Out of the Box Bouquet Card and Tutorial

Hi everyone! I have a card with an Out-of-the-Box image for you today. For those of you who would like to learn how to make out of the box images, make sure to check the bottom of this post for a step by step tutorial. It is a great way to get a big “wow” on your card without having any special tools.

                      Stamps: Elements of Style, Thoughts and Prayers

                      Paper: Melon Mambo, Whisper White, Melon Mambo DSP, Pink Pirouette DSP

                      Ink: Melon Mambo & Versamark; Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, Certainly Celery, Pear

                             Pizzazz & So Saffron Markers

                      Accessories: Black, Silver, Melon Mambo & Wild Wasabi Embossing Powders; Labels

                             Framelits; Pink Pirouette 3/8" Taffeta Ribbon

                      Technique: Out-of the-Box technique, Heat embossing

The main image is from Elements of Style. I heat embossed the image with black embossing powder on Whisper White cardstock. Then I colored it using Pink Pirouette, Melon Mambo, Certainly Celery, Pear Pizzazz and So Saffron Markers. I cut it out to a 2x3” base using the technique described in the tutorial below. I matted it with a 2¼”x3¼” Melon Mambo mat and then matted that with a 2½”x3½” Whisper White Mat. I stamped the sentiment (from Thoughts & Prayers) in Melon Mambo Classic ink on a piece of Pink Pirouette Designer Paper (from the Subtles Collection Paper Stack). The I cut it out using Labels Framelits and hand cut a Melon Mambo Mat for the label.  The card base is Melon Mambo and is a standard A2 (4¼” x 5½”) size.  The Whisper White Card front is 4x5¼” and the is a 1¼”x5¼” strip of Melon Mambo Designer Paper (from the Brights Collection Paper Stack) along the bottom, and I added a Pink Pirouette 3/8” Taffeta Ribbon. The hummingbird image is heat embossed using Wild Wasabi embossing powder, with a touch of Silver embossing powder on the wing and tail tips and Melon Mambo embossing powder on the throat. You might notice I had to give my main image a little leaf-ectomy (i.e. I cut off a few leaves) so that it would fit in the space on my card.

Thanks for visiting my blog! I hope you enjoyed my card today. I love comments! (hint, hint J)

Out of the Box Image Tutorial

1. Stamp image on cardstock and color as desired, then cut it along one side so that the image sticks out a little past the cut line. When you get to the image, stop cutting, pick up your cutting blade and start again on the other side of the image. This will give you a straight cut line down along your image without cutting off any of it.

2. Continue to do this around all four sides of your image. For this image, you can see I cut it so there is a 2x3” rectangle in the center, but I didn’t cut off any of the flowers or leaves that extended outside of that shape.

3. Only along the edge of the parts of the image that extend outside the box, cut along the edge so that you cut away the excess cardstock. See the leaf in the top corner on this photo. Stampin’ Up!’s Paper Snips are perfect for this, they make it really easy to get into the little corners of your image.

4. Continue doing that all the way around so that the parts of the image extending outside the box are all cut out. Here I have also cut along the flowers at the top of the image.

5. This is what your final out of the box image will look like, with parts of the image appearing to overflow the cardstock, isn’t it pretty?!

6. I recommend matting the image with a piece of cardstock that is ¼” wider and longer than the box you created. It makes the out of the box image have a more dramatic effect.

Thanks for reading my tutorial. I would love to hear what you thought of it!

All items that I used to make this card are available from Stampin’ Up! The 2010-2011 Stampin’ Up Idea Book and Catalog only lasts until May 31^st, so don’t miss out! If you would like to purchase any of the items shown here, please visit my business website at http://www.trina_kuriger.stampinup.net/