Please excuse my blog at the moment as it's in the process of being revitalised.
Loads of my lovely blogging friends have asked me to do a tutorial on the style of acetate card I've had a craze on making recently so this afternoon with both camera and craft knife in hand I've had a go.
Might be a good time to get yourself a cuppa as there are 26 photos and after messing around taking them all I'm not wasting any.
Well here goes...
- Begin by cutting a piece of card to form the back of your creation. I chose to make the most popular size of square card so my piece of black card measured approx 6" x 6".
- Next cut a piece of thick acetate 6" x 7".
- TOP TIP 1 - Don't throw any small scraps of acetate away. These are absolutely fabulous for stamping sentiments on using Stazon. Stamp on a sentiment that you think may just be the ideal one to finish off a card and then place it in position on the card to help you decide the best place for the sentiment or even whether it is the right size or not. If you like it stamp the sentiment directly on to the card - if not try something else. Nothing is wasted. Keep the stamped acetate for another time.
- Placing the acetate on the score board using the 7 " side score at half an inch and one inch.
- Fold the acetate at the half inch scoreline. Be careful to fold accurately as this will effect the finished look of the card. Use a bone folder or other tool to make the crease as sharp as possible.
- Now attach the acetate to the card base. Carefully apply DST to the top edge of the black base card. The tape should be more or less the same width as your fold on the acetate.
- Pull back a small section of the tape at both ends.
- Then place the fold of the acetate on top lining the two pieces up exactly. Removing a small piece of the tape at each end makes this part far easier and allows for really accurate positioning. (This is my third card in this style and I learnt the hard way how important it is to get it absolutely straight).
- Now we're reaching the really fun part. Find the score line on the acetate at the one inch point and fold over as shown in the picture. This line can be quite tricky to fold, but do it as carefully as possible and again use the bone folder to get the fold as crisp as you can.
- Stand the card up to check it works and give yourself a pat on the back. Sometimes the acetate needs a little tweak along the folds to make it stand properly, but once the card is made it is fine.
- As you can see in the picture the DST shows up very clearly and doesn't look very good. At this point I think it's a good idea to attach another piece of 6" x 6" black card over the inside of the card. This means that the acetate flap attached to the base card with DST is hidden sandwiched between the two layers of black card giving a very professional finish.
- TOP TIP 2 - Have a bin nearby for all the DST bits (unlike me!- LOL)
- Now it's time to make the scene to go on the back of the card. I used this fab sheet of decoupage by Kanban, but of course you can create any scene you like. I've also made a sunshine birthday card which you can find here.
- I didn't want to stick my decoupage pieces staight on to the card inner so I made an extra layer to mount the decoupage on. It's a standing joke in our house and amongst my friends that my cards wouldn't blow over in a hurricane never mind a slight draft when a door opens.
- Cut out the pieces and build your scene up ready to go inside the card.
- Attach the finished piece to the inside of the card. Stand the card up and admire your work again.
- Design and make a strip to attach to the bottom front of the acetate. This is a good place to place the sentiment or any kind of trim you want to add.
- Cut out an embellishment for the front of the acetate. I was lucky in that my Kanban decoupage already had a fab Santa in his plane included, but you could perhaps use a Santa in his sleigh stamp to create something or maybe use snowflakes on the front of the the acetate. The possibilities are endless.
- Before attaching your embellishment to the front of your card draw around it on black or other suitable colour to create a silhouette version to attach to the inside of the acetate to ensure a really neat professional finish.
and that is the last stage so give yourself a huge pat on the back and have a well deserved cup of coffee.
My finished card is also for the following challenges...
IMPORTANT...
If you do decide to have a go at one of these cards please please show me, by leaving a comment. I would love to see some different versions. So would everyone else too. Please leave a comment with a link to your card and do say if you would like your name adding to my list below. My blogging friend Claire made her card after seeing my first creation - you can see her card take on this at..
Claire's Crafty Creations
More fab work....
A great snowman card by Ann at
Spirit of Creativity.
another really super Christmas card by Marianne
HERE
(this space is for your cards)
and more examples by me
here and...
My Bah! Humbug! card for next week's challenge is going to be a variation on this theme so watch this space.
Have a great weekend everyone.
Ann xxx
