mini-album and the June class will be cards using the new Pop 'n Cuts dies.

Normally in the Layout classes I design two double-page spreads and we do one half of each of them as the class project and you receive instructions and a shopping list if you want to turn them into spreads.

For the first layout, For the Record, we will do just that - you will complete the pop-up page (right page) in class and will get instructions for the left page. (Hint - you're getting all the paper and stickers in your class kit, so your shopping list for this one is just a piece of cardstock for the background, one for the mat, and some optional rhinestones)

The pop-up bird is not a die. It is a template. However, for the class kits I'm cutting it for you on my Sizzix eclips machine, so you won't have to cut it! You'll receive a paper template as a take-home and if you buy an eclips through Scrapp'n Savvy, you also get the digital cut file! 

The second layout was also supposed to be half, but I didn't like the look of all four cards opening on one page, and I also didn't like the idea of teaching only half the seasons, so you will complete this entire spread in class:

I will show you how to alter your page protectors so all four cards can open in your album. Bring two page protectors with you if you want to do this in class.

Here is how the spread looks with all four cards open:

I made a Seasons layout like this about 3 years ago using one of my first pop-up dies, the tree, which is now retired. To revive this look, I have turned to one of my current AVAILABLE NOW pop-up dies, the Scalloped Circle pop-up insert. The trees were cut on my eclips machine and will be pre-cut for the class kits. You will receive a paper template in class, but if you buy an eclips through Scrapp'n Savvy, you also get the cut files! 

Here are some detail shots of the project:

WHAT TO BRING:

• Scissors
• Trimmer
• Tape Runner & Fine line glue pen
• Strong adhesive like tacky tape or Scor tape, plus mini-glue dots
• Ranger Blending Tool and black ink (for bird's back)
• Sanding Block or sandpaper
• Mini-stapler and staples (Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher is my favorite!)
• Bone Folder
• Pencil & ruler
• Needle-nosed pliers to work with jump rings
• Optional: (3) page protectors, craft knife and cutting mat

There are two class sessions next Saturday and I'm not sure how many spots are available, so call Scrapp'n Savvy if you are interested.