Woven Ribbons (Kathy Berger)

Woven Ribbons

by Kathy Berger



I know I have been sharing a lot of my own cards lately, and I promise that will stop soon. It is just that I have taken a brief hiatus from drawing dies (no, we aren't stopping production; I got ahead and was able to spend some time using the dies instead of just drawing them). I will be back into that full time very soon, and you won't see cards from me for a while.

Today I have two cards made with the Frantic Stamper woven ribbons die. This die is so versatile and fun to use! For each card I started out by cutting several different papers that all had similar color values (meaning the color intensity). This is a great way to use all those papers in a collection that you might not otherwise use or scraps left over from other projects.

For the "with love" card I just put all the papers into a single container because I fully intended to place the pieces randomly, but for the Christmas card I put each of the papers into a separate container because I intended to piece them in a pattern.

I then cut a neutral color of card-stock for each card to make the framework that I would piece into. I covered the fronts of each of the frames with Post-it Tape, and flipped them over. On the "with love" card, I just fit pieces into the frame like a puzzle, picking up a random piece and fitting it until all the frame was filled in.

On the Christmas card I had to work a little harder. I selected a color for each of the ribbon pieces on the card, and then had to search for the correct piece from that color's container of pieces. But both were fun, and somewhat relaxing to do!

Once the frames were filled in I glued a backing piece onto each of the frames, then added them to their respective card base. You will note that the "with love" card was used in portrait orientation while the Christmas card was done in landscape. Versatile die!

All that was left to do was add the decorative touches. I made pink flowers using the Petite Layering Flowers and the Petite Layering Leaves dies, and the Pointsetta with the Petite Pointsetta die. The Script Merry Christmas was just right for the Christmas card.

But when I cut the "with" and "love" using the Accessory Words #2 and #3, they just seemed "flat"; They really needed something to make them stand out from the page.

At first I thought I would add some pop by covering them with Glossy Accents, but I have trouble doing a good job with that and it takes a while to dry. I needed the card right away so I could send it to a really special friend who is having a rough time. So I put on my thinking cap. And I came up with a solution that I think is so wonderful that I just HAVE to share!

I made the letters shiny by covering my card stock with a bit of clear packaging tape before cutting! The letters still cut perfectly, but now they look like they have been enameled! The coating is perfect... no bubbles, no streaks, and absolutely even. I am going to be using this technique a lot in the future!

Here is a close-up of the words. I wish the shine showed more in this photo; you can see it a little, but believe me, in real life it is much less subtle and really beautiful!



Here is a close up of the Christmas card.


And one final look at both of the cards, from straight on. I sure hope you have enjoyed them!

 

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*** Materials for this project available at www.franticstamper.com.

FRA-Die-09192	FRA-Die-09194	FRA-Die-09433	FRA-Die-09467
FRA-Die-09662	FRA-Die-09284	FRA-Die-09249

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