Wednesday 5 June 2019

Treescape Aperture cards

A little while ago (back in March) I watched a Claritystamp video - featuring Paul Church - and absolutely loved what he was doing. So, I sent off for some goodies and last week finally managed to have a little play.

I rapidly discovered that Paul has a way of making things look so easy and it seemed as if all my work (I made five similar cards) might have been in vain. But, I made some changes and still got a very similar result:
I used:

- 6" x 6" Claritystamp square black card blanks - which I trimmed down to 5.75" square to be sure the edges weren't spoiled by the Cuttlebug (I can see a Big Shot or similar in the offing, once I make some room for it!)

- then I die cut the front of the card blank using a Claritystamp die called 'Treescape Aperture' - the pieces fall out beautifully and I really love the quality of the dies

- followed Paul's tip to run the card through the Cuttlebug with a piece of white paper on either side of the die cut to sort of flatten the die cut as they do tend to be a bit 'bowed' due to the volume of cutting

- at that point (I was making five cards) I put things to one side for the day

- when I returned the following day, those cards were 'bowed' once again and that wasn't going to look good with the loose double 'Northern Lights' insert Paul had used

- so, I just backed the die cut area with a square of Claritystamp 'Northern Lights' which is about quarter of an inch larger than the aperture all round and stuck it in place using a tape runner along each edge

- then, to cover that I added a square of black card stock, just a bit smaller than the card front and of course that flattened the card front nicely as well

- finally added plain white inserts with a large sized 'celebrate' word stamped inside - using Memento 'Tuxedo Black' ink and a stamp from MFT's 'Big Birthday Wishes' set of sentiment stamps

These cards can be used for Birthdays or even just general use such as being included with Playground prizes!

I made matching envelopes as well using the same 12" x 12" papers - which Paul Church also showed in his video - you can find it on YouTube HERE.







28 comments:

  1. Gorgeous Di, love that warm ombre background. It's stunning with the die cut :)

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  2. A fabulous card. Love the design.
    Valerija xx

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  3. A fabulous card Di and thanks for the link to the video too.
    Kath x

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  4. Things always look so easy on TV or YouTube - you've done a grand job here. Managed to resist buying any of these dies but I'm not sure how much longer I can hold out against temptation.

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  5. WOW, that's a stunning card Di. Love the smart inky background behind the tree silhouettes. Fab!


    Hugs, Sarn xxx

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  6. Hi Di this is a stunning card I love it. I watched the envelope video and it took me three attempt to get it right. Paul does make things look easy. Take care. Hugs Jackie

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  7. This looks fantastic Di, I'm ashamed to say that I bought this die when it was on TV and have not used it yet.

    Sue xx

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  8. Fantastic looking and wouldn't have guessed you had problems at all! xoxo

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  9. I do watch the Clarity You Tube Tuesday videos and I remember this idea with dies and papers and I love that bp with the Treescape die which is pretty and really striking, a great result Di. x

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  10. Wow, what an amazing card. I love the colours and that fabulous die. I do hate it when these clever people make things look so simple.... it makes me feel like I'm back in infant's school, but your card looks like you've just graduated from uni with honours xx

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  11. A great card Di and glad that you managed to have a play about.... I bought a big shot last year - never looked back!

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  12. This is beautiful. Love the dimensional look and the lovely colors. 

[Bunny]`

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  13. I had to go watch the video. The papers alone are gorgeous. They have very nice products.

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  14. Such a pretty card and what a gorgeous background!

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  15. A gorgeous card Di, lovely colours x

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  16. Wow, it's a so sweet scenic card!! LOVE the background and this wood silhouette is amazing!! Well done on making the card more sturdy! :)
    Hugs

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  17. That is a lovely effect - pity about the bowing though.

    It's a lovely die but I am going to be good, after seeing a stamp on Darnells blog this week ordering it (with some other stuff!) it was here the next day.

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  18. Brilliant Di, well done, perseverance paid off!
    prayer hugs, Shaz.x

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  19. Beautiful Di! I love your background!

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  20. Hi Di,
    oh this is such a very pretty card and it looks fantastic .
    Love the wonderful colour underneath and that gorgeous die cut.
    Lots of crafty love. Jenny L.

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  21. Oh wow--your version is probably better than the original as I love the black frame, Di! Now I really want to win a Playground prize so I get one of these! Before you get a bigger machine, check out the Gemini Jr. It really is wonderful not to do the manual cranking--especially the older I get!

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  22. No wonder you wanted that die, as it's great for a simple but thoroughly striking card design! I wonder if flipping the die cut over and using the edge of a table to make it "bow" the opposite way might flatten it better than trying to run it through the die machine again? That's worked for me in cases where I couldn't seem to flatten paper any other way.

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  23. wow, this is amazing, I sometimes try to do something similar but it is not so beautiful as yours. stunning colours.
    thank you so much for the link, I will watch this.
    hugs xx

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  24. Wow! This is gorgeous... that ol' silhouette idea again :-) Love the die and you've done a perfect job of colouring the sky; love it, Donna xx

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  25. Ooh this is soooooo gorgeous! A lovely warm feel and the die is awesome. Sorry I haven't been around in Blogland for so long, will try and do a post soon too. Hope you are ok. Hugs xxxxxxxxxxxxx

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