Thursday 26 May 2022

Allsorts 13th Birthday Challenge # 677

Huge congratulations to Brenda and her lovely Design Team - 13 years of the Allsorts Challenge - phew! One of my favourite challenges and a great place to find stimulation and ideas.

The theme this week is 'Anything for a Birthday' and I sat working until quite late yesterday evening, determined to join in the fun. This is what I made, two cards very similar to one another - just reversed the colour of the big die cut word:


The gorgeous shine on the die cut word

I used:

- 5.5" x 4.25" white card blanks, side opening

- two Concord and 9th 'Everyday Tintables' card fronts, coloured using soft blending brushes with Distress Oxides in 'Peacock Feathers' and the gorgeous 'Saltwater Taffy'

- at the same time I coloured a couple of white card snippets all over using each of the same Distress Oxide colours ........ I had a leetle  plan in mind!

- both of the 'tintables' panels were trimmed down and mounted onto backing 'frames' of black card and glued onto the card fronts

- next, thanks to an idea from Ann Melvin, I laminated both pieces of the plain Distress Oxide colored card - on the front only. So easy to do when you know how - just back the whole area where the card pieces are place in a laminating folder with copy paper or similar. The backs of the coloured pieces of card are then left unlaminated when you cut the laminating pouch open to reveal the contents - simples and also really easy to glue onto your work! Hint from Ann - don't laminate the back and front - your die cutting machine won't cut cleanly through the back layer

- then I die cut the laminated word 'friend' for each card using a die by Winnie and Walter called 'In A Word: Friend Cutaway'- and it comes out looking just as if you'd coated it in Glossy Accents, wahoo!! ☺

- stamped the 'BIRTHDAY HUGS' words onto a snippet of white card using a Versafine Clair 'Nocturne' ink pad and just hand trimmed them - the stamps are by MFT from their 'Label Maker Sentiments' set 

- layered the die cut word 'friend' onto two more white die cuts to add dimension

- then just glued the main and smaller sentiment words in place using a glue pen

- finally, added three 'Bubbles' embellishments to each card - and called them done

The Ann Melvin demo in the link above uses strips of washi tape and I've also seen another version where she laminated plain coloured card. The Glossy Accents effect really is gorgeous in real life. Not seen her laminating Distress Oxide coloured card as I did - but to be honest, any flat paper or card would work fine as far as I can see. And if you want to economise, then place your card pieces to be laminated face down on either side of the pouch with two sheets of paper in between! I promise it will make more sense if you spend five minutes watching Ann's video.

One thing I tried that didn't work was to laminate the MFT words and then fussy cut them. I think it's the action of the scissors on small pieces but they were just going to peel apart from the lamination covering - luckily I'd had my doubts and had also stamped extras! The little dots above the letter 'i' in the laminated word friend came out from the die cutting process perfectly though.

One way round it might have been to run the MFT scissor cut words back through the laminating machine, between a folded piece of copy paper. Another one to try at some point!

I confess that I then moved on to laminate some pretty napkins - using matt folders. Watch this space!

I also love those 'tintables' card fronts and had forgotten I still had them, minus one used ages ago. They are already covered with 'resist' patterns or words, all ready for some blending work. Mind you, I deffo. need to work on my blending skills.

When doing the blending I tried out a new gadget - a Waffle Flower 'Mini Stencil Mat'. Basically it's a soft floppy silicone sheet with a lip around one side and the top - which you keep your work butted up against. It does away with tape and of course, much like the Misti and other stamping platforms, your work goes back into exactly the same spot if you take it away to have a look. Really easy to clean as well. I just bought the Mini Version (about A4 size) but there is also a larger one available. I got mine from HERE.

I'd also like to enter these cards into Darnell's NBUS Challenge #38 HERE. Several new things, both of the Distress Oxides were having a first outing and also the Waffle Flower stencil mat.



23 comments:

  1. Really , really like this Di, so very pretty and effective. Love your choice of colours and your bold statements.

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  2. I'd been studying the large word and decided you must have triple embossed with UTE, just shows what I know as never seen this done before, isn't it just so effective. Loving the soft pastel colours as well.

    Just bought some of those clear dots, so effective on your Poppy card I had to have some.

    Lovely as always to see you at Allsorts, but extra special as it's our 13th Birthday, now we officially teenagers, so watch out at the Playground.

    B x

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    1. Hi Brenda - the laminating idea was new to me as well and must admit am thrilled with the results. In real life the gloss is fabulous. Once you're set up it's so incredibly easy too! The clear dots really are a lovely thing to have to hand as well. They just seem to add that little something if a space on a card looks like it wants 'something' but not too much. Oh gosh, teenagers in the Playground?! Dudley will need extra treats not to come running to tell tales!

      Hugs

      Di xx

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  3. Two gorgeous inky birthday cards. Sounds like you had fun laminating. I absolutely LOVE that big “friend” die, as you know!

    With my GD hat on I’d like to say thanks for joining in the 13th birthday celebrations at Allsorts xxx

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    1. Snigger, yes, I do remember the die! x

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  4. Wow Di you have created 2 stunning cards love the large die and the colours used for the fantastic back ground are gorgeous x

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  5. Such beautiful cards Di and I am fascinated by all the tips you have shared here - so inspiring, thank you! Hugs, Vicky xx

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  6. Love these and I think your blending is pretty good. Thanks for the info re the laminating, what a clever idea. Only trouble is, I now want to buy a laminator!

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    1. Hi Hilary. Thanks for the kind words! I bought my laminating machine for a song when Aldi first opened nearby a lot of years ago. It doesn't be need to be expensive - depending on your plans for using it. Am not sure if one that does foiling too will be dearer, mine is just pretty basic - but reliable. Made in Germany I found out when reading the manual yesterday! If you just want to play then let me know and I can laminate some of my own card stock snippets and post it to you for you to have a try. The one suggestion Ann didn't make is that 'finely defined' dies do still work but don't have the impact. Just let me know your colour choice and I can sent you a selection of laminated pieces to die cut and have a play. Di x

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  7. I just watched the video, what a great idea! Thanks for sharing Di. Your cards are lovely too, and the dots add to the design as well

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  8. Two fabulous cards Di, and so many tips and advice, I’m bursting with ideas xxx

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  9. Fabulous both the versions! Love the soft colours and the glossy effect of the sentiment!!! Thanks so much for sharing the link to the tutorial, I have absolutely to try this technique!!

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  10. Two beautiful cards Di, and you used older stash as well as the NBUS items :) Win win.
    Blessings
    Maxine

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  11. Great colour choices on these two gorgeous cards - just right for the Allsorts birthday celebrations. Off now to follow the links but sitting firmly on my 'shopping hands' 🤣

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  12. Two great cards! Same colors and still so different. Good work Di!

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  13. Well Di, what a great idea to use the laminator and then die cut the pieces and looks really effective on the larger sentiment and I love that you ink blended it yourself, and also beautifully ink blended the resist patterned card for the background, and finished beautifully with the white on black embossed sentiment strips and the pretty clear gems. x

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  14. Thank you for sharing your beautiful card at Allsorts Birthday Party;-))m

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  15. Such a pretty birthday card for your friend! Love the gorgeous pastel colours! You tried some new techniques and products, and I bet you had fun! I must confess that I rarely use my laminator but it comes in so handy when I need it.

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  16. Two fabulous bday cards with inked backgrounds and laminated jumbo friends, Di - both so fun! Thanks for sharing at NBUS!! Linda, May Guest Designer

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  17. Two beautiful cards Di. Love the colours and designs. Have a lovely weekend. Hugs, Carol S.xxx

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  18. These are really really lovely and beautiful cards Di. I've had my laminator out recently, however it was only for my son and his gaming plan!

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  19. These are gorgeous Di and very clever use of technique with the tintables and the alminating (something I've never even tried!) ... sorry for the late comment ('pooter issues) but thanks very much for joining in the Allsorts 13th birthday challenge
    Pauline xx

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  20. Two gorgeous cards Di. Love the colours!

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