The Happy Room

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Today's project features a Tri Shutter card design. For instructions on the cutting, scoring, and folding of a Tri Shutter card, go to my dear friend Bonnie's blog HERE.

Tri Shutter is a great design because it has so many great little pallettes to show off stamped images and embellishments. I've been accused of "over-doing" (such nonsense!) and "over-embellishing" (is there such a thing?) my Tri Shutters. I'll let you be the judge and then you can create as little or as much as you like on your Tri Shutters! =)

I chose a black and white theme because I thought the Cloisonne Butterfly image would look great stamped in black ink on white paper. I had black, white, and silver on my mind, so I designed around my color choices. The small panels on the card display an assortment of some decorative papers I had in my stash, the two outer panels show some regular white cardstock which I Cuttlebugg'd, and the two silver polka dotted pieces are background papers which I attached to the panels, then sewed around them with silver thread in a zig zag pattern on my Janome Sew Mini Sewing Machine. The center panel is a background paper from Scrappin' Deals n Steals which is luxuriously flocked with a black pattern.

The main panel shows off the Michael Strong Cloisonne Butterfly and the two small panels display the smaller butterflies from the Mini Wings stamp set. They were stamped with VersaMark ink and heat embossed with white embossing powder. I die cut the small butterflies with the coordinating butterfly die from the Mini Wings Die Cut set.

The die cuts on the end panels are from Sizzix; the butterflys placed randomly on the panels are a Martha Stewart punch--a few of them were run through a Cuttlebug Swiss dots folder to match up with the polka dotted paper on the inner panels.

The beading on the card:
Large Butterfly Image: I hand glued individual silver beads onto the Butterfly's thorax (middle portion) on the card using Crystal Effects for an adhesive. The beads on the outer edges of the wings are very tiny seed beads. First, I applied a thin line of Crystal Effects in approximately 2" sections on outer edges of the wings. Then, I carefully dipped the wing into a bowl of the seed beads, shook off the excess beads, then let it dry before moving on to the next 2" section.

Small Butterlies: The silver beads were cut from a string of silver beads purchased from JoAnn's Fabric and Crafts stores. They were attached with Crystal Effects.

Hanging Beads with Irridescent Butterflies: These may be difficult to see, so try enlarging the photo if needed. Three strings of beads hang on the right hand side of the card from the small upper panel. I purchased these at WalMart in a close-out bin years ago. The beads--with the transparent irridescent butterflies at the end of each string--are sewn to about 12" of ribbon, and the 12" piece can be cut to the length of your liking. I carefully use fabric glue to affix a thread which runs along the back of the ribbon--it's a continuous length between the beads, holding them all together. If it's not glued before it's cut, one snip of the scissors and the beads begin falling off! I cut three of the individual lengths of beads and butterflies and attached them so they would hang freely and dangle in front of the last panel on the card.

Thank you for staying with me for this very long tutorial; see you tomorrow!

~Kathie

I made two of these cards (identical) for two dear friends, who are both very accomplished harpists. I chose the Tri Shutter card design because it gave me so many small pallettes where I could use a lot of my music related stamps and supplies.

The cardstock is from The Paper Temptress, the die cut swirls are from Sizzix, the stamps are PSX (the main image), JudiKins (the musical score) and Alluring Impressions (the harpist). The embellishments are from Scrappin Deals N Steals.

I sprayed the cardstock with some homemade Pearl Ex mix; I learned how to make it over at Technique Junkies. Since the harp player image was directional, I chose to stamp it twice onto acetate using Jet Black StazOn ink. Then, I just flipped one of the images over and then both harpists faced the center of the card. I attached them with brads to the gold cardstock, then glued that to the base cardstock.

I hope you've enjoyed the project and thanks for stopping by!!!

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I had a great time playing with all of my new things from Scrappin Deals N Steals!! I used the Cuttlebug Highlights technique from the 10/08 Technique Junkies newsletter—it’s very light on the gold panels, but I thought it was just enough to add some interest on this very busy card.

The Gold frame looking object in the center is a big gaudy plastic belt buckle which is part of an upcoming package over at Scrappin Deals N Steals. Groovy! Since it had a bar across the center of it (for a belt to thread through) I layered my black paper piece on top of it. Instant frame!!

I made a custom brad with a Chatterbox Easy Brad Maker, also from Scrappin Deals N Steals. What a fun tool!! It comes with 3 circle punches in varying sizes to fit the three brad blanks that come with the tool. The flourishes around the brad are pieces from a Cuttlebug die, as well as the small fleur-de-lis in the outer corners. The gem flourishes are from Scrappin Deals N Steals too! How did I ever craft before I found that place? LOL

Cardstocks are from The Paper Temptress.

I hope you’ve enjoyed the project and thanks for stopping by!!

Kathie

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This was such a fun project! I love the Michael Strong images for intricate cards because each image adds so much elegance and flair.

This is the oh-so-popular Tri Shutter Card. I found some great directions on Bonnie's blog HERE that made my project so easy!! Just a few scores and straight cuts and Voila! Instant beauty!!

I used Bazzill Boyzenberry cardstock for my base and some miscellaneous background papers for the layering. I knew that a Michael Strong image would be the perfect addition to this card. WOW! I'm so happy that I had this assortment of his Cloisonne' images in my stamp collection because it was the exact look I was going for.

The Cloisonne' squares and circles adorn the outer panel of this card. I punched larger circles and squares from some gold cardstock scraps I had on hand to frame each image. The smaller inside panels are decorated with the Cloisonne' leaf. I gently curled the leaves and shaped them by hand and added them to the panels with foam dimensional tape. (All of these images were stamped with VersaMark ink and embossed with Stampendous PearLustre Gold Embossing Powder). The layer below the leaves is the same scrapbook paper flipped over (it's two sided) and I edged each side with a Gold Foil Pen. AND......each layer of scrapbook paper was punched with my Marvy Scallop punch. I LOVE THAT THING!!

The center panel boasts the ever popular Michael Strong Dragonfly image that you see in SO many of my projects. It's the perfect size and shape for so many of my creations. I stamped it in VersaMark and embossed with Stampendous' PearLustre Garnet Embossing Powder.

The four small panels are background paper which I edged with a technique called Drywall Stitching. What in the world is that???? I learned it at Technique Junkies!!

The small hanging beads are from Dollar Tree.

I hope you've enjoyed the project and thanks for stopping by!!!!

Kathie