It is almost time for Strawberry Jude Stamps' November release!! Here is my next sneak peek, and a really fun one! I thought it would be fun to create a shadowbox card to display this sweet scene. Happily, I did it without the use of any special dies, so anyone that can measure and fold is good to go! And, since the design is hand scored, you can easily modify the measurements to better suit your own personal design ideas! Yahoo!
Since this set is still not officially released, I will not be sharing the stamp and color photos, but suffice to say, you are getting a REALLY good peek at the cuteness of this stamp set. I will blog my the coloring details in another blog to keep this tutorial focused on the card design itself.
To determine how wide I wanted my card front, I laid out my scene and measured. For this shadowbox, my card front is 4" wide and 1.5" deep. I also wanted the card to fit within a standard A2 sized envelope.
To create the card structure, begin by cutting a standard size piece of 8.5 x 11" cardstock in half the long way, leaving you with a longer strip 4.25" in width and 11" long. Next, score along the long side at 0.5", 4.5", 5.75", 9.75". The 0.5" piece will be glued within to construct the box itself. I used a bone folder to sharpen my scores and determined which of the wider panels would be my front.
Again, I assembled my card elements on the card front and made light pencil marks where the opening to my barn would be. Keep in mind, any standard die shape could be used to create your shadowbox opening in this case -- square, circle, rectangle. I removed my pieces and, using a ruler and my Slice cutter, I removed the opening on the front panel of my card.
I wanted to create a night sky, so I covered the side panels and used Distress Oxide ink to create the dirt ground and night sky. Similarly, I inked the inside back panel with a warm yellow to give the illusion that the barn was lit within with the manger. I did use a lighter yellow to highlight directly around the manger's hay using Mustard Seed Distress Ink, and blended out into a richer, buttery yellow oxide ink.
I determined that I only needed one additional layer within the box for my particular scene. But, that is where this card style becomes so fun! You can add as many layers within the depth of the shadowbox that you can adhere into place (and well, still be able to lay it flat if you wish to mail it). Just cut your inner strips the width of your card front plus about 1/2" to accommodate for the flaps needed to attach the strip to the interior sides of the box. I wanted to create an earth mound for my sweet lamb to sleep upon, so I colored the strip to match the dirt ground on the card's front. I used Scor-tape on both of the strip's end flaps to adhere it to the inside panels. I attached one side first, and then flattened the box in the direction that it would be folded. Carefully remove the tape from the final flap, paying close attention that the sticky side is facing the right direction, and flatten the box fully to "pick up" the remaining strip end. You adhere the box flap the same way -- using Scor-tape and adhering when flattening the box. (If anyone is interested in seeing this, please comment below. I will be starting a YouTube channel soon and would be happy to create a shadowbox card so you can visualize the steps.)
Lastly, it is just a matter of adhering your card elements! I wanted to added a lot of dimension to this card concept. So, even using the shadowbox style, I still used foam tape to add further dimension on the card front and to adhere the manger inside the back card panel. I chose to have my sentiment overhang the left side of the card front. And, as you see above, when the card is folded flat, the sentiment lays flat against the box's side and fits happily within the envelope. I kept opening and folding the box to make sure one element didn't interfere with another. The inner and outer sides of the box could definitely be inked or colored OR decorated as well! I just chose to keep it simple. But the options to modify and personalize this design are endless!
I hope you found this tutorial helpful. Please leave any questions below and I promise to get back to you. :) Don't forget to jump on over to the Strawberry Jude Stamps Fan Club page to keep up with all the fun happenings during release week!
Until next time.. xo
Supplies used:
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