Hello, G45ers!
Welcome to a very special Birthday blog! Today, we are celebrating the Mother of Graphic 45, Head Designer and CEO's birthday, Diane Schultz! To kick off this celebration our talented Special Project Designer and honorary family member, Annette Green has created a show-stopping Easel Birthday Card complete with a step by step tutorial. Annette has used our newly reprinted collection, Steampunk Debutante, Stamped Metal Brads, and Regular Tag & Gear Die to complete this elegant card. Following this card we have our weekly contest winner to announce so be sure to check that out, and join the party and leave your birthday wishes for Diane below.
Happy Birthday to our Fearless Leader,
Diane Schultz!
Check out this interview to learn all about Diane and find out how Graphic 45 started and where we got our name from… Here
Steampunk Debutante Card for Diane
“Easel cards are always a favorite of mine to create since there’s so much “real estate” in which to showcase various papers. They’re also more of a home decorative item because of their stand-up quality. I created this especially for our Graphic 45 Queen and creator Diane Schultz who I’ve come to consider a friend as well as a colleague in the design world. A little birdie told me that Diane is quite fond of Steampunk Debutante, and I’m guessing because it’s one of the earlier collections she designed. As a secret “nod” to Diane, I used pieces from my original pack of Steampunk Debutante from 2010, as you’ll see in the photos. Happy Birthday, Diane!” ~Annette
Graphic 45 Supplies:
- Steampunk Debutante – Deluxe Collector’s Edition
- Metal Clock Key
- Metal Brads
- Regular Tag & Gears Die
Other:
- Teal cardstock
- Metallic copper cardstock
- Jewelry Pliers
- Soft Mat
- Ball Stylus
Steampunk Debutante Card for Diane Tutorial Directions
By Annette Green
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6” x 6” easel card.
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From desired cardstock, cut the pieces shown. Two skinny strips can be about 5” x ⅛” each.
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Score the large piece along the 12” edge as shown.
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Fold the scored piece and adhere the 6” x 6” card to the last fold.
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Cut two squares from Eclectic Emporium and adhere.
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And this one also from Eclectic Emporium and adhere to inside panel.
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Cut a square from Garden Gears and adhere to the card front.
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Cut the rectangle from Nouveau Artistry and adhere to inside panel, and then the square from Ephemera Extraordinaire and adhere to inside of card.
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Cut apart the lady from Nouveau Artistry up to the red line. Cut Take Flight 4 ⅜” x 4 9/16”, then Mechanical Mind 4 ⅝” x 4 13/16”.
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Adhere the three pieces from the previous step to card front.
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Fussy cut the Dream journaling card twice from the two sheets of Take Flight. Cut one in half, making sure to fussy cut the floral portion of this one. Fussy cut other elements from various papers. Note: some items shown here are from the original collection’s Tags page. Use images as you desire, including chipboard which comes in the Deluxe Collector’s Edition.
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Adhere elements to the inside panel. Embellish the tag with brads or adhesive pearls like I did here.
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Gather metal embellishments. Use jewelry pliers to snap off the prongs from three Graphic 45 metal brads. Decorative metal photo corners can be added as an option as well.
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Adhere the metal photo corners to the card front and begin layering fussy cuts, using dimensional foam.
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Use strong metal glue to adhere the brad heads to the circles on the left, and layer more fussy cuts on the right.
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The large fussy cut butterfly is from Time Flies. Give it some realistic shape by placing it face down on a soft mat then “stir” the wings with a large ball stylus until they begin to “cup.”
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Flip the butterfly face up and stroke gently down the body only.
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Place adhesive on the body of the butterfly and adhere in place.
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Fussy cut a few red roses for a pop of color from Time Flies.
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Tuck the roses among the other fussy cuts and adhere with dimensional foam.
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Die cut metallic copper cardstock from the Regular Tag & Gears Die.
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Cut away individual gears and adhere to card front as desired. Save some gears for the inside.
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Adhere the Dream journaling piece to the inside, close to the bottom edge as shown. Place ample amounts of dimensional foam to the back of the half Dream piece. This will serve as the stopper for your easel card.
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From the sticker sheet, spell out your message. Using the skinny cardstock strips helps to line things up and keep the individual stickers connected as a unit. It’s helpful to do this step on a non-stick craft mat.
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Trim away any excess of the skinny strips and adhere to the card’s inside, along with fussy cuts and more copper gear pieces.
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Adhere a metal clock key with strong glue and dimensional foam. See how the popped-up journaling piece gives our easel card a place to prop against?
A little “nod” to Diane on the back of the card.
Weekly Blog Contest
This week’s prize package is a Christmas Magic Package, a $65 value. The Winner is…. Kirsty Vittetoe!
Kirsty had this to say on our Club G45 – Vol 9 post: “Your project is just perfect! I am loving this G45 collection!”
We want to thank everyone who participated in this week’s contest by leaving your thoughtful and inspirational comments. We are honored to have such an amazing community! Kirsty, please email info@g45papers.com to claim your prize.
What a great way to start the weekend! We hope you have been inspired to try out a new technique and create something beautiful. We want to thank you for stopping by, and to Annette for this amazing tutorial and birthday card. Be sure to leave your birthday wishes for Diane below, and as always…
Happy Papercrafting!