Vintage Puffy Heart

The cold temps here in Chicago-land are keeping me inside once again – not that I get out much anyway (my children will confirm this little tidbit of information), but now I don’t WANT to leave the warm refuge of my home and at least have an excuse that others understand. <grin> 

I’ve finally found a little shred of “quiet time” and am going to share details of one of my projects from last weeks blog tour.  As previously noted, my task was to play with showcase the Springtime Vintage Designer Fabric line available now in Stampin’ Up!’s new Occasions Mini Catalog.  I adore the bright cheerfulness of the colors, as well as the variation of fabric designs.  In each package you will receive these three beautifully coordinated 100% cotton fabrics, each piece measuring 28” x 18”.  That’s a whole lot of fun all wrapped up in one little package!

I know you’ve seen this photo before, but I like this card so much I just couldn’t resist posting it again. <hehehehe>  To make the two scallop circles I cut a square of each of the fabric designs I wanted to use and applied them to a sheet of Big Shot Multipurpose Adhesive paper.  I took my trusty bone folder and applied pressure over the entire pieces to make sure the adhesive stuck well.  So I wouldn’t gunk up my paper snips or other good scissors, I used my craft/rubber scissors to cut those out and ran the pieces through the Big Shot using various scallop circle die cuts – resulting in perfectly cut fabric swatches!  

I decided on a 5” square card and stamped the base layer with a background stamp, then sponged the edges for more of a vintage feel.  I very lightly sponged the edges of my largest scalloped circle fabric piece, removed the backing paper and applied it directly to the card base, again using the bone folder to make sure it adhered well … layered a circle cut from cardstock … then another scallop circle cut from fabric using the same process as above.  A bit of unsolicited advice when doing this (sure wish I would have thought of this procedure first) – only remove a small corner of the backing paper and start positioning your die cut, remove more of the backing and smooth the fabric as you go.  This way you will get your piece affixed exactly where you want it with no creases, folds or bumps.

The dimension on this heart was hard to capture in a photo, it pops up about 1/4”.  To achieve this I started by finding a portion of the fabric piece I wanted for my focal point – I loved the two little flower blooms, cut a small square of that section of fabric.  I then cut a piece of card stock and punched a heart in the center, turned this piece over and applied snail adhesive around the edges.  I began sticking my fabric to the adhesive, pushing a bit of the fabric through the heart as I went.  When I was happy with the results, I ripped apart and stretched a cotton ball, smooshed those pieces into the fabric from the reverse side until the heart was puffed out – then attached it to another layer of coordinating card stock.  I had a few spots that weren’t sticking well, so I used a very tiny bit of Tombow Multipurpose Liquid Glue and applied pressure for a few moments.  The resulting piece was popped onto the center of the card using dimensionals which I double stacked for extra “lift”.

Lots and lots of Basic Pearls were used to finish this card off.  I deliberately chose not to use a sentiment, thought I’d just let the card speak for itself!

Project Recipe:

Stamps:  Bella Toile background, Wonderfully Worn background, Confetti background
Cardstock:  Not Quite Navy, Rose Red
Ink:  Not Quite Navy, Rose Red
Accessories:  Big Shot, Scallop Circle die, Scallop Circle #2 die, Clear Circle die, Full Heart punch, Corner Rounder punch, Multipurpose Adhesive Sheets, Basic Pearls, cotton ball, adhesive, dimensionals