Tissue Paper and Die Cuts - Part 3, Unfurled
by Ellen Hutson
Many of you are probably familiar with our CLASSroom series on Tissue Paper and Die Cuts, but if you have not yet seen these little explorations I would like to encourage you to click on the links below and explore some of the fun possibilities your low-profile dies will afford you when combined with simple tissue paper.
It is EXCITING to share today's project with you as I have not seen anything similar created and was just jazzed by the opportunity to get your creative wheels spinning!
Tissue paper is incredibly thin! What that means to the crafting world is that the low-profile dies will cut through multiple layers at one time, ALONG WITH regular cardstock!!!
As I pondered this thought I could not believe how obvious it became --- there were fabulous possibilities for a fun new look and so with great eagerness I went to work!
Knowing that you will inevitably try this and share it with others I thought I should come up with a catchy name for it so that we can watch the progress of this idea evolve. The only thing we could come up with was "Unfurled" - so without further ado I would like to unfurl the how-to behind "Unfurled."
Position your die on the face of your card, using tissue tape to hold it in place. Stack at least six (6) pieces of tissue paper, applying a line of adhesive between each layer at the bottom edge (see photos later in this post.) Attach tissue paper stack to the back side of the card front directly behind your die, securing these in place once again using tissue tape. (see photo below)
Sandwich the tissue paper, cardstock and die between your cutting plates as shown above. Make certain the cutting plates align perfectly at the edge point where you want your die to stop cutting.
Send this sandwich through your machine.
Your die will cut through your cardstock, as well as all layers of tissue paper. If it does not cut through all layers you will need to reduce the number of sheets of tissue paper in your stack.
So this has me thinking... I want to try this with sticky notes in fun neon colors, I want to try stamping on tissue paper and coloring it, and... OH THE POSSIBILITIES!
On the front side use a steel-edge ruler and embossing stylus to create a score line only in the area where you would like to pop your image forwards upon completion. In this case I scored along the bottom edge of my sun.
On the back side cut away the excess tissue paper, leaving only the "sun" and the adhesive holding it all in place.
Apply adhesive to the back side of the card front around the top side of the "sun" and around the edges of the cardstock liner. Attach the cardstock liner to the backside of the card front. This does two things - it covers the uglies as well as provides stability and a fun color contrast behind the opening.
Add a sentiment and some pretty glitter.
Carefully open your project and "unfurl" the tissue paper. Success!!! How cool is that?
dies: Memory Box Cornerstone Seal Die, Vagabond or Big Shot
stamps: Technique Tuesday Ali Edwards - Bring on the Sun
ink: VersaMark Inkpad, Soft Purple Shadow Ink
paper: Memory Box Squash Cardstock, Hero Arts Layering Paper - Poppy and Iris
accessories: Wild Plum Adirondack Embossing Powder, Be Creative Tape - 1/8" and 1/4", Glitter Ritz - Sahara and Lavender, Tissue Tape, Design Ruler, Embossing Stylus, Non-stick Scissors
I couldn't stop with just one project, I had to finesse the process - LOL!
The next question I asked myself was --- will this method work on smaller die cuts such as letters? I guess the answer is yes :-D
I did not have the tissue paper in colors that would work with my designer paper and so I quickly colored with Copic markers. I began by laying down two strips of Be Creative (Sookwang) tape, spacing it to accomodate the width of the letters I had selected.
Remove the adhesive backing and apply a sheet of tissue paper. Repeat to add connect all six pieces of tissue paper.
Cut the tissue paper down in size. If I had been thinking far enough ahead I would have also cut the width down more for this picture. Essentially you want a tissue paper sandwich slightly larger than your finished die cut area.
When cutting multiple lines of text or images begin work at the bottom of your card and work your way up one section at a time - this allows you to create the proper spacing.
I used two methods of lining up my letter dies - use what works best for you. The first method was to lay down a piece of tissue tape. By extending it past the edges of my project I was also able to see where to place my tissue paper sandwich when the project was flipped over. You could just as easily place little pencil marks on the side and erase them when your project is complete. I like using tissue tape because I can easily remove it without leaving any adhesive on my project.
The second method is to use a steel-edge ruler and simply align the straight edge of letters against the ruler. Most often you will need to position the ruler at the bottom edge to align the dies properly, but this allowed me to show both with one picture. Yes, always looking for the easy way out - LOL!
Tape the dies into position using more tissue tape.
Now you can see the reasoning for extending the tape past the edges. I was easily able to see where to apply the tissue paper stack on the back side of the card front. Be certain that your adhesive line falls below the bottom edge of your die - you want your tissue paper to unfurl when your project is complete ;-D
Once again the positioning of your cutting plates is critical. As you can see in the photo above (click on it to enlarge it to full size!) the cutting plate edge is approximately 1/8" from the bottom edge of the die.
As you run this sandwich through your die cut machine it will give a slight "pop" as it completes the cut. By not including the bottom edge of the die design in your finished project you will end up with the perfect little "flap" on your letters, images, etc.
As you can see in the image above you will once again need to cut away the excess tissue paper. Your project will look like the image on the top when you first complete the die cut process - you want it to end up looking like the image below. Carefully trim away the excess tissue paper using fine-tipped scissors. I love my little teflon coated snips for projects such as this.
Before applying my cardstock liner I attached my "Happy" balloons to the front side, adding a string to each balloon, drawing those strings to the back side of the card and taping them down as shown above.
Once again the cardstock liner hides all the uglies and provides a beautiful backdrop when the letters flip open.
"Unfurl" the tissue paper and voila - one of the cutest birthday cards ever :-D (at least I think so - LOL!)