March SUSIE-Q FUN TIP!

Please scroll down to meet our March Guest Designer!

Well, it's me, Susan (susiestampalot)!  Can ya'll believe it's March 1st already!?  I've got a super easy tip/tutorial today.  Raise your hand if you're in love with WASHI TAPE as much as me, but don't have a clue what to do with it.  Ope!  You, and you, and you!?!  Ok, well today I'm going to share a fun way to use it along with some of your favorite dies from Your Next Stamp!  This is seriously one of my favorite things!!

Let's get taping....

 
I had some sort of "star" card idea in my head, so I found this sweet little sentiment from the Welcome Baby Sentiment stamp set.  However, I wasn't thinking babies, but of my Show Choir Diva daughter, Lindsie and their 2ND PLACE WIN from this past weekend's choir competition and how proud I am of her.  I thought this would be fun to give her for that!  Therefore, I definitely needed a sparkly Polaroid frame from the Insta-Love Polaroid Die set, and a little patterned paper for a good foundation. 

Then for the stars, some matching washi tape and my Whimsy Layered Star Die set (which is really all you need to just try out the technique by itself).

Let's back up and start with a little "edjumacation":
Raise your hand if you don't know what WASHI TAPE even is?!  It's ok, we don't judge...
WASHI TAPE is a sticky backed tape that originated in Japan and is made with natural fibers, barks of different native trees of Japan and feels much like delicate paper but is quite strong.  I don't know if some of it nowadays is actually a thin strictly paper tape (that would be my guess) or not, but it comes on little rolls and in a variety of tempting patterns and colors.  Surely you weren't thinking it was a spicy Japanese condiment for your sushi and getting it confused with WASABI!  Welcome to your new addiction...

 
What we need to do first is make some "washi cardstock".  Simply create whatever patterns you want by pressing strips of the tape onto some white cardstock.  I choose white since the tape is a little bit see-through and I want the colors to be vivid, but you can play with using different cardstock colors which will change the hues of your washi tapes.


Time to cut your stars out!  I run mine through my Big Shot, but a Cuttlebug or other manual die cutting machine will work.

                             YOU LIKEY??????

 

 I even love the little layered washi tape look!!

 Look here...

So now that we have the elements of our card all made, it's time to put it together.  Here's another little trick I like to use, especially for these kind of random, clustery cards...To help me remember placement, angles, etc., I lay it all out the way I like my card, then take a pic with my phone before gluing anything down.  That way, I have something to refer back to when I have to start building the card from the bottom up.  

Cool, huh!  Your welcome.

Here's a little detail shot of our stars in action!

 

 And now our little star card is all grown up and ready for the RED CARPET!!!

So what'd ya'll think?  

Be sure and leave me some lovely comments as to your thoughts about this and let me know what else you'd like for me to cover next month!  

DONT' FORGET--- 

  There's going to be a random drawing on MARCH 5th from all the comments to win some YNS goodies!    

Ready, set, GO!!!!!