It Started with a Sketch

Each month a Club Scrap member (aka "ScrappinJen") organizes a very popular card sketch challenge. She posts a simple sketch, and members utilize their Club Scrap stash to create a card based on that sketch.

Here it is, folks, the January 2012 card sketch:

3:16pm I thought it might be fun to see if I could put my "Assembly Line Cardmaking" skills to work by creating a simple cutting diagram to create the sketched card. . . I'm adding the time that my camera took each picture as I worked through this project so that you could see how "efficient" this method can be! Here's the diagram. Nothing fancy.

3:18pm I grabbed four different brand spankin' new 12x12 Navajo Prints (oh, right. . . the Gray one is plain) and checked for grain direction, knowing that I'd want to fold the cards in half easily. (Life is so much better when you work with the grain.) See how the paper dips down? I put it into my 12" Tonic Trimmer with the paper dipping from top to bottom, rather than left to right.

3:18pm Cut each 12x12 piece at 11.75 and 6". Trim the 5.75x12 horizontally at 11.25 and 5.75". Cut the 5.5x5.75 horizontally at 5.5".

3:19pm Next, score each 6x12 horizontally at 6" and fold the scored pieces into four 6x6 cards.

3:20pm Layer the 5.75x5.75" panels onto the folded cards, alternating colors.

3:22pm Use a craft knife, ruler and cutting mat to cut the 5.5x5.5" panels from corner to opposite corner.

3:23pm Uh, oh. How do I cut them perfectly into four quarters? Club Scrap's 8x8 Grid Ruler to the rescue. Simply line up the corner of the ruler with the 45-degree angle with the corner of the paper. Cut along the edge of the ruler. Perfection.

3:25pm And there they all are. . . 16 flawless triangles.

3:27pm Arrange the triangles onto the card panels like this. Stick everything down.

3:32pm Next, grab that very, very cool Navajo Stitching Stencil that you're about to receive in your monthly shipment (if you happen to be a member of Club Scrap). Also get some ink and a CS® Ink Applicator. Handy thing!

3:34pm Add any stitch you like, both on the seams between paper colors, and around the perimeter.

3:39pm Isn't that cool? I used a different stitch on each one, and stayed with a "blanket stitch" around the outside edges. Fast 'n easy.

3:46pm Grab the unmounted Greetings and Art Nouveau stamps. Let's play.

3:49pm For an accent in each card center, I carefully mounted a triple arrow image onto my etched acrylic block so that the tip of the arrow was lined up with the "x" in the middle.

3:49pm "X" marks the spot.

3:51pm Off to the studio with the finished cards. . .

Thanks for the great monthly card sketch challenge, Jen! Join us here! 

Execution of my plan took precisely 35 minutes. Posting and writing the blog took 33 minutes. Funny how that works.