Monday, April 18, 2011

jingle belles are *BUZZING*!

hi and welcome to my post for JINGLE BELLES card #16, in which we're having fun with diecuts! these include the store-bought chipboard or cardstock variety, as well as custom ones you make using a cuttlebug, cricut, silhoutte or other machine.

this week, we've teamed up with the lovely and creative honeybees over at betty bee's buzz, where i was most honored to be featured guest in their regular monday motivational spot. on wednesday we'll see cards by the other designers in the honeybee showcase, and finally rounding out the week, you're invited to post about ANYTHING fun or positive you'd like to share for buzz, brag and bee happy friday!

so first, here's my card:



(patterned paper: basic grey, tim holtz, paper company + vintage sheet music; diecut circle sticker: creative imaginations; diecut sentiment: fancy pants; diecut border & butterflies: k&co; rose & border punch: recollections; pearls: kaiser; christmas tree die: sizzix; fabric: from the quilt shop; inks: ranger; adhesives: xyron, tombow monorunner, 3m foam tape, gluedots; other: sewing machine, plain white cardstock)


you can see i've used a number of store-bought diecut elements in this not-very-traditional holiday card, many of which are not even officially "christmassy"! but my very favorite thing is the diecut pink paisley fabric tree! this was my first attempt at diecutting fabric, and it turned out to be totally straightforward, but i did discover a few tips for optimum results!


1. back your fabric with cardstock

i had no trouble cutting the fabric on its own, and can forsee using diecuts made of fabric in a sewing context, but for a card i found it easier to use a sturdier piece. i ran plain index stock through my xyron, laid it adhesive-side up on the counter, and placed my squares of cotton quilting fabric on top, smoothing and burnishing them to get a nice adhesive grip.


2. chop stiffened fabric squares to size

i started my fabric experiments with sizzix, thinking i'd need the weight and heft of the steel-rule dies; in fact i found that backed and un-backed fabric cut perfectly well with nesties, too. but in this case the tree was sizzix so i used it!



3. cut as usual

in a cuttlebug, you use two B plates on top of the A, place the die face up on top, and the cardstock-backed fabric square above that. i tried it with the fabric side facing up and facing down and it worked perfectly, but if you're making a few trees for the same card, it's nice to vary them.




4. adhere to card

in this case i cut an extra tree from white glitter paper to use as a sort of "drop shadow" to make my fabric tree stand out even more. i inked the edges of both, bonded them with gluedots and used dryline adhesive to attach the entire thing to my card.


bonus (unpictured) step:

go back and trim up the tree-shaped "frame" left where the diecut was taken out, and make ANOTHER card with that fun piece!!!

(stay tuned for that one, i think i have a few ideas!) :)



many thanks to betty brett, june houck, and all the honeybees at betty bee's buzz for teaming up with us at JINGLE BELLES this week, and i hope you will all check out their super-fun and highly inspiring site!!! ♥

15 comments:

  1. Thank you, sweetest friend, for cross-pollinating with us :)

    I *love* your card...it is so true to YOU...and I am glad the other HoneyBees are exposed to Laureny crafty genius! May I request this card??? If you already have someone else in mind, that's okay; there are still 25 more weeks of JB Lauren cards that I will surely fall in love with!

    *MWAH*

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  2. Jaw dropping gorgeous; this card is pure beauty....love it!

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  3. This is stunning Lauren ... fabulous idea and fabulous card ...

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  4. I am much in awe of this card. What a beautiful tree... in fact so beautiful that I'm going to buy the Alterations Tree Die I've been wanting. Thank you Lauren for helping me make that decision!!! Now back to this fabulous card... it's just amazing!

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  5. This is just gorgeous! I love the non-traditional pink and the circle card, TOO pretty! :)

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  6. Oh my, this is beyond beautiful! The colors, the layout, the idea, everything!

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  7. OMGoodness girl this is so pretty!! OK you just put it aside for someone that will treasure it............ME!! :)

    will have to dip into mom's quilting fabric and give this a try. it's not like she will miss any as she has so much!! ;)

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  8. Okay, I'm a thinkin' that this is my all time new fav of yours for all its jingle belle goodness....gorgeous work.

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  9. such a stunning card. just gorgeous. pinning...

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  10. Lauren this card is bee-u-tiful!! With the frame you have left over could you do some iris folding with greens to fill the tree back in????

    So glad to have you with us on Betty Bee's Buzz!! Like June et.all. I think your cards are super!!!

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  11. Wow, what a gorgeous card and all the different elements you used are stunning. Thank you for showing us how you made the tree. I dont know if I'm brave enough to try anything like that! Wonderful inspiration yet again for a Jingle Belles challenge!!

    BTW, thank you for comment you left on my card. You made me smile, and I appreciate the kind words :)

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  12. Stunning card! At first I wasn't sure about pink for Christmas but its my mom's favorite and she convinced me but this card probably would have done the trick too, so beautiful!

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  13. This is a another fabulous Lauren style xmas card and thank you for a great tutorial as well. I have to admit, have not yet started on my xmas cards yet....

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  14. Okay this card is up with some of my favs of all time. First off it has the roundness, pink AND butterflies. Okay.. amazing.. I am officially saying this card scared me away from making a die cut card. haha No competing with this bad boy. I love it. Dibbs at Christmas please. Wait.. I might have already done that once or twice. I want them all!

    I feel like I'm starting to get back into the groove, slowly and a little at a time. I totally don't feel like doing cards though. Isn't that weird? :(

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the *BEST* part of blogging is the comments, dontcha think? thanks for taking time to leave one! ~♥~