Grandparents Day Diorama Card

It's Fun Fold Friday here on my blog and today's card is the 9th edition to my monthly series "Throwback Fun Fold Dies".  I don't even remember how long I have had this die set (Sizzix) but at least 7 years. When I ordered it (from where? Have no idea) I remember thinking it was pretty versatile. It not only creates this Diorama (or Tunnel) card, it also creates gatefold cards and has different drop in dies to create patterns on the gatefold flaps. For today's card I used the Diorama pieces and made a card for my Mother In Law.

I was able to use up the partial 12 x 12" sunflower sheet of patterned paper and also some older sunflower stickers from my stash. The butterfly sticker is also many years old and was the last one on the sheet. Perfect!

The Love You die is from Karen Burniston's Word Set 9 Love. 

I wrote the sentiment with a black marker and added the remaining sunflower stickers. I love the shine from those mirrored hearts too!

Having been asked how many cards I make I thought it would be fun to keep track this year. Many of my posts include more than a single card or project and below is my tally. 

Card Tally for 2023
January - 53 cards
February - 56 cards

March - 55 cards

April - 32 cards

May - 43 cards

June - 34 cards

July - 56 cards

August - 106 cards

September so far - 9 cards

I decided to cancel the subscription that provided linked thumbnails to what products I used on my cards. It was costing me out of pocket each month, so I’m back to listing what I used with a few affiliate links included.

Supplies:

Diorama Gatefold - Sizzix (old, from my stash)

Patterned paper - Spiced Cider, DCWV (old)

Stitched square dies - Your Next Stamp

Love You - Word Set 9 Love, Karen Burniston

Sentiment - Petal Palette, Stampin' Up

Mirrored Hearts - Kat Scrappiness

Sunflower stickers - old, from my stash

Brown fine point marker

Karen Burniston June 2019 Designer Challenge

Hello my crafty friends

Welcome to our Designer Challenge, where Karen Burniston gave us the theme: 

"BEACH DAY!" - celebrate the sea with a tropical card.

I did something a little different, using a bunch of Karen Burniston dies to create a Diorama with a beach theme. I've listed all the supplies used at the end of my post, and took photos to give you a quick tutorial as well. But first - here is the front of my card:

The ocean scene is layered and dimensional, and yes -it folds completely flat for mailing.

1.  Cut two panels measuring  8-1/2" x 4-1/4" and score 1-1/2" from each end. Mountain fold both side panels on the front piece at the score lines and valley fold both side panels on the back piece at the score lines. You will have something that looks like the photo below, and it also shows you how the side panels will be adhered together when you go to assemble the diorama. The back piece will slide into the front piece and be adhered together along each side edge.

2.  Cut 2nd largest rectangle from the Crosshatch Rectangles, centred between top and bottom edges and both score lines. Yes, my cutting pads are well used. :-)  Save the fallaway piece to decorate for the back of the diorama. 

3.  Cut two strips of card stock, 6-1/2 x 2" and score 1/2" from each end. Mountain fold each end. Now centre one of the waves from the Tropical Scene die set between the fold lines of one of the 2" deep strips. Position it almost right at the top edge but be sure it will cut all the waves - don't move the die so far up it on the 2" strip that the cutting line is off the top edge. Die cut. Repeat with the other wave die and the second 2" strip, this time 1/4" to 1/2" down from the top edge. Note - the wave dies will not cut the entire 6-1/2" width, so just finish cutting each piece with scissors at the ends as shown below.

4. Cut a  5-1/2 x 4-1/4" panel and die cut the island from the Tropical Scene die set, placing the island die towards the top right side. Finish the left edge with the included stitched sand/hill die. If you trim a scant 1/16" off each side edge of this piece, the card will fold easily and not bind at the score lines.

5. Adhere the island to the centre back panel with bottom edges even as shown above I added small bits of foam tape to the palm trees but the rest was adhered with wet glue. Note:  In my photo, I had already added colour to my piece because I forgot to take the tutorial photo before I added the colour.

You can see that the waves will give you two different heights and depth to your diorama.

6. Adjust the waves as needed by trimming the (straight) bottom edges slightly until you are happy with the look.

7. Assemble the rest of the diorama. I did not take photos of the assembly because there are plenty of diorama card video's on YouTube already. I mainly wanted to show you the steps I used in photos so you could see how I used the KB dies to cut my layers. If you are not familiar with making a diorama card, then watching a video or two before you start will help it all make sense. If you are familiar with them, then you would only need the photos above. 

8. Decorate back as desired. The photos of the back of my card are further down the post.

I cut all the pieces from regular white card stock then added colour by dipping and dragging the die cut pieces through puddles of Distress Oxide Inks and setting aside to dry. I didn't use heavyweight white card stock or water colour paper so there was lots of warping and a little stretching. I was OK with that, I just re-shaped the pieces with my fingers once everything was dry.

My friend and teammate Kelly Booth often adds wiggly eyes to her characters, so she inspired me to add them to my sea critters. The words were stamped on the fishtail banner from the Word Set 5 Royalty die set and I added it to the top edge with foam tape. There are also gold gel pen highlights and I added clouds and a sun after assembling the diorama.

By using the same measurements I did, you make a diorama that fits in a 5 x 7" envelope. Just be sure that nothing hangs over the right edge of your diorama! My crab legs are at the right edge, or it wouldn't fit in the envelope. It's fine of the mermaid hangs over a little on the left, as you can see below.

Note - after my diorama was assembled and I was tidying up I found the top edge of one of the wave panels so decided to dip and drag it in more of the Distress Oxide inks and adhere it to the bottom back of the front frame when it was dry. I like how it pulls in some of the greens from the turtle and palm tree.

Below is the back of my card:

This Octopus is so fun - he makes me grin. I added gold gel pen dots to his tentacles.

I hope you enjoyed my card today! Our dies are an investment and I enjoy showing you different ways you can use them. 

The rest of the Karen Burniston Design Team is linked on the right - be sure to check out what they have come up with for the challenge. There is always a ton of inspiration from the team. Karen Burniston will have her blog post tomorrow (Wednesday) on her blog.

Supplies:
White card stock
1037 Sea Animals - Karen Burniston
1068 Ocean Animals - Karen Burniston
1036 Princess & Mermaid - Karen Burniston
1038 Tropical Scene - Karen Burniston
1054 Rectangles Crosshatch
1034 Word Set 5 Royalty (fishtail banner) - Karen Burniston
1045 Outdoor Scene (clouds) - Karen Burniston
Distress Oxide Inks
Spray bottle
Wiggly eyes
Sakura white gel pen
Sakura gold gel pen
Stamps - Waffle Flower

Thanks for stopping by today

Metallic Deer Diorama Card

Good morning friends

Today's share is another Diorama card, made using dies from Our Daily Bread Designs and this pretty foiled patterned paper from Stampin' Up. I also used some dies by Karen Burniston for embellishing the layers.

I just love how the light catches on al the foil bits. Diorama cards are another fun way to use Karen Burniston's scene and border dies!

On the back side, I gold embossed the greeting and added another border from the Outdoor Edges die set along with a snowflake cut from foil card stock.

The card folds down completely flat for mailing in an A6 envelope. 

Supplies:
Diorama with Layers die set - Our Daily Bread Designs
Patterned paper - Stampin' Up
White card stock
Stamp - Hero Arts
Gold embossing powder
Champagne foil card stock - Stampin' Up
1045 Outdoor Scene - Karen Burniston
1065 Merry Christmas - Karen Burniston
1012 Snowman Twist Circle (snowflakes) - Karen Burniston
Card size - 6 x 4-1/2"

Thanks for stopping by today

Bear Diorama Card

Good morning friends

It's Saturday and that means a new challenge at the Crazy4Challenges Blog. Our November hostess is Joanne Grzelak and this is her challenge:  Last week, on the 17th, it was Take a Hike Day. Be inspired by a hiking theme. You could create a scenic card or have one with hiking boots. Use your imagination to create a card related to hiking.

I decided to use a new die set, the Diorama die by Our Daily Bread Designs. I included a bear because when you are hiking around where we live, you need to be prepared in case you see a bear. In fact, last year there was a little black bear roaming around our neighbourhood, climbing up on people's front steps and peering in their windows. There was a whole pile of foot and nose prints around to prove it, ha ha.

I added a panel on the back side as a place to write a note to a friend.

The card folds down completely flat for mailing in an A6 envelope. I do have an issue with this Diorama die set though. I have done Diorama cards before without dies, and they always fold flat in both directions. This one has the right side edge facing up and it folds flat. However if I try to fold it so the left side is facing up, it buckles. Forcing it pops off the interior tabs. I watched a couple of videos on YouTube of other people making Diorama cards using either Lawn Fawn dies or doing them on their own and theirs all folded both ways.

Hmmmm.  I got out my dies and measured them, and it would appear that the inner strip die that comes with the Diorama die set is a smidge shorter than it should be. While frustrating, I think I can work around it by added my own score line on one tab, over a little from the one that embosses when you die cut the panel.  Below you can see how the card folds flat for mailing.

Check out the C4C blog to see how the Crazies have been inspired by the challenge. We'd  love to see your take on it, so be sure to stop by the Crazy 4 Challenges blog and link up your creations. If you are uploading to an online gallery, please use the keyword C4C462.

Supplies:

Diorama and layers - Our Daily Bread Designs

Patterned paper - My Minds Eye

Brown and white card stocks

Stickers - Echo Park (using them up!!)

Sakura black glaze pen

1052 Word Set 6 Summer - Karen Burniston

Stitched fishtail banners - MFT Stamps

Sequins

Thanks for stopping by today