Tuesday 18 April 2017

Why I rarely make shaker cards....


So, the latest edition of Simply Cards & Papercraft arrived on my doormat this morning. The free gift this month is a vase and flowers stamp and stamp set. Now, having seen Sue Wilson make a card using alcohol gel hand rub at the weekend, I thought I'd have a go. I know from experience that glue between acetate takes about a fortnight to set, so I figured I'd try using my fuse tool to make an instant  heat seal. Um. Let's just say it didn't go well...
So I decided, having no patience, to make a standard shaker card with sequins. This time my fuse tool made perfect sequin proof pockets. I stamped the bouquet of flowers on white card and then die cut the vase below them.  I then used a tattered lace pindot rectangle to cut out the whole thing. I stamped the stems on a small piece of card and then coloured everything in with my zig pens. 
I stuck my shaker element behind the aperture with red liner tape leaving the red on so it didn't stick that side. I glued the stems on behind the shaker, then added 1mm foam tape around the edge of the back of the image and stuck it on a rectangle of purple card.
At this point I wasn't happy that I didn't have an edge to my vase, the stamp of the vase seemed slightly smaller than the die, so that wasn't a solution. I'd already planned to join up the stems and flowers with a fineliner pen and so I decided to draw in the vase using the faint emboss of the edge of the die as a guide. This probably would have worked if I'd done it before I added the foam tape and so my pen wobbled on the unsupported cardstock. I decided to cut the vase again out of pale blue card and then fussy cut round the aperture to give me a vase shaped frame which I hoped was reminiscent of thick glass. I had to cut the frame thicker than I wanted to hide the magnitude of the pen wobble. In order to distract from this I added glamour dust to the frame before gluing it on to the card.
I then realised that the bottom flower of the bouquet was hidden behind the frame. Fortunately, the stamp set included a single flower and so I stamped this twice, coloured it in and fussy cut it before going round the edges with a black pen. At this point I realised that there was a single flower die in the set. Doh! I then glued the two flowers on and mounted it on a 6x6 card to finish.
The sequins? Oh, I just thought they added a little more sparkle. There certainly aren't any black smudges or marks hidden under them. Nope. None at all. Definitely none...

15 comments:

  1. Wow, this is one of he best shaker cards that I have seen, so different, a great design and love the flowers too.

    Kath x

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  2. Aww what a fab design even if it did give you hassle lol the finished card is fab!
    Lucy x

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  3. Fantastic shaker card. Really pretty vase of flowers & congrats on not making ANY smudges, no, not one!!!! Lol! Xxx

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  4. Well if you hadn't told us of the pain making this card, I would never have guessed! It looks absolutely fab!

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  5. This is SUCH a lovely shaker card, and not a smudge in sight! Looks fabulous!

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  6. WOW¬! Love this shaker card! Judy x

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  7. haha! After my struggles with shaker cards yesterday I really feel your pain! But you've overcome all the difficulties beautifully and made a gorgeous card
    Jane

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  8. Absolutely stunning Cara, beautifully designed, I love the shaker design, Kate x

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  9. Cara, how great to hear from you again! Thanks for commenting on my blog today, I thought I'd pop over and see what you're getting up to 😊 I'm so sorry but your post made me laugh, but only cos I recognise the pain of making the shaker card...it's the same with me and patchwork. I always think the idea is going to be simple and then it ends up with me wailing and gnashing my teeth and throwing it all out of the window, lol! I think the resulting card is very pretty though so well done for persevering 😃
    Hugs, LLJ xxx

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  10. This just looks so good. Great idea for a shaker card. Happy crafty week, Angela xXx

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  11. I enjoyed the perilous journey you went on making this vibrant and pretty bouquet shaker card, Cara! It's divine, but your post description was funny! Good thing we can laugh at the contortions we sometimes get to when making our cards! It was all worth it!! Hugs, Darnell

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  12. Hi Cara, a super card love the flowers and the lovely shaker vase too. I've only ever made one shaker card, it was a big flop. Many thanks for your kind comment on my blog this week... have a wonderful weekend... Megan

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  13. Hey Cara, you should have had the subhead - 'but when I do, I am a shaker master' LOVE this, the vase is so clever and gorgeous. I like the half stamped/half shaker, very clever. I love making shakers, they are so much fun to make and I have to stop myself sometimes.. otherwise everything would be a shaker. Thanks for your comments this week, I did make it home safely, the weather sucks here though :( Cx

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  14. Well what a card. I love the disaster story, its always good to know we dont walk alone. Others join us on this journey as we attain more knowledge. For all that went wrong what a stunning creation you ended up with. Absolutely beautiful.

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  15. Hi Cara
    I'm not usually a shaker kinda gal but this is fab. You have a steady hand with your fussy cutting, if not with the smudges lol!
    Ang x

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Thank you for taking the time to comment. Please ignore any requests to prove you're not a robot and just press publish. Cara x