It seems that this COVID infection for me is currently manifesting as a bad head cold and sore throat. Hopefully it will stay that way and not develop into more severe symptoms. I’ve noticed however that it’s worse in the mornings. Tylenol is helping, although not with the foggy brain. Today is looking better with my new project and blog post done much earlier than yesterday. I even included a little ‘altered die-cut technique’. I love the “seas the day” pun and hopefully it will inspire me throughout the day.
COLOURFUL SEAS
I began with a 2-1/4″ x 5-1/2″ strip of Thick Very Vanilla Card. This is a little wider than my normal bookmark but I needed a some extra to accommodate the die-cutting later.
Using a Blending Brush I first added a light layer of Pacific Point in using a swirling motions. Then I went over that with Pear Pizzazz ink. I was very deliberate in not making the colours even. That variation with some of the Very Vanilla Card showing through would add dimension to the finished scene.
With the inking complete I then pulled out the Seas The Day Stamp Set. First I wanted the weed image. Using Pear Pizzazz ink I stamped that at the bottom on the left side of the colourful card strip. Then beside that I stamped “seas the day” using Pacific Point ink.
I knew I wanted to add a couple of fish and there are two in the Seas The Day Stamp Set. For these I decided to use Night of Navy ink, stamped off onto scrap paper to make it a little lighter.
Finally I took the bubbles image and inked that up with Pacific Point ink. This time I stamped-off onto scrap paper three times before stamping the barely there bubbles above the first fish. Then I repeated the process for the second fish.
TAILOR MADE BOOKMARK
With the scene complete it was time to turn the card strip into a bookmark and for that I wanted the Tailor Made Tags Dies. The largest of the flat-topped dies is just about 2″ wide but much shorter than I wanted. Still, I could alter the die-cut to make it the right length.
So using my Mini Stampin’ Cut & Emboss Machine I placed the card strip onto the cutting plate (2) and platform (1). Then I put the large tag die onto the strip close to the top and put the second cutting plate (2) on top. As I cranked the ‘sandwich’ through the machine (with the top of the the die leading) I stopped about an inch before the bottom end of the die, and cranked backwards. This stopped the bottom part of the die from cutting into the card.
After removing the top cutting plate, I picked up the partially cut card and the die. Then I moved the die down so the bottom edge was now close to the bottom of the card strip. I wiggled the die a little until I could feel the ‘stitching’ on the sides of the die lock into the stitching already cut further up the card. Then I placed the card and die carefully onto the cutting plate again, this time with the bottom end going into the machine first. Now I stopped cranking the machine about an inch before the top end of the die went through the rollers. I reversed the cranking to bring the plates out of the machine and revealed the card strip completely cut through.
I wasn’t quite finished with the Tailor Made Dies though as I needed some reinforcement pieces for the oval holes. Using the die in the set I cut these from a scrap of Thick Very Vanilla Card. Then I coloured them with Pacific Point ink and a Blending Brush. Once coloured, I attached the pieces to both sides of the bookmark using Multipurpose Liquid Glue (Tombow).
Before putting away the Blending Brush I quickly added a little Pacific Point ink around the edges of the bookmark.
Finally I cut three 6″ pieces of Very Vanilla twine from the Baker’s Twine Essentials pack. After folding the twine in half I poked the loops through the hole in the bookmark. Then I threaded the cut ends through the three loops and pulled gently to secure the twine in place. With that my bookmark was complete.
For some other projects using the Seas The Day Stamp Set, see these earlier blog posts:
PRODUCT LIST
BUNDLE BONUS – I bought the Seas The Day Stamp Set and coordinating Sea Dies (not used today) using a single ‘bundle’ item number. This saved me 10% off the cost of buying the same two items separately. I’ve included a link to the bundle in case you want to explore that option.
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