The technique Arlene used on this card, the cutting away of the negative parts of the image, and layering it up, takes a simple image and transforms it into a unique and complex-looking design. She created a lovely card, far from simple-looking, just by a few snips of her scissors.
This simple tulip image was stamped onto white card stock and colored. Rather than just layering it onto the black, then onto the card, Arlene used her craft knife to cut away the excess (negative) areas around the flower within each square, creating a little window opening around the image. She then layered the white panel onto a black panel, making sure to cut away the center so that the cut-out areas of the image were still open. Then she used foam tape to layer the panels onto the card front.
Such a fun look. And the vertical thank you really finishes off the card nicely, enhancing the image. Here's a close-up view of the cut-out sections:
Here are some tips for cutting with a craft knife:
- Use a sharp blade! I cannot stress this enough. Knife blades are inexpensive, so don't be afraid to change the blade when it starts getting dull. You will know, because it starts dragging the paper when it dulls.
- Be sure to cut on a self-healing mat.
- Use the full blade, not just the tip. When cutting, angle the blade so that most of the blade runs along the paper. I see many people get frustrated, because they are just pressing and pulling the point or tip of the blade. If you lay the blade down so that the sharp part is fully touching the paper, the cut will be smoother, and much easier to cut.
- Do not try to cut out everything with one swipe. With the sections of this card, for example, I usually roughly cut the opening, then go in and detail cut around the images and the squares.
- When cutting around angles, turn the paper, not the knife.
I'm beginning to get a little more comfortable with my job. Still a long way to go, but I am seeing a light at the end of the long, long tunnel. I'll let you know after next week, when I tackle the biggie....payroll!
And....I finally figured out the mystery of the hair-like prickers that I've been finding in my body for a week now. Tiny little "thorns," literally no thicker than a hair (when they're in the skin they look like the hair on your legs that you hadn't shaved in several days), are what I've had in my fingers, wrists, arms, and even one on my breast - yep, and let me tell you how much that tiny little thing hurt!
Hubby and I have been trying to figure out what it was, and where they were coming from. Then Sunday night, lying in bed, I felt one - wait for it - you guessed it, in my bum! Yessiree, way back where I couldn't get at it. Suffice it to say, when I asked hubby if he could do me a big favor, it wasn't what he had in mind! It was quite a picture, him with a magnifying glass in one hand, and sharp tweezers in the other, trying to get the thorn out of my buttocks!! It didn't help that I couldn't stop giggling.
Well, that did it. After I medicated my "wound," I resorted to the trusty ole Google and Internet. There I found the answer. Dan bought me a couple of cactuses (cacti)? for our deck a couple of weeks ago. One day, last week, I laundered the sheets, and hung them outside on the line. I love the fresh, clean smell of line-dried sheets on a windy day. Well, it turns out, these particular cacti are from the prickly pear family. They have itty-bitty (I'm telling you, you need a magnifying glass to see them) little hair-like thorns. Apparently, in the wind, they became airborne, and embedded into the sheets. Then from the sheets, they found their way into me!
Needless to say, the plants have found a new home. Me, I find myself giggling at the thought of how hubby and I must have looked and sounded the night he performed his surgery on me. Let's just say it wasn't pretty, and leave it at that.
Blessings,
lynda
