PIRATES & MERMAIDS; A CARD & A HALF, MASKING SENTIMENTS, AND PARTIAL DIE CUTTING!

 Hi, Stampers!

Today I am sharing two birthday card I created using the PIRATES & MERMAIDS stamp set from the Stampin’ Up!®️2021-2022 Annual Catalog. The cards are a fun fold I call “A Card and a Half” as the card takes 3/4 sheet of cardstock. For one card I masked the sentiments to arrange the words to fit the focal piece, and I did a partial die cut for the focal image. On the other card I did a bit of paper piecing, and masked the main image to build a scene around it.  So..lots going on with these cards. 

A PIRATE & A MERMAID

Here is a look at the stamp set:

 

PIRATES & MERMAIDS

PIRATE CARD

A CARD AND A HALF

What is a “ Card and a Half? It is a regular A-2 size card  with an attached flap . I am sure there is another name for this card, but this is what I call it. 😁 There are several ways to configure the card for either portrait or landscape orientations. Let’s walk through the configuration for the Pirate Card. It’s orientation is portrait.

For the card base I used an 8 1/2” x 11” piece of Night of Navy cardstock. Score the cardstock on the 8 1/2” side at 4 1/4” and on the 11” side at 5 1/2”. Place the cardstock in the paper trimmer with the 8 1/2” side along the top and at the 4 1/4” mark. Cut down to 5 1/2” on the blade guide. Turn the cardstock so the 11” side is along the top of the trimmer at the 5 1/5” mark and cut to the 4 1/4” mark on the blade guide. Your card stock should look like the photo above. For the pirate card I folded panel 2 down to cover panel three. Then I folded panel 1 over panel 2. Panel 1 is the card front.

                                             Back of panel 1                                Panel 2

Flip up panel 2 and reveal panel 3.

Another option would be to fold panel 1 over Panel 3 and fold panel 2 down over panel 1.

SUPPLIES FOR PIRATE CARD

* Night of Navy card base cut as described above

* Basic White cardstock 4 3/4” x 3 1/2” for panel 3 (This give you space to write a message.) You will also need three larger scraps for stamping images.

* Larger scraps of Night of Navy for mats - cut three circles with largest of the Layering Circles Dies.

* DSP - 3 pieces, each cut at 5 1/2” x 4 1/4” (Pattern Party).

* Inks - Memento Tuxedo Black, Night of Navy, Smoky Slate, Balmy Blue;  Stampin’ Blends - colors of choice to add color to the pirate and the treasure chest. Wink of Stella - I brushed it over the treasure, the pirate’s sword, his belt buckle, buttons, hat, eye patch, beard, and mustache.

* Blending brushes to use with the Balmy Blue and Smoky Slate inks to add a bit of color behind the pirate and treasure chest.

* Layering Circles dies - largest and second largest.

* Scissors

* Adhesive, dimensionals, and tape (washi, painter’s, etc.) for masking sentiment.

MASKING A SENTIMENT

As you can see, the sentiment on the card front is “Ahoy Matey” with one word over the other. The stamp reads “Ahoy there, Matey!” all on one line. To change up a photopolymer greeting I simply cut the words apart. This stamp set is red rubber, and I prefer to keep red rubber stamps intact, so instead of cutting apart the stamp, I use a masking technique.

Place the stamp on a block. Use tape (masking, painter’s, washi, Scotch tape, or even a sticky note) to cover all the words, except for Ahoy.

Ink the stamp. Remove the tape and stamp the word on the focal piece. ( See photo below) Clean

 the stamp well, and stamp it several times on scrap paper to get any excess ink and moisture off the stamp.

Next, place tape over all the sentiment except the word Matey.

Ink the stamp. Remove the tape and stamp. 

 

The sentiment will look like this:

PARTIAL  DIE CUTTING

You might have noticed I used the Layering Circles Dies to cut out the focal panel - at least most of it. Some of the pirate is outside the die cut circle. This is called a partial die cut, and it is very easy to do.

Before stamping your focal image / images get an idea of spacing and select the die to accommodate the images. Stamp the images (and sentiment). Place the die over the focal images leaving a bit of the pirate on the outside of the die. Use a pencil and lightly trace he inside of the die.

Use scissors and fussy cut around the part of the image outside the pencil line. Slip the die, cutting side down, under the part of the image you fussy cut. Line the die up with the pencil line, and die cut.

Once the die cutting is complete the fussy cut part of the image will be outside the die cut shape.

MERMAID CARD

This is a landscape version of the card and a half fun fold.

                                                  Panel 1                                       Panel 2

                                                                                               Panel 3

I did a bit of paper piecing on this card. The mermaid flower center and the mermaid’s top stamp solid, and in this case that meant they were black. To add color I stamped the image (just the top part) in the desired color on scrap cardstock. Then I cut out the flower center and the top and glued them in place. I also masked the mermaid image and built the ocean around her. I stamped the mermaid image on the card panel first, masked the image, built the scene around the image, then removed the mask. (View video below for more details.)

SUPPLIES FOR MERMAID CARD

* Coastal Cabana card and a half card base.

* Basic White cardstock - 3 pieces cut at 3 3/4” x 5”.  After stamping, each panel will be cut with Stitched Rectangles Dies - the one that is just a bit smaller than 3 3/4” x 5”. Also scrap of Basic White for sentiments.the sentiments will be cut with the Stitched So Sweetly Dies - the two smallest rectangular dies.

* Inks - Memento Tuxedo Black, Sahara Sand, Balmy Blue, Granny Apple Green, Calypso Coral, Polished Pink, Gorgeous Grape, and colors of choice for flower centers and mermaid tops. Stampin’ Blends - colors of choice to color mermaid. Wink of Stella - I brushed it over the mermaids and the fish.

* Blending brushes to use with the Sahara Sand and Balmy Blue inks to add color to the backgrounds of the focal pieces.

* Scissors for the paper piecing.

* Sequins - 9; I used some from the Artistry Blooms collection.

* Adhesive and dimensionals (for sentiment on card front). Sticky note or printer paper for mask.

* Seascape stamp set for sand, seaweed, and fish images. 

A CARD AND A HALF HOW TO VIDEO TUTORIAL

There you go, this is how I made my card and a half fun fold. I enjoyed making the cards, and I am happy with the results. My choice of stamps required a lot die cutting and a lot of coloring, so the cards took just under an hour each from start to finish. Cards with images requiring little or no coloring should go together more quickly.

That’s all for today. I hope you give this fun fold a try, or maybe masking a sentiment / image,  or partial die cutting, or paper piecing! So many choices! This is what I love about card making; there are always lots of options - so many ways to be creative!

Until next time…

Stamp Happy!

Kim

All stamps and stamped images ©️1990 - 2021 Stampin’ Up!®️