Saturday, June 30, 2012

Make It Monday: Step-it-up Embellishments and a Sunshine-y tip!

I finally finished a pair of cards for this week's Make It Monday, and I also have a tip to share! Lots of photos in this post! :) See the bottom of the post for my tip on "expanding" the sun rays in the Hello Sunshine stamp set.

The challenge for Dawn's MIM tutorial is to make similar cards with varying amounts of layers and embellishments. I didn't make my cards as similar as Dawn's, but they do have similar design elements. I used the new Hello Sunshine set for both. The first is the "stepped down" version. I created the sunburst background using Summer Sunrise and Hawaiian Shores ink, and used the Happy Day label die-cut for my sentiment focal point. I stamped the medallion from Lovely Layers (a perfect fit!) in Harvest Gold, and then stamped the sentiment from Beautiful Butterflies on top.


I finished off the focal point with a few clear gems and popped it up on the sunburst panel, which is then adhered to a Harvest Gold card base.


My second card, the "stepped up" version, is for my son's upcoming 9th birthday! Since his birthday is July 3, it's always easy to work with a red/white/blue theme. This card is larger than the one above - the sunburst panel (in Enchanted Evening and Pure Poppy) is 5.5x4.25, and the card base is 6.25x5.


For the focal point, I have a Mat Stack 5 stamped in Pure Poppy with the stars background from Est. 1776. I then layered a Pure Poppy Doily Details die-cut, and a By the Numbers number "9" die-cut. I used two Tiny Tags, stamping the square one with the "happy birthday" from Tag-Its 1, and the little stars from Est. 1776. The "celebrating from Big Birthday Wishes is stamped on a double-ended banner die-cut.


The Enchanted Evening mat, the Mat Stack 5, and the number 9 are each popped up on foam adhesive for more dimension and visual impact of the layering. I finished the panel off with 3 little brads in the bottom corner, and by inking the edges of all the layers with light brown chalk ink.



Now, here is my tip, which might be obvious but I'm not sure I've seen it mentioned before. Because I wanted to layer the sunshine "bursts" behind a larger focal point, I wanted to "expand" the sunburst. But I still use the ingenious starburst circle positioner in the set, to get a perfectly spaced, "even" sunburst. So here is what I did.

First, I used a gridline stamping block and very carefully and deliberately lined up the sunburst so that the center line of the block goes right down the center of the sunburst, and so that the tip of the sunburst is right at a "crossroads" of the gridlines. Here I inked it up with black ink to make sure you can see what I mean:


Now, stamp the positioner sunburst circle in whatever color you want - I used black since it will be covered up when the card is complete. Then ink up the sunburst, but instead of positioning it BETWEEN the lines of the circle with the point in the center, you will position is at the END of the line, with the "crossroads" at the tip right at the end of the line, and the center line of the block directly OVER the LINE of the positioner circle, like so:


I worked my way around the circle like this, stamping in Hawaiian Shores at every other line. Then I went back in with the solid sunburst and stamped the same way, and the alternate lines. This is what I ended up with:


Using this method, you can "expand" the overall size of the sunburst as much as you want, whereas if it was stamped in the usual way, most of the pattern would be "lost" under the larger focal point that is layered on top of it. It also allows the sunbursts to reach further to the edge of the card, especially if you are putting the center point "off center", as I have on these two cards. Notice on the 9th birthday card above that ALL the "rays" reach to the outer edge of the A2 sized panel.

Well, thanks for stopping by, and thanks Dawn and PTI for another great Make It Monday!

12 comments:

Joyce said...

Two beautiful cards, and thanks for the hints on the sun rays. May come in handy someday. Happy birthday to your son.

Melissa said...

Great cards and tip! Hope your son has a wonderful bday!

Kim Heggins said...

Wow...both of your cards are fabulous. My stamp set like this is still sitting in it's package, thank you for the inspiration! That red,white and blue card is just amazing!

Colleen said...

Fabulous, thanks for taking the time to demonstrate your tip! That will be very useful...great cards...

Unknown said...

Both cards are great. I love the color choices...and great tip. Thanks for taking the time to share it.

pamela said...

Super tip! It's great when you have a huge embellishment to hide the middle :)

Ted said...

Debbie, these are awesome cards! I especially like your son's 9th birthday card. :) Thank you for sharing your tip. :)

Kathy Mc said...

Great cards, Debbie, and thanks for the awesome tip! Now you realize you are enabling me to "need" this stamp set? My nephew's birthday is also on the 3rd ~ Happy Birthday to your son!

June K said...

Lovely cards. Thanks so much for the tip and clear explanation.

Cassie_lu said...

Great cards and tip to exand the rays.

Teresa said...

Great cards, Debbie. Your son's birthday card Is very eye catching!

Wanda G (stampcat) said...

FABULOUS CARDS!!! I just bought this set, so thank you very much for the tip!! :-)