Copic Design Team Member Sharon Harnist is back this week to share some basic cardmaking tips as she walks us through the creation of this beautiful friendship card:
1. To form card base, cut an 8.50” x 11” piece of cardstock in half, then fold in half. This yields a typical 5.50” x 4.25”, or A2 size) card base. Cutting lengthwise (or vertical) will yield a top-folded tall card like the one above, or it can be turned horizontally and have a left fold. Cutting the whole piece of cardstock in half horizontally will yield a top folded horizontal card or left folded tall card. Here, I used Black Onyx cardstock.
2. Next, I used an alphabet background stamp (meaning it is also sized 5.50” x 4.25” and will cover the whole background of a card) and inked it with a watermark, or embossing, ink and stamped it ontoheavy (120 lb.) white cardstock. This type of ink stays “tacky” or wet longer than regular dye ink and can either be heat embossed or left to dry on its own. When this ink is stamped onto most colored cardstock and left to dry on its own, it will yield a “watermarked” (or ghosted) image which is a little darker/deeper than the color of cardstock it was stamped on – a very pretty, subtle effect. I like using a heavy weight (120 lb.) cardstock, so it has less of a chance to warp with the heat embossing.
3. Next, I heat embossed the alpha background with clear detail embossing powder. To do this, just sprinkle the powder all over the embossing ink and tilt the cardstock back and forth to spread the powder. Be sure not to touch the ink or powder, or this will knock off the powder and/or smear the ink and leave a gap in your finished embossed background. The powder may even stick to the oils on the cardstock from your hands, so be careful when handling the cardstock, not to touch it too much. When the embossing powder is spread over all the wet ink, turn the cardstock over and tap it from the back side, using a scratch piece of paper to catch the extra powder. This will knock off the extra amount of powder that is not needed. The extra powder can then be returned to its jar and used again. Then use a Heat It Craft Tool to heat and set the embossing powder. As the heat tool heats up, hold it about 6-inches over the ink & powder, moving the tool all over the stamped image (not staying in one place too long) so the cardstock does not scorch. You will see the embossing powder turn from a powder texture to a shiny, raised texture/image – that’s how you will know it’s done and you can move on to another part of the image. Allow cardstock to cool.
4. Now comes the fun part – adding color! Using Copic Airbrush Starter Set 1N, or Sparmax Windstorm Air Compressor & ABS3, airbrush whatever Copic Sketch Marker colors you wish onto the background, either in a pattern or more randomly like I did here. I used BV02 and Y23.
5. The slick, raised, embossed images will also be colored, so to remove the color from the embossed areas and have the white cardstock underneath show up better, creating more contrast with the colored cardstock, use an alcohol prep pad (used by hospitals or doctors/nurses to clean your skin before giving you an injection – they can be found near the bandages in your grocery or drug store) and gently/quickly wipe over the raised, embossed surfaces. Alternately, you can also apply Copic Colorless Blender to a tissue or paper towel and wipe off the embossed images. Just don’t linger too long or saturate the cardstock too much, or you might muddy the colors together or remove too much color from the cardstock!
6. Apply Copic 1/4” Double-Sided High Tack Tissue Tape to the backside of the background. Remove the protective backing and adhere the background to the black card base. The heat embossing can warp the cardstock sometimes, so this tape will hold the cardstock piece securely and flat against the card base.
7. Stamp friendship sentiment with Memento Tuxedo Black ink onto white cardstock and die cut the sentiment with Spellbinders Classic Oval Nestabilities die. While the cardstock is still in the die, airbrush Y23 around the edges of the die. These dies have a recessed area around the inside the cutting lines and the die acts as a stencil. When the cardstock is removed from the die you’ll see the white of the cardstock remaining where the die was covering the cardstock (shown in the photo below):
8. Airbrush a tiny white paper rose with whatever color you’d like. Here, I used BV02 to match my background. White papercrafting accessories and embellishments are your friend. You can customize with any of Copic’s 358 colors of Sketch Markers or Various Ink Refills!
9. Place a cut length of white ribbon (here, I used white rayon seam binding) into a snack-sized baggie and drop Various Refill Ink onto the ribbon. Use the bag to move the ink around and distribute it all over the ribbon. The bag keeps your hands clean and also extends the drying time of the Various Ink, so it can be worked all over and into the ribbon.
I would have preferred to use BV02 Various Ink Refill to match the other parts of my card, but BV13 is the closest color I had. So I also added 0-Colorless Blender into the baggie, to dilute the color a bit. Keep in mind the color will be a little lighter when it is dry.
10. Next, remove the ribbon from the bag and place onto a few tissues or paper towel and blot the excess ink from the ribbon. I like a wrinkled look, so I crumpled the ribbon quite a bit inside the tissue. Remove the ribbon and let it finish drying (it doesn’t take long with the alcohol ink):
11. Wrap the ribbon around the card base and tie into a bow.
12. Apply cut pieces of Copic’s 1/4” Double-Sided Foam Tape to the back side of the die cut sentiment oval and adhere to a black die cut frame. Add more foam tape to the back of the black frame and adhere to card front.
13. Attach tiny purple paper rose to sentiment oval, using more tissue tape. You are finished with your card!
I hope you’ll try cardmaking. If you scrapbook or are an altered artist, you probably already have the supplies you need! Thanks for joining me today! ~ Sharon Harnist
For more cardmaking tips, tutorials and samples, visit Sharon’s blog, PaperFections, or follow her on Facebook or Twitter.
Card Supplies:
Stamps: JustRite Papercraft Vintage Alphabet Soup Background Stamp and Vintage Filigree Fancies by Becca Feeken/Amazing Paper Grace
Paper: Gina K Designs Heavy Base Weight Cardstock (120 lb.)-White & Black Onyx
Ink: Tsukineko VersaMark Dazzle Frost watermark stamp pad and Memento-Tuxedo Black ink pad
Copic Sketch Markers: BV02 & Y23
Copic Various Ink Refills: BV13 & 0-Colorless Blender;
Copic Accessories: Copic Airbrush Starter Set 1N, or Sparmax Windstorm Air Compressor & ABS3; X-Press It 1/4” Double-Sided High Tack Tissue Tape & 1/4” Double-Sided Foam Tape;
Dies: Spellbinders Classic Oval Nestabilities & Floral Ovals dies, Grand Calibur die cutting machine
Other Accessories: Ranger Clear Embossing Powder & Heat It Craft Tool; white seam binding; Alcohol prep pad or Copic Colorless Blender; Maya Road Vintage White Paper Roses
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