Spellbinders Blog

Hello there, Michelle Short here to share a step-by-step tutorial with you using the new Upright Italic Thank You! Press + Foil Plate from Paul Antonio. This beautiful plate is the perfect addition to any other products you want to combine with it, or you can combine it with a simple background, as it is large enough to pack a punch on its own! I chose to press the plate today, but it does foil beautifully, too! There are other sentiments in the collection, and they will work for this card design too; you may just need to rearrange the florals to fit.

PRESSING THE SENTIMENT

1. Flip Platen of Betterpress Letterpress System over and place Porcelain BetterPress A2 Cotton Card Panel inside the registration marks. Hold in place with Best Ever Craft Tape in the corners.

2. Place Upright Italic Thank You! Press + Foil Plate onto Chase (the Chase is magnetic so it will hold in place). Use the registration marks to place it just below the centre line.
3. Tap BetterPress Black Ink onto the plate and swivel the ink pad slightly to get a good coverage of ink.

4. Flip Platten over and place onto platform (over the Chase). The magnets in the corners will hold it in place.

5. Run through Platinum Six Die Cutting Machine.

6. Lift Platten from platform to reveal pressed image.
7. Remove cardstock panel from Platen by carefully removing tape.
8. Remove plate from Chase and clean.

TIP: I used two shims underneath the Chase, but you may need more or less depending on your machine. If you are getting too much ink in places where you do not want it, remove a shim. If you are not getting a solid impression, add a shim.

CREATING THE CARD BASE

1. Add tape runner adhesive to the back of the panel.
2. Adhere flat to A2 sized (4 ¼” x 5 ½”) white card base made from Classic White ColorWheel Cardstock.

TIP: If the sentiment isn’t perfectly centred, now is the time to correct it by cutting the card base down slightly using a guillotine.

DIE CUTTING & ASSEMBLING THE FLORALS

Die cut flowers and leaves from Club Blooms Etched Dies:

1. Cut pieces of ColorWheel Cardstock to be slightly larger than the size of the dies.
2. Place the largest flower die onto Seaside ColorWheel Cardstock and hold in place with Best Ever Craft Tape.
3. Place the smaller flower die onto Waterfall ColorWheel Cardstock and hold in place with Best Ever Craft Tape.
4. Place the flower centres die onto Teal Topaz ColorWheel Cardstock and hold in place with Best Ever Craft Tape.
5. Place open flower top and bottom petals dies onto Teal Topaz ColorWheel Cardstock and hold in place with Best Ever Craft Tape.
6. Place flower centre die onto Classic White ColorWheel Cardstock and hold in place with Best Ever Craft Tape.
7. Place leaves die onto Peridot ColorWheel Cardstock and hold in place with Best Ever Craft Tape.

TIP: Holding dies down with tape prevents them from shifting when going through the die-cutting machine. Use a low-tack tape like Best Ever Craft Tape so that it removes easily from the cardstock.

8. Run through Platinum Six Die Cutting Machine using the following sandwich (bottom to top):

• A Platform Base
• B Platform Top
• C Cutting Plate
• Cardstock with die on top
• C Cutting Plate

9. Remove dies from cardstock and pop out die cuts.

10. Repeat the process of die cutting to cut further dies:

• Largest flower from Seaside ColorWheel Cardstock.
• Smallest flower from Waterfall ColorWheel Cardstock.
• Flower centres from Teal Topaz ColorWheel Cardstock.
• Leaves from Rainforest ColorWheel Cardstock.

11. Repeat the process of die cutting to cut further dies:

• Flower centres from Seaside ColorWheel Cardstock. Cut this twice.
• Leaves from Peridot ColorWheel Cardstock.

12. Using Tool ‘n One, pop out the holes in the white flower centre.

13. Add Bearly Art Glue to the back and adhere to solid flower centre piece.

14. Add Bearly Art Glue to the back and adhere to back petal flower piece.
15. Adhere top petal piece on top.

TIP: I like using tweezers to adhere die cuts together. That way I can hover the pieces in place to check I like the placement before pressing it down. It also helps when the pieces are small!

16. Adhere circular flower centres to other flowers.

CARD ASSEMBLY & EMBELLISHING

1. Arrange flowers and leaves onto card base. This is easier to do first, before adhering in place, so that you can move things around where needed.

2. Add Bearly Art Glue onto the back of the leaves.

3. Adhere in place, with the bottom of the leaves tucked behind the flowers. Don’t worry if they overlap the edge of the card base at this point.

4. Add foam squares onto the back of the small flower on the left and large flower on the right.
5. Remove the backings off the foam squares.
6. Adhere in place.

7. For the flowers that overlap these two, cut foam square down using scissors and adhere to back of flowers. Add Bearly Art Glue to the parts that overlap the other flowers.
8. Adhere in place.

9. For the flower at the bottom, add foam square directly to the card base. Remove the backing and place the flower on top.

10. Flip card over and cut off the excess overhanging the sides using shears.

TIP: Cutting excess from the sides of a card base is easier from the back, as you have the edge of the card base to guide the scissors. You can also do this step using a guillotine.

11. Add Silver Mix Color Essentials Gems to the flower centres.
12. Embellish with more gems, scattering them around the flowers and leaves.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing how I combined florals with the beautiful Upright Italic Thank You! Press + Foil Plate. I like having a lot of white space (areas without anything) on my card, so I kept the elements to the bottom half of the card, but this design would look great at the top of a card, too. It would also look great if you scattered the flowers around the whole of the card, if you prefer a fuller look. Thank you so much for stopping by today. I hope you have a wonderful day! [spellbinders-supplies]BP-356,BPI-003,DOML-JAN23,SCS-130,BPC-002,CS-8-148,CS-8-123,CS-8-124,CS-8-125,CS-8-118,CS-8-119,BP-001,PE-104,SCS-241,SCS-123,SCS-272,PCG02E,SCS-267,T-066,T-035,T-043,T-042[/spellbinders-supplies]

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Hi there. I’m Gaylynn Martling. I am delighted to share this photo tutorial as a guest designer here on the Spellbinders blog. This is a step-by-step process that is beginner-friendly. For today, I'll step you through one card project from beginning to the end using both hot foiling and die-cuts.  Simple techniques and clean layouts are always appealing to me. The Paul Antonio PAScribe Upright Italic Everyday Sentiments Collection provides the most elegant and eye-catching sentiments for card making. In today’s example, I focus on the Happy Birthday press + foil plate. There are other wonderful sentiments in the collection for different occasions You will see process photos along with steps and tips along the way.  Additionally, supplies that I used in the making of this birthday card are noted. First up is the card base.  I chose an A2-sized vertical side-fold card base for ease of mailing with lower postage rates.  I often make two A2-size card bases using one letter-size 8 ½” x 11” sheet of cardstock.  To skip this step, premade card bases can be purchased already cut and scored using side-fold card bases or top-fold card bases. How to make your own handmade A2 4 ¼” x 5 1/2” side fold card base:

1. Select a sheet of white Colorwheel cardstock 8 ½” x 11” in size.
2. Cut the cardstock sheet in half at 5 ½” using a paper trimmer. You will have two sheets measuring 8 ½” x 5 ½”.
3. Score one of the cut pieces in half at 4 ¼” using the scoring blade of the paper trimmer. If your trimmer does not include a scoring tool, use a bone folder to score, then use the bone folder again to flatten the folded edge.
4. Scoring can be done with the paper trimmer or a scoring board.
5. The card base can be decorated either vertically (as in this example) or horizontally.
6. This finished A2 card base size is 4 ¼” x 5 ½”, side fold and vertical.

Next, die-cut embellishments and frame layers to decorate the card and enhance the featured birthday sentiment.  For this example, I chose to add alphabet balloons using the HBD Balloons Etched Dies.

1. Choose three coordinating Colorwheel cardstock colors in teal topaz, blue spruce, mint, and raven.
2. Die-cut the three alphabet balloons and steamers. Use one color for each letter from trimmed-down teal topaz, blue spruce, and mint cardstock pieces. Cut the streamers in Raven cardstock for contrast.
3. Die-cut a white card front layer and a blue spruce background frame layer using the two largest dies in the set Perfect Touch Rectangles Etched dies.

TIP:  Fill your die-cutting plates with as many die-cut pieces that will fit on your plates.  I used a Spellbinders Platinum die-cutting machine, which has the longer plates and machine size.  You may need to die-cut multiple times, depending on the size of your cutting plates and your machine.  The Spellbinders Platinum Six die-cutting machine is another lovely option.

Here is a look at the finished die-cuts and the dies that I used for the cutting process. These are the steps for the hot foiling process using the Glimmer Hot Foil Machine along with the Paul Antonio PAScribe Upright Italic Happy Birthday press + foil plate.

1. Preheat the Glimmer Hot Foil system.
2. Once heated, place the Happy Birthday plate with the sentiment upside down over the Glimmer platform, design side up. Place it centered at the top end.  (The finished sentiment will display on the bottom of the card front panel.)
3. Cover the Happy Birthday sentiment plate using a trimmed piece of pastel mint hot foil roll from the Glimmer Hot Foil Rolls Variety 4-Pack Satin Pastels (pretty side facing the plate design).
4. Temporarily tape the sentiment plate down where there are open spaces, or use repositionable adhesive to tape down the backside of the sentiment plate.

TIP:  Trim down your hot foil piece to the size of your plate and avoid leaving sharp edges on the foil.  This helps to prevent overfoiling in areas where it shouldn’t.

5. Center and place the white Colorwheel cardstock die-cut panel over the foil at the top of the platform.
6. Temporarily tape the cardstock panel down at the top end to form a henge using Best Ever Craft Tape.

7. Place the two Glimmer plates over the cardstock panel right before pressing. (My plates have been previously accidentally foiled, and they still work perfectly.)

8. Slowly, run the Glimmer platform and plates through the Platinum or Platinum SIX die-cutting machine (or compatible machine and plates) to press the foil into the paper.

TIP:  When using the Glimmer Hot Foil system with press + foil plates and a die-cutting machine, you are pressing the hot foil into the smooth cardstock, but not die-cutting.  This method works with hot foil rolls or sheets and not toner foil.

Take a look at the card front panel after the pastel foiling was finished.  This includes the card base and prepared frame layer. Lastly, layer and decorate the card front to accent the foiled sentiment.  I added the playful HBD balloons at a slight angle.

1. Layer the white card front panel and the background panel using double-sided White Foam Adhesive Strips - 2MM.
2. Adhere the layered rectangle panels to the card base using glue or Permanent Tape Runner.
3. Add white paint marker lines and dots over the pressed impressions and on the edges of each balloon letter.
4. Adhere the die-cut pieces together for each of the balloon letters, using White Foam Adhesive strips 1/8” or glue.
5. Overlap and adhere the balloons with foam strips and the stings with glue, flowing the strings towards the right-hand side of the card.

It has been a pleasure creating here with you.  Thank you so much for visiting the Spellbinders blog.  You can find me at NeatThings on Facebook, @neatnook on Instagram, YouTube, and my Blog for lots of crafty projects and inspiration.  I invite you to visit me there. Best wishes and have a lovely day, Gaylynn Martling [spellbinders-supplies]CS-8-148,CS-8-147,CS-8-126,CS-8-125,CS-8-121,SCSP-030,T-050,T-070,GLF-050,GLS-005,PL-126,PE-104,SCS-123,SCS-272,SCS-334,SCSAH-002,PCGO4E,BP-357,S3-562[/spellbinders-supplies]

Other supplies​

EZ Runner Repositionable Tape, White Paint Marker, Bone Folder

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Hello crafty friends! It’s Lisa Tilson here with you today. I am delighted to be back on the Spellbinders blog to share a card featuring the prettiest tulip field, set against a backdrop of windmills with a gorgeous pink sky! The Windmills and Tulips Press & Foil Plate is from Yana’s Tulips Collection, and it is lovely – it creates a beautiful, serene scene! I believe it is inspired by a recent trip that Yana took to the Netherlands, and the vibe is captured to perfection. Along with this press and foil plate, there is a set of layering stencils that you can use to add your colour to the image, and I use those on my card today. Also part of the collection is the Tulips and Daffodils Press + Foil Plate. That too has a set of layering stencils which you can use for colouring. To top off the collection, you will find a set of sentiments called Bouquet of Hugs Sentiments Press + Foil Plate & Die Set. These sentiments are perfectly worded to suit this floral theme. I am going to be taking you through my card with a step-by-step photo tutorial. I hope you like the end result – pink is my jam, so there’s lots of it!

Sending A Bouquet Of Hugs

For all of the die cutting, use the Platinum SIX Die Cutting Machine with the die cutting sandwich as follows (from bottom to top):

• Plate A – Platform Base
• Plate B – Platform Top
• Plate C – Cutting Plate
• Plate C – Cutting Plate

The cardstock/die will be inserted between the two cutting plates with the die sitting on top of the cardstock, cutting side down. For the pressing, use the BetterPress LetterPress System, which works in conjunction with the Platinum SIX Die Cutting Machine.

Pressing The Panel and Sentiment

1. Start by placing the Windmills and Tulips Press & Foil Plate onto the BetterPress Letterpress System Chase (magnetic platform).
2. Using small pieces of Best Ever Craft Tape, adhere an A2 panel of Porcelain BetterPress Cardstock onto the underside of the Platen (clear top plate).
3. Ink up the plate using BetterPress Black Ink.

TIP: Use a pouncing/tapping motion to add the ink to the plate. The larger BetterPress Black Ink Pad is helpful when needing to cover an A2-sized plate with ink.

Note: You will see there are small pieces of yellow tape around the edges of the Chase in the photo. This helps to hold it in place and keeps it from shifting if you need to double-press a plate.

4. Flip the Platen back over and clip it onto the Chase. The inked plate and cardstock are now “face to face”.
5. Remove all die-cutting plates from your Platinum SIX Die Cutting Machine and insert the BetterPress Letterpress System
6. Run the system through your die-cutting machine.

7. Use Ranger Archival Ink Stamp Cleaner and a microfibre cloth to clean the ink from your plate.

8. Place a sentiment from Bouquet of Hugs Sentiments Press + Foil Plate & Die Set onto your Chase.
9. Adhere a small piece of Porcelain Cardstock to your Platen using pieces of Best Ever Craft Tape.
10. Ink up the sentiment using BetterPress Black Ink and pop the Platen back onto the Chase.
11. Run the system through your die-cutting machine.

12. Adhere the coordinating die to your sentiment using yellow tape.

13. Run it through your Platinum SIX Die Cutting Machine using the sandwich listed at the top of this post.

Adding Color Using the Layering Stencils

1. Place your pressed panel onto the Altenew Stampwheel Sticky Mat.
2. Take Stencil 1 from Layered Windmills and Tulips and line it up with your pressed panel.

TIP: You can use some Best Ever Craft Tape here to make sure the stencil doesn’t move. The Sticky Mat will hold the stencil in place, but when the stencil is only slightly bigger than the panel of cardstock, it can be helpful to also tape it in place.

3. Stencil 1 covers the first part of the windmill sails as well as the tulip heads

4. Using a Medium Blending Brush, blend a light layer of Tawny Brown BetterPress Ink through the sail openings.
5. Use Wild Berry BetterPress Ink to blend the tulip heads.

6. Using a Mini Blending Brush, apply a small amount of Hero Arts Raspberry Jam Core Ink to the bottom of each tulip head. This adds extra interest and creates an ombre effect on each tulip.

7. Remove the stencil and look at the beautiful results!

8. Stencil 2 covers the next section of the sails as well as the tulip leaves.

9. Using a blending brush, apply a slightly darker layer of Tawny Brown BetterPress Ink to the sail openings.
10. Apply Leaf BetterPress Ink to the leaves and grass sections.

11. Using a Mini Blending Brush, apply Pine BetterPress Ink to the bottoms of each of the leaves to give them some extra dimension and interest.

12. Place Stencil 3 over the panel.
13. Using a piece of Best Ever Craft Tape, mask off the top of the tulips section.
14. Apply a heavy layer of Tawny Brown BetterPress Ink to the tops and bottoms of all three windmills.

15. Place Stencil 4 over the panel.
16. Apply Pine BetterPress Ink to the bushes and tulip stems.

17. Place Stencil 5 over your panel. This covers the final sections of the windmills as well as the clouds. Saffron and Tuscan BetterPress Inks will be used for these sections.

18. Apply Saffron BetterPress Ink to the two outer windmills.
19. Apply a heavy layer of Tuscan BetterPress Ink to the middle windmill.

Note: The clouds will be left free of any ink in this card design.

20. Place Stencil 6 over the panel.
21. Apply Wild Berry BetterPress Ink through the openings. Use a heavier layer of ink towards the bottom so that the sky fades up to a light pink.

Assembling The Card

1. Add Bearly Art Glue to the back of the completed panel.
2. Adhere it onto a top folding A2 white note card created from Classic White ColorWheel Cardstock 11” x 4.25”, scored and folded at 5.5”.

3. Add small pieces of White Foam Squares onto the back of the pressed sentiment.

4. Adhere the sentiment to the bottom of the card to finish.

That brings us to the end of today’s card. I hope you find this step-by-step tutorial useful and you like the card! This is such a pretty press plate, and don’t forget it, you don’t want to press it, you can always foil it and use the stencils with the foiled image instead. If you would like to see more of my cards, I would love to have you join me over on my blog, Instagram, Facebook, or YouTube. In the meantime, thank you so much for being with me here on the Spellbinders blog today. I hope that you have a wonderful day! [spellbinders-supplies]BP-360,STNB-015,BP-354,BPC-002,BPI-043,AF724,BPI-002,BPI-013,BPI-012,BPI-024,CS-8-148,SCS-267,SCS-123,T-035,T-024,T-042,T-043,T-045,T-034,PCGO2E,INK58939,PE-104,BP-001,altn-alt7621bn[/spellbinders-supplies]

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