Valentine Blueprints Accordion Card

Hi everyone! This week we are getting messy at Simon Says Stamp and Show. The challenge theme is 'something messy', which can be a lot of different things. I love to get messy and often walk around with blue or green hands, or as in the case of this accordion card, pink hands with a touch of Perfect Pearls. For this project, I decided to use ink mist, which is one of the messiest mediums (and lots of fun).

Since it is Valentine's day this week, I wanted to use my new Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz Valentine Blueprint stamps and decided to showcase them in Karen Burniston's fun Sizzix 3-D Flip Accordion Album.

Here's the finished album. The Accordion Album is such a great die, you can make a really large project with it, just out of a Bigz die. You can add as many pages as you need and it would work for any topic. I did a step-by-step tutorial on this album last month, you can find it here.

The technique I used for the misting and stamping is similar to what I did on this Just Add Pearl project. Die cut four panels from watercolour cardstock using the Bracket Frame & Label die, which coordinates perfectly with the Accordion Flip Album die. Stamp the four blueprint images on these with Archival Jet Black ink. Leave to dry for a little while, or help them along with a heat gun. Paint the areas you want to keep white with art masking fluid, using an old paint brush and immediately clean the brush. Leave to dry.

Working on one panel at a time, mist it first with water and then with Bubblegum Pink and Postbox Red Dylusions mists. The water help the mists to blend really nicely. When dry, mist again with Perfect Pearls mixed with water in a mini mister (or use ready-made Perfect Pearls mist).

When dry, rub off the masking fluid and see that it has resisted the ink mist perfectly. This is a very easy masking technique, and most other masks would take longer to make and would likely not resist the mist as well.

I wanted some colour on the masked areas, and painted them with distress inks applied to my craft sheet and misted lightly with water. I used Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, and Barn Door.

I cut a fifth label from watercolour paper, white embossed a sentiment from Tim Holtz Love Struck set and misted in the same way as the others. The Accordion Album pages were die cut from Crowded Attic papers and stamped lightly with a love definition stamp from the same Tim Holtz set, using Frayed Burlap ink. The album is very easy to assemble, you can see step-by-step photos in my tutorial. For the front panel, I die cut the outer frame with the Bracket Frame die from another piece of patterned paper, and glued it on top, otherwise, the back of the patterned paper would have been visible.

The first panel both serves as the front page of the card, and shows as the first panel when the card is opened. I used wood veneer hearts, arrows and potty people as embellishments.

Every second panel connects with the other in front of or behind the frame of the card.

These stamps are awesome, the heart is my favourite, and will work real well on non-Valentine projects too.

The playing card will fit lots of other themes too, in fact, I have something totally different in mind for it for another project.

I placed Cupid on the last panel so that his arrow is aimed towards the other panels, leading the eye back in to the accordion card.

More wood veneer shapes. 

The ticket was stamped with Jet Black ink on a manila scrap which had been coloured with Distress Stains (Victorian Velvet, Antique Linen), and stapled to the frame of the card, so that it also peaks out with the accordion is closed.

Get messy this week and you can be the lucky one to win a $50 gift voucher from our fabulous sponsor Simon Says Stamp:

Thank you for stopping by! Enjoy your week!

Happy crafting!

Anna-Karin

Supplies:
Dies: Sizzix: Accordion Album 3-D Flip, Bracket Frame & Label, Mini Tickets
Stamps: Stamper's Anonymous Tim Holtz Valentine Blueprints, Love Struck
Surfaces: Tim Holtz Idea-ology Crowded Attic; Ranger Manila Cardstock; watercolour paper
Ink: Ranger Archival Jet Black; Distress Ink: Antique Linen, Frayed Burlap, Barn Door
Stain: Distress Stain Antique Linen, Victorian Velvet
Mist: Ranger Dyan Reaveley Dylusions Postbox Red, Bubblegum Pink
Embossing powder: Ranger Seafoam White
Perfect Pearls: Ranger Perfect Pearl
Embellishments: Studio Calico Wood Veneer Hearts & Arrows, Potty People
Other: Art masking fluid

Tools: Sizzix Big Shot; Ranger mini mister