It's Written in the Stars

This is only the second time I've gotten to play with the Lawn Fawn Shadow Box Card die set, but I've had this card brewing in my mind since I bought the Upon a Star Stamps and matching dies.  I've had this set for a while but I have never used it; I just couldn't get this card out of my mind! Now that it's finally made, I can move on <grin>.  Speaking of moving on, I just placed another order with Dies R Us because not only are their die prices insanely low, but they now stock paper, adhesives, Distress markers, and SO much more.  If you haven't been to the store in a while, you need to GO!  Now let's get back to my card; I truly enjoyed making it and I hope you like it.

What I Used to Make my Card:
Black Card
Lawn Fawn Shadow Box Card Die Set, #LF1486
Lawn Fawn Scripty Sayings Stamp Set, #LF844
Lawn Fawn Upon a Star Stamp Set, #LF1407 {New}
Lawn Fawn Upon a Star Die Set, #LF1408 {New}
MISTI
Lawn Fawn Starry Skies Die, #LF1377 {New}
Star/Night Sky Patterned Paper {stash}
Banner - Silhouette Cameo {but you could use these instead}
Hero Arts Intense Black Ink
Scor-Tape, 1/8" size
Embossing Ink
Simon Says Stamp Detail White Embossing Powder
Watercolor Paper
Derwent Inktense Water Color Pencils
Light & Dark Brown Card
Silver Glitter Card
Wink of Stella in Clear
Acetate 

Like all fabulous Lawn Fawn products {the Shadow Box Card is a stand alone die, which means there is no coordinating stamp set}, Kelly has produced an amazing video that you can see here.  However, I changed my card up a bit.  I was inspired by this card that Kelly created {the owner and designer of Lawn Fawn}.  She used a piece of acetate to hold up one of her constellations; she talks about it in the video I referenced above.   Click on the image and you can see where I pointed out the acetate.  Like usual for me, the bunnies I used were already colored with Derwent Watercolor Pencils and cut out.  I actually have a few pairs of the rabbits and the foxes, which come with the Upon a Star set, all colored and cut out, ready to go for when the mood strikes me.

These cards are not complicated, but I took a few photos of how I made the card and how I changed it a bit.  

 On the right hand side, here are the two panels that were cut out from the dies, all the creases and tabs are folded. 

On the left you'll see the two panels attached to each other, but it's not time to do that yet.  

The background paper of the night sky was cut out and attached to the very back panel of the box prior to attaching the hills.

 Here are the panels - I cut out three of them - two I attached as instructed and one I kept separate to cut it down.  The third panel is what I am going to use to attach the acetate components.  This where I changed up the construction of the card.  On most of the shadow box cards made with the kit, there are only two hills.  I needed the third to attach my pieces that will look like they are floating {if it comes out the way I picture it in my mind}.
On the right are all three panels attached to the shadow box on one side.  The left shows the box constructed and how the first two panels {hills} can be seen, but the third one, in the very back, can't be seen.  

I put the box aside and began to construct the banner that I wanted to use. In the photo on the right, I show how I stamped the sentiment on the banner.  I used my MISTI to hold the banner and the stamp in place.  The sides of the banner are folded and I put sticky notes under each side because the stamp is longer than the banner.  This way the over-stamp won't get on the sides of the banner.

The photo on the right shows the banner stamped.  See how there was a bit of over stamping on the sticky note?


Here is a picture of the banner completed: 

Back to the shadow box; here are the three hills attached.  This is the view from the top of the box, the patterned paper is the back and the opening is the front.  On the left are some of the pieces I wanted to use in the shadow box.  I ended up switching them up, which I do quite often when making a card.  I think I want certain things and then I think other things will look better.

As I began to build up the scene, I decided I need a few bare trees to even out the box.  I cut out the small trees with dark brown paper and attached them to the second hill.  Then I cut out the skinny strips of acetate I needed to hold up the heart constellation; at this point I wasn't sure what else I was going to put in the scene.  

I flipped through my dies and came across the Lawn Fawn Starry Skies die set and decided a few glittery stars were just what I needed.  I cut out some of the stars from silver glitter card and attached some to the back of the card {where the patterned paper is} and then I floated some using the acetate strips.  I attached the bunnies and the banner; lastly, I used Clear Wink of Stella around the exterior of the box to give just a bit more sparkle.

On the right you can see a side view of the card.  It was a trial to get a good picture not showing the acetate!  I hope you enjoyed this tutorial as much as I did making it.  Don't forget, the Dies R Us store is carrying more than dies now, check out the new and improved inventory of crafting goodies! Hugs, Christi

Another Look

Don't forget to join in on all the fun at the Dies R Us Challenge Blog.  

There's  a new challenge theme offered on the 1st and 15th of each month

 and one lucky  randomly drawn winner will receive a gift voucher prize to 

the Dies R Us Store.  For your convenience, all the important Dies R Us 

links are provided below.

click below for:

STORE
CHALLENGE BLOG
FACEBOOK
INSPIRATION BLOG

FRIENDS OF DIES R US PINTEREST PAGE

I am entering my It's Written in the Stars card in the following challenges:
Lawn Fawnatics Challenge - #21, Inspiration Board {see graphic below}
Daisy Chain Challenges - #15, Something New
Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Add a Sentiment
Die Cut Diva's - M, Use or Do Something New
a2z Scrapbooking - M, New to Me
Cuttlebug Mania - Valentines
Crafting by Designs - Out of this World
The Rubber Buggy Challenge - #10, Valentine {see graphic below}

 

A Balancing Act. . .

BALANCE is this month’s theme at Anything But a Card and it was a tough one for me. I feel that I lack balance in most aspects of my life, yet it is something that I don’t think about often.  My thought behind my project was that I need a reminder, a daily reminder, to balance my life.  One of the things that I feel will help me balance my crafty life is to use up some of this tremendous stash I have so I decided to make a banner using manila tags.  I recently put a cork board above my craft room computer and with all these elements combined, my balance project was born.

The Tags, already colored & layered

What I Used:

• 7 Manila #8 Tags
• Old book pages dry brushed with gesso (mine were already done)
• Distress Paints in the following colors: Dusty Concord, Seedless Preserves, Stormy Sky, Chipped Sapphire and Brushed Pewter.
• Water Spritz Bottle
• Craft Sheet
• Purple Cardstock (for letters)
• Silhouette Cameo (for letters – you can also cut them freehand or use stickers)
• Stickles in Diamond
• White Cardstock
• Gesso
• Eye Dropper
• Silver ribbon
• Your Words (the words you choose to put on your tags)
• 7 plastic coated paper clips
• Crafter’s Pick Glue

First, I “made” the tags.  I used the Distress Paints and just continually made the colors swirl into each other and then I smooshed the tags onto the craft sheet.  When I saw a combination of color I liked, I would allow the tags to dry before adding more color (I used a heat gun or let them dry naturally).  Then I would color them some more with the Distress Paints – I wanted as much of the manila color to be covered as possible, but I didn’t want them to get muddy, which is why the drying is important.   I used some old book pages that I had already covered with plain gesso in the next step.  The white gesso looked too stark next to the warm purples and blues so I colored some gesso with the Seedless Preserves Distress Paint.  I just used an eye dropper and mixed the color in until I got a shade I liked.  Then I put that mix on the pages.  Once they dried, I ripped them into approximately the same size so I could mat them onto the tags. 

The letters were cut out using my Silhouette Cameo.  I just picked a font and spelled out BALANCE using the purple cardstock cut out the letters and glued them onto the tags.

The tags before the bling & some of the goodies I used to decorate the word cards.

 One thing that was important to me was the ability to change what the tags said; so instead of printing my word on the tag, I printed it onto white cardstock.  I used rubber stamps, Distress Markers, the computer, my own printing, decorative scissors, inks and punches to make my words.  I had a fabulous time! It felt like playing – like back when I first started rubber stamping. I just went to town!  I chose words that began with the same letter that was on the tag they were clipped to; for example, on the “L” in balance I stuck the word “learn”. 

The word cards on the first three letters

That’s the way I have it right now, but that may change.  I wanted to be able to change the words because I know if my eye gets used to seeing something I won’t “see” it anymore. 

The word cards on the last four letters

I used plastic coated paperclips to attach my words to my tags.  Lastly, I threaded a small piece of silver ribbon through each tag & then tied that to a long piece of ribbon – this way I can also move the tags around a bit if need be.  This is when I decided that the letters blended in too much and needed a bit of bling, so I took the word cards off the tags and ran the Diamond Stickles inside the letters.  I like it MUCH better with the bling. Then I put the word cards back on & hung the banner up - TADA!

  

All blinged up - complete with cat hair

The banner all done & hanging up!

I really enjoyed making this banner – and once I got going the process was much smoother than I anticipated.  Personally, I enjoy to be challenged; helps me stretch my wings.  I hope this inspires you to create some balance in your life, if needed. Don't forget, there is still time to enter the challenge at Anything But a Card - create some balance & link it up! Thanks for stopping by!  

I would like to enter my Tag Banner in the following challenges:
Brown Sugar Challenge - #77 Anything Goes 
Treasured Times Challenge Blog - #10 Anything Goes
Crafty Girls Challenge - #9 Anything Goes (second entry)

The BOO Banner

I have seen a plethora of banners lately but this is my first attempt to make one; mostly because I have no where to hang one & I can’t draw a crooked line.  But then I got my Silhouette Cameo and I actually made my own triangles and viola! My banner was born – well, at least the idea of my banner.

 

In hindsight, I would have made them larger as I don’t feel I had enough room to truly decorate the individual triangles as much as I wanted but overall I am pleased with the results. 

First, I designed the triangles – the tops are about 5” across and the V part is about 6 ½” on each side. I cut them from more of the My Mind’s Eye Halloween paper I had (all from the old Spooked collection).  I then dug through my stash of Dresden – I knew I had these medallion-like black pieces and I thought they’d look great on the banner.  I then used my Silhouette Cameo  to make the BOO letters – I cut them out in various fonts and sizes because I am still not trusting of the measurements the machine shows me & I wanted to pick the best one for the banner.  And who doesn’t like to play around and try different things? Plus, I know I can use whatever I have left on another project.  So I picked the letters I wanted to use and glued them to the medallions.  I put a black plastic gem on each tip to, hopefully, give some weight to the paper; I had originally planned on using this wonderful orange piece of plastic folder under the triangles but I ruined it by drawing on the wrong side with a black Sharpie – so I threw the plastic and the idea out.  I got this wonderful pack of paper, called Glitter Silk from Core’dinations so I decided to punch out some stars to add some bling.  I was surprised at how easily this paper was punched – I used a small old star punch, one of those button ones (not the cool new lever ones) and it punched like a dream! I have had more issues with trying to punch regular card stock than this paper and if you get a chance to get some I highly recommend it.

So I ironed my ribbon (that I got from May Arts) that I used to actually dangle my triangles from – I know, I was shocked that I actually ironed it but I really wanted the ribbon to be creased in half & the only way to do that was to iron it.  I haven’t used my iron in years and am happy to report it worked fine.  Then I glued my banner pieces to the ribbon.  I used “ribbon glue” hoping that the glue wouldn’t show through the ribbon and for the most part, it stayed hidden.  I decided my banner needed more bling and I found a foam die cut I had made of a skull using one of the Tim Holtz Sizzix Dies and it looked blah, so I glittered it.  I also decided to punch out some more stars, just bigger, to add along the ribbon. 

That was it!  I must confess the word “boo” means more to me than just a word to use to scare someone.  As some of you know, I am the mom to four beautiful kitties, 2 boys, Spike, who will be 19,and Boo, who is 17. My girls are Monster, 16, and Mew, 4 months .  Boo is a Mama’s boy – he hates everyone but me.  Honestly.  If I am home alone he acts almost like a normal cat, but if someone else is around, he would live under the bed if I fed him and provided a litter box.  He recently had some dental surgery and I’m happy to report he came out fine and is starting to feel much better – so this banner is also a celebration of Boo’s recovery! (the pictures aren't the best - the banner is literally tacked to my wall in the laundry room.  To see them bigger, as always, just click on them).

 

I am entering my banner in the following challenges:                        
Crafty Ribbons Challenge  - Anything Goes

2 Sisters Challenge  - cute & spooky

Crafts 4 Eternity - Halloween

Cut It Up - Halloween/Day of the Dead

Left of Center  - Halloween/LOC

I am adding my project to this challenge as well - Thanks Linda!!
Craft My Life - Anything But a Card (challenge runs for 2 months)

Thank you for stopping by!  I have one more spooktacular project to share before Halloween is over – look for it to be posted in the next few days.

And if you are wondering where I found these fantastic challenges to enter just take a look at Challenges for Days – an awesome blog that lists crafty challenges!