Fine Feathered Friends

By Judi Kauffman for Quietfire Design

 

Thanks for inviting me back as today’s guest designer, Suzanne! It’s always a treat to be here on the Quietfire Design blog.

 

My projects celebrate friendship. In each case, the sentiment expressed on the front can be continued with a handwritten note inside. And in each case, it would be easy to customize the card by switching to a different sentiment. 

‘Together’ can lead to memories of a road trip or send anniversary greetings to a couple or one’s own spouse.  ‘Because’ can say ‘…you matter,’ ‘…you always listen,’ or ‘…you make me laugh!’ 

I used die cut Shimmer Sheetz feathers, a diamond-pattern rectangle, and a color palette reminiscent of the desert to give the cards a Southwest feel.

 

Here’s the how-to:

1. Die cut ‘Together’ and ‘Because’ from mustard yellow cardstock backed with double-sided adhesive sheet.

 2. Make a rusty red cardstock 5” x 8.5” side-fold card base for the vertical ‘Together’ card. Make a 5” x 8” top-fold card base for the horizontal ‘Because’ card. 

3. Die cut the Diamond Background twice from pale blue cardstock backed with double-sided adhesive sheet. Poke all of the small pieces out of the holes in one of the background rectangles and set aside the pieces. (Some will be used in step 9, keep the rest for other projects). Leave all of the pieces in place for the other rectangle and center it on the top-fold card base. 

4. Alter 5.25” x 4” and 2” x 3” pieces of white cardstock with Color Burst pigments and a bit of water. Air dry or speed the drying with a heat tool.  

5. Back the open rectangle from step 3 with the larger piece of altered cardstock from step 4. (Trim away a sliver on all sides to ensure that it doesn’t peek out around the edges.)  

6. Mat the smaller piece of altered cardstock from step 4 with slightly darker blue cardstock, leaving a sixteenth-inch border.

Reminder: A metal adaptor plate or Big Shot machine with Precision Base Plate is REQUIRED for die cutting Shimmer Sheetz. Review Els van de Burgt’s YouTube tutorial if you are new to this technique.

 

 

 

7. Die cut six Shimmer Sheetz feathers for the ‘Because’ card (two Light Blue Iridescent, two Fire Opal Gemstone, two Black Iridescent, using all 3 dies in the set and mixing the colors among the dies).

8. Die cut one Light Blue Iridescent Shimmer Sheetz feather for the ‘Together’ card. Carefully cut toward the shaft of the feather at an angle from both sides to create a more realistic, detailed feather as shown in the photo below.

 

9. Complete the cards per the project photos at the start of this post. Use foam tape under the rectangle at the center of the ‘Because’ card to add dimension and provide a space to overlap and tuck the shafts of the feathers. Accent both cards with some of the adhesive-backed leftover pieces from step 3.

 

SUPPLIES

A Way With Words –

‘Together’    Quietfire || ECD

‘Because’    Quietfire || ECD

Els van de Burgt Studio – Diamond Background die

Joset Designs – Feathers die set (3 dies)

Shimmer Sheetz in Fire Opal Gemstone, Black Iridescent, Light Blue Iridescent

Cardstock in mustard yellow, rusty red, pale blue, medium blue

Double-sided adhesive sheet

Foam tape

Fine point scissors