More is More

Once a month I teach a stampin’ technique class at my house.  I try to plan a month or two ahead, but due to circumstances I often end up planning my projects a few days before class.  In April I had decided that along with the techniques each card would be some sort of “fancy fold”, such as the stand up tri-fold in the post below.  Way back in January I got a card in a swap from my friend Britta (camsmom on SCS) that I had been saving as inspiration.  I just love the pocket fold she used and the bright happy feeling of it.  That led me to create this:

and here’s a shot of the inside with the pull-out card:

I bet you can’t guess what technique I was teaching!  No really, I’m sure you can’t!  Because I, uh, kind of…made it up!  LOL!  Here’s what happened.  I had planned for awhile to teach Smackin’ Acetate.  So what if I’d never done it before?  I had read plenty about it.  So I made this card and was very happy with the results.  In my technique classes, students also get to make a reference card with printed directions so imagine my surprise when I went searching for the Smackin’ Acetate directions and discovered what I had done was NOT Smackin’ Acetate at all!  Oops!  So I did a little more searching and in the Demo Only Gallery at SCS I saw a technique called Ink, Spray & Mash and realized that a card by flowerbugnd1 had inspired me, but I wasn’t exactly doing that technique either – although I was getting closer!  OH MY HEAVENS!

I tried to re-do my card using Smackin’ Acetate, but I just wasn’t happy with the results.  SA uses markers and I was using re-inker – much bolder look. I liked it the way I had already done it….so I decided I just needed to teach the technique the way I had already done it and make up a name for it!  I know I didn’t actually make up this technique, since I was sure I was doing something I had read about previously, but I couldn’t find it anywhere exactly as I was doing it and I had a class to teach!  And that is how Acetate Tie Dye came to be.  It’s a little bit messy, but it’s fun and gives a cool result.  It requires glossy cardstock.  Here are the directions:

 Fold an 8.5×11 sheet of acetate in half.  Open and apply 4-5 drops each of 3 colors of Classic Dye Re-inker.  Mist lightly with water.  Close acetate folder and brayer to blend color somewhat.  Take 2 quarter sheets of glossy cardstock back to back so glossy sides face out.  Open the acetate folder and place the glossy cardstock inside.  Close and brayer again.  Remove glossy cardstock from acetate folder and allow to dry completely – heat set if in a hurry.  Stamp as desired.

The ATD was used for the bottom panel of the pocket card as well as for the cut out Doodle This flowers.  The re-inker colors I used were Lovely Lilac, Tempting Turquoise and Pixie Pink.

To make the pocket card I started with a 5.5″ x 8.5″ piece of Lovely Lilac cardstock.  Score at 2.5″ and again at 6.25″.  Fold up from the bottom at the 6.25″ score and cover that part with an ATD panel.  Attach inside with brads.  Fold down from top at the 2.5″ score and round the corners.  Cover that panel with Basic Black cardstock and decorate.  Pull-out card inside pocket is 4″ x 3.25″ and the top corners are rounded.  On the original card by Britta her pocket base was black which was super cool!  I just couldn’t make that work with my design.  This fold is super easy, but gives a very impressive end result.  Give it a try.   And if you feel like getting a little ink on your fingers try Acetate Tie Dye and let me know how it goes!  I’d love to see your samples! 🙂