Thursday, December 11, 2008

Props to da Pencil & Vellum resist 'A Year of Flowers' (& 4 2/8" box tutorial)



This puppy is a pizza-ish box for those of you who might wanna make note card sets as gifts for the holidays, but who find 3 x 3 too small. It's a 4 2/8" square box made with 12 x 12 cardstock. (No printable template for this one, due to its size, but hopefully the instructions are clear. If not, lemme know. :O) It's really easy one you try it once.)


The PDF of the directions are here linked on SplitCoastStampers & there's a printable template for envelopes to fit in it too (the envelope is resized from an older one to be sure it's fit the cards & then fit in this box.)






The technique for the stems was super exciting for me...using the lowly but lovable pencil (I have a thing for pencil sketches.) It combines with embossing & a Putty coloured Copic marker. The flowers are Vellum resist & have little embroidery knots in the center.

Supplies:

Stamps: Melanie's loverly A Year of Flowers stamp set (Love how they can give you so many different styles) :O)
Paper: 12x12 cardstock: Textured In Colour Cardstock (River Rock-retired); Naturals White cards, river rock cs, black cs. Vellum cardstock. Patterned gesso cardstock.
Colour n Schtuff: Stems: River Rock ink, Versamark, Clear embossing powder, Pencil & eraser. Flowers: River Rock ink, clear ep, Black Craft ink, Black marker, Black Embroidery thread
Goodies: Beads, Cuttlebug border Frills embossing folder




The box opens like a gift box. Rounding the corners means the flaps can tuck inside it for a tidy look. :O) Of course, if they're misbehaving, you can always trim 'em a little to make them squeeze in there.

How to make the box:


click the pic to see the directions closer

Makin' the Flowers 'n' Stems
:
(and the cards)



Step 1)
Emboss flowers from A Year Of Flowers onto vellum.
The neat thing about vellum cardstock (SU) is that you can emboss regular (dye-based) Classic inks if you're speedy with the embossing powder. This is with clear e.p.



Step 2)
Swipe on ink. This is black Craft ink. I like the smoothness of Craft ink (pigment ink) but other inks that you use for resist would work too.



Step 3)
Wipe off the excess ink. You may want to let the ink set for a little bit first (10-20 seconds)



Step 4) Reheat it. A secondary quick heating up with the heatgun will restore the gloss to your embossing.



Step 5) Add depth by shading with marker. This is a Black Close to my Heart marker.



Step 6)
Cut out the flowers



Step 7) Emboss leaves from A Year of Flowers onto patterned gesso cardstock. The gesso lets you emboss the River Rock classic ink. You could also use any vellum or glossy cardstock that lets the ink stay wet long enough to powder it.


Step 8) Draw in stems with a pencil. This is SO cool... you can use an eraser to pick up some of the pencil & then draw with the eraser onto the embossing. It smudges and creates a kind of pastelly or charcoal blended look. Different pencils & erasers may work differently... the gesso is what seems to make this work

You can also use a Copic marker to pick up the pencil (or go over it and make it permanent.) The Putty YG-91 colour goes perfectly with River Rock ink.



Step 9) Adhere the flowers to the paper & pierce holes in the center for knots
Step 10) Sew in knots for centers
Step 11) Add image to mat & sew on beads
Step 12) Cut cardstock to measure 4 2/8 by 8 1/2 inches and fold in half to make 4 2/8 square cards (love that size, not too big not too small.) :O)
Step 13) Emboss the bottom of the card with flowery Frills embossing folder
Step 14) Adhere matted image to the card



And that's all she wrote. Hope it was useful to ya!



26 comments:

Rose-Anne said...

This is brilliant. I love it and definitely will be doing this technique soon when i have some time.
Thanks for all you share with us. You are wonderful

Savitri said...

This is so pretty! Love the technique. It makes the flower pops. GORGEOUS!!!

Anonymous said...

Oh, WOW! I love those vellum resist flowers! So gorgeous!

Kim Etherington said...

I like the black of the flowers. It's nice to see something that isn't christmas.

Laurie in MN said...

I like the box for the cards. It makes it a more elegant gift.

Mari said...

Ooooo, pretty! (or maybe Ooo,shiny!) - sheesh I'm a geek! This is really lovely. If it needs a home.... ;D

Suzzi said...

Thanks so much. This turned out really beautiful and the love this technique.

TFS!

Etha said...

just amazingly beautiful!!!!! loved your tutorial how to do the flowers, tres cool!

Elena said...

Very cute pizza box! Love the new technique you shared with us Mel!
Thank you for your very nice comments at my blog!

Anonymous said...

hi Mel, beautiful work... i wish you a year of joy peace and love,love lady

Jessica Diedrich said...

These are absolutely stunning, Mel!

Mary said...

Beautiful job, I can't wait to try this out for myself. Thank you

Debby said...

Hi Mel, I love your blog so much you always have the neatest projects and always share the templates.
I left you a blog award on my blog.
Angel hugs
Debby

Theresa Momber said...

Gorgeous, Mel! Love this technique. So elegant!

Donna Baker said...

this is gorgeous! love the black flowers...

2 Worlds said...

Loved this owl box , so great !

Curt in Indy said...

This is such a stunning project and the note cards are amazing! Makes me want to take my last note card set and pitch it! LOL Great box too! Thanks for sharing! Best, Curt

Anonymous said...

I love the look of this and will have to try it once I'm done with all my holiday projects! TFS!

Lisa Olson said...

Aw Mel these are absolutely fabulous, thank you so much for sharing this with us, hope to see you soon.

Maria said...

Gosh, your box is so pretty Mel. I really love what you did with the flowers. . .they are always so pretty. You have a way with flowers. . :) As always. . .beautiful job and thanks for the template/tutorial!!

Maria

Shirley said...

What a cool project, Mel. A really beutiful one too! Hope things are sorting out for you. Hugs!

Catherine said...

I am so going to try out this technique, Mel! It looks amazing!!!

Anonymous said...

Wow, that is absolutely stunning! Beautiful job!!! TFS!

Cheri said...

Once again, you've created something beautiful! That's a cool technique, too!

Sue McGettigan said...

Very cool project - love those flower notecards - beautiful!

Unknown said...

This is sooo beautiful!!!!