Lattice Cards

Oh my goodness! It's been soooooo long since I've posted on my blog...I'm not sure if I remember how! LOL

Today I'd like to share with you these beautiful lattice{some call them trellis} cards that I made over the last few days. I was inspired by my friend Peggy {AKA Planktorin on Scrapbook.com }. She had posted a beautiful lattice card a couple of days ago and I was immediately smitten!

Aren't they pretty? I have used both Stampin' Up inks {the yellow and blue cards} and Distress inks {the pink card} and will give you the appropriate colours in the supplies list below. I buy my Stampin'Up products from my friend Kathy at her on line shop. Check out her lovely BLOG for lots of beautiful card inspirations too!

                                                SUPPLIES

Two 5x7 cards {you'll see why you need two in a minute]
Stampin Up Stamp sets "Fabulous Florets " and "Four Frames"
SU punch Decorative label extra lg
SU Embosslit "Beautiful Wings" {or butterfly punch of choice}
Cuttlebug or BigShot if using the SU Embosslit
Martha Stewart punch "Rose Leaf" {or leaf punch of choice}
Clear emboss powder
Versamark or Stazon black ink
Stickles {Wild Honey for yellow flowers} or SU Dazzling Diamonds
Mistable inks in corresponding colours to flowers
SU Dimensional dots/3D Dots
Hot glue gun or wet glue of choice
Temporary adhesive
Exacto knife/metal ruler or die cut machine of choice
Bamboo skewer or sm paint brush handle
Scrap of green cardstock for punching leaves
Paper trimmer
INKS: Yellow flowers: SU Barely Banana, Crushed Curry, Dusty Durango, Chocolate Chip, and Old Olive
            Blue flowers    : SU Bashful Blue, Night of Navy, Old Olive, and Black Versamark/Stazon
            Pink Flowers   : Distress Inks in Victorian Velvet, Aged Mahogany and Forest Moss

Okay ... Don't let the long list intimidate you... Most of these supplies can be substituted for stuff you already have in your stash!
Ready , set, okay! Let's go........................

1. Cut one of the 5x7 cards in half. Using one of these extra 5x7 pieces and your trimmer, cut as many 1/4" x 7" strips as you can. Set aside.
2. Using the temporary adhesive , glue the second extra 5x7 piece to the inside of the front of the card {unless you are waaaay more talented than me with an exacto knife and multiple layers of cs LOL}. On your cutting mat, cut an opening 3"wide x 4 1/2 " long into this double layered card front approximately 1" down from the top. This is quite easily done with the exacto knife and ruler. However if you want a fancier shape for your opening {like I did on the pink card}, then you must use your Cuttlebug and dies {I used a Spellbinders label die} or perhaps a Cricut machine. Set aside the extra 5x7 windowed piece. Ink the inside edge of the card front opening now with a corresponding ink. It makes a nice contrast to the lattice pieces on the finished card.

3. On the inside of the window , begin by gluing lattice strips diagonally in all one direction, snipping off the overlapping tails as necessary. I found it helpful to start across the center and go from there.

 4. Begin the second layer by weaving the lattice strip in an alternating over/under pattern, again starting with the center strip. Make sure you do the opposite under/over with subsequent strips. This will give it a true weave. Trim off all overlapping tails. By now you card should look like this:

5. Remember the extra windowed 5x7 piece we set aside earlier? Glue this to the inside of your card front  making a "sandwhich' with the strips in the middle. This makes it all neat and pretty on the inside . If you find my instructions difficult to follow , then check out this awesome video tutorial at Christina's place. Just click on video tutorials {in pink} on the left hand side of her opening page and then pick "Trellis Card" in the list of tuts.

 6. Now to the fun floral part. With the SU Fabulous Florets stamp set, stamp three large open face flowers and four smaller open face flowers per card on white cs. Use Chocolate Chip ink for the yellow card or Stazon Black for the blue flower cards. Stamp one of the leaf spray from the set for each card...use Dusty Durango for the yellow card leaf spray and Night of Navy for the blue card. I actually stamped these leaf sprays on a scrap of cs that was slightly lighter than the Dusty Durango  and Night of Navy inks , but it would be just as nice stamped on white cs using these inks. I then fussy cut out all these pieces. I did trim as close to the line as possible but found it sharpened up the images if I went back over the edges with the same colour ink on a little sponge afterwards.  Then using either a Stampin'Up blender pen or just a plain old Q tip, I added colour to the centers of the flowers in a circular motion and little dabs of colour on the flower edges. Start with the lightest colour inks  and work towards the darker colours. You'll know when to stop adding ink to your flowers.
7.  Cup each flower one by one in your palm and using a rounded edge tool {Basic Grey has a great rub on tool that works well} or even the round finger hole at the end of a small pair of scissors, apply pressure  in a circular motion to the center of the flower to help cup it up. Use a bamboo skewer or a small paint brush handle and run it under a few petals to round up the petals a little. I love my flowers to have a bit of 3D effect to them . But you could leave them perfectly flat if you are not comfortable with paper manipulation. Add  a spot of Stickles or glue and Dazzling Diamonds to the centers of your flowers and set aside to dry.

8. Punch 15-20 leaf shapes from scrap of light green cs. Ink the edges with the green ink and using the bamboo skewer or brush handle round some of the leaves to give them a 3D effect too . Leave a few flat {or again, all of them if you're not comfy with paper manipulating}. Set aside.

9.Using a corresponding cs scrap {or a white cs scrap with ink sponged on it}, cut out butterflies with either the SU Embosslit set or a butterfly punch. Set aside.

10. Using the SU "Four Frames" stamp set stamp the label, sprinkle with clear emboss powder and heat set. Punch out with the corresponding SU punch. Ink edges with corresponding colour to flowers. You can stamp on a sentiment now if you know what you are using the card for. I left mine blank for a later date.

I found it best to do all this "busy work" at the same time . Now comes the fun part...ASSEMBLING!

11.Start by adhering the leaf shadow piece to the left hand side of the card . Add the flowers next. I used two large and three small in the bottom corner and one large and one small in the upper corner. I used a dimensional dot for one of the small flowers in each corner just to add to the 3D effect. Next tuck in your leaves as you see fit.
{A little hint: I had a scrap piece of paper under the lattice so no glue would get on the inside of the card. you do have to be careful of glue placement when adding your embellies.}

12. Finish by inking the outside edge of card in colour of choice and spritz a little ink on that extra 5x7 piece of cs and glue it to the inside of the card when dry. Alternately, you could add a piece of subtle patterned paper to the inside. This "colour" on the inside of the card really helps to show off the lattice pattern. Add the punched butterfly to the center of the lattice and add your sentiment label with a dimension dot. Here's a pic of the finished blue card. All done... PHEEEEEEEEWWWWWWWW....

      
 No I'm not really done! One last little note. The pink card flowers are obviously not Stampin'Up. They are handmade flowers with a sprinkling of small pink flowers punched with a retro flower punch. I shared how to make these flowers on a previous posting titled "A Study In White". You can check them out there. Thanks for dropping by today and happy scrapping!