Best Catch Birthday - The Paper Players 451

The challenge this week with The Paper Players is to make a clean and simple masculine card.  Clean and simple cards have always been a challenge for me, so I thought I would give this challenge a try.

A clean and simple card is defined as follows:

                                                             Minimal layers and embellishments
                                                   Plenty of open space, aka "white" space

Simple and uncluttered

For this clean and simple masculine card the stamp set "Best Catch" and its coordinating dies was used.  To keep it simple and uncluttered I only stamped the fisher man and the birthday sentiment.  The only embellishment is the fish, which was stamped, coloured, layered with 3 other unstamped die cuts, and then added to the card front. A Seaside Spray Stampin' Blend was used to colour around the images and sentiment.

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Best Catch, Special Celebrations

Inks: Black Memento, Stampin' Blends to colour the fish (Old Olive, Daffodil Delight, Calypso Coral, Crumb Cake), Night of Navy around the base of the fisherman, and  Seaside Spray around the images.

Papers:  Whisper White, Basic Black, and Seaside Spray

Accessories:  Best Catch dies

3D Best Catch - a Unique Fold and a CASE

I was fascinated when I saw this card  made by Amy Minson on Pinterest.  It was a fold I had never seen before but I couldn't figure out how to make it and I was curious.  Then when Frenchie made a   video featuring this card fold I was hooked.  I had to CASE this card.

The "Best Catch" stamp set is one, among many, of my favourite stamp sets in the Occasions catalogue. Earlier it was used  to make a diorama card here,  and like Amy and Frenchie, I used it to CASE their cards.

Frenchie's video explains how to make this card fold very well.

Here are the card dimensions:

• Night of Navy 11 by 5 1/2"  scored at 1 3/4, 3 1/2, 7 1/2, and 9 1/4" (Card base)
• Night of Navy 11 by 1 1/2" (2 pieces) one for the top and one for the bottom.
• Whisper White 10 7/8 by 1 3/8" (2 pieces),  One at the top features the birds from High Tide: at the bottom water images from High Tide as well. Once stamped, the Whisper White is adhered to the Night of Navy strips and then scored at 1 3/4, 3 1/2, 5 1/4, and 7".  Fold each strip on scored lines and burnish well.  They will be adhered to the card base in opposite directions. 
• Whisper White: 11 by 5 3/8"  Scenery piece. Once the scene is created, it is cut into pieces of these sizes: 1 5/8, 1 5/8, 3 7/8, 1 5/8". There will be 3/8" of a strip left over, and this will be adhered to a Whisper White piece at the back of the card.

Back

View from the top

Stamping:
Scenery:

Using the Lovely as a tree stamp set and Black Memento ink, stamp a row of trees all the way across the 11 by 5 3/8" piece of Whisper White. Stamp once full strength ink, then stamp a second time above and to the side of the first image without inking up.  Then using a brayer, apply Balmy Blue for the sky, making clouds using Pacific Point; across the trees with Pear Pizzazz and below the trees with Crumb Cake.

Cut into the following pieces: 1 5/8" 1 5/8", 3 7/8" and 1 5/8" and adhere to the scored Night of Navy card base.

Left side

Upper and Lower Strips:

Stamp birds from High Tide twice in the middle of one of the 10 7/8 by 1 3/8" pieces of Whisper White using Black Memento; the water image all the way across the second Whisper White piece of the same side.  

Adhere both pieces of Whisper White pieces to their corresponding Night of Navy strips.  Score the upper piece (birds) at  1 3/4, 3 1vc /2, 5 1/4, and 7" (on both sides) ; the bottom piece start scoring at the opposite end.

Adhere strip with water image to bottom of scenery ,  by adhering 3 smaller scored pieces to the bottom of the scenery piece

The other strip is applied in an opposite manner i.e. the 1 3/4" is at the left upper edge.  Apply adhesive to the first 3 scored areas and adhere to the upper left scenery piece matching score lines. 

Right Side

Images:

Using the stamparatus, stamp the images and colour them with Stampin' Blends.  Die cut them, as well as two of the smaller fish in Smokey Slate and some bull rushes in Whisper White.

Colour the Bullrush with Old Olive ink with the top with the Bronze stampin' blend

Adhere images as shown in the card.

The card folds flat for  mailing.  Start by folding the right side first, followed by the left. A bubble envelope is recommended.

Stamps:  Best Catch, Lovely as a Tree, High Tide

Inks:  Balmy Blue, Pacific Point, Pear Pizzazz, Old Olive, Bronze Stampin' Blend, Black Memento, other Stampin' Blends

Papers:Night of Navy, Whisper White, Smoky Slate
Accessories:  Best Catch framelits, Brayer

Best Catch in a Diorama card

Diorama a noun that means . A three-dimensional display of a scenery, often having a painted background in front of which models are arranged, or a small scaled replica of a scene.

There are a plethora of tutorials for Diorama cards but the one I found most helpful was made by Amanda Fowler, an Australian Demonstrator.  You can find her video tutorial here

There are also various types of Diorama cards. Some have two layers; some are three. All have an aperture through which the scene is viewed.

My Diorama card has three layers, a front and middle piece through which an opening is die cut and a back piece upon which the scene is built.

Although it looks bulky, it lies flat for mailing. But because this makes it a larger size, an envelope was made using the Envelope Punch Board.

From front to back, the layers are as follows:

Front layer:  Crumb Cake
Middle Layer:  Old Olive
Back Layer:  Thick Whisper White 

Two different sizes of the Stitched Rectangle framelits were used to die cut the apertures in the front and middle layers - the smaller framelit for the middle layer.

On the back layer, a mountain and water scene was created providing a lovely back drop for the fisherman who was casting his fishing line in the water. The Waterfront stamp was used to create the mountains.

This is a view from the left side of the Diorama card. You can see the 3 layers as well as the embellishments on the outside.

The 3 small fish were held in a bunch with Old Olive linen thread , the fishing hook  looks like its holding them up.

Above is the left side, which displays the 3D look of the card.  The cluster of reeds and bull rushes, adhered to the top and middle layer help to create this 3D look.  The rainbow trout adhered to the top of the card looks like it has jumped out of the water

Before entering the water, the fisherman left an extra hat which I placed on one corner of the sentiment, which was also die cut with the Stitched Rectangle Framelit.  The basket is waiting for his catch.

Supplies Used:

Stamps:  Best Catch, Waterfront
Inks:  Black Memento, Stampin' Blends, Basic Gray,  Balmy Blue, Pacific Point, Mossy Meadow, Soft Suede
Accessories:  Best Catch Framelit dies, Stitched Rectangle Framelit dies, Old Olive Linen Thread