Hi there
Today’s technique is one I haven’t done for ages – it’s called the Eclipse Technique. Most Eclipse cards use alphabet dies but you can use other dies and even punches.
Here I’ve used the Playful Alphabet Dies which are a great size allowing for longer words. Our old Large Letter Dies only allowed words of about 5 letters on a standard sized card. My Playful Alphabet Dies have had a good workout of late. They are reasonably priced and there are a couple of letters where you get two dies – comes in handy for a number of words.
The In Good Taste Designer Series Paper (DSP) works so well for masculine cards. I’ve teamed it up with a Basic Black mat and a Terracotta Tile Base. I found I still had a whole pack of Terracotta Tile cardstock so thought I’d better use it up before it retires on 3rd May.
To create your Eclipse Card die cut your letters from a piece of DSP or a stamped piece of cardstock. My DSP measures 9.5cm x 13.8cm and my mat is 10cm x 14.3cm. Make sure you keep all the little ‘cut out’ bits from the letters. TIP: I held my letters in place with Washi Tape as they still tried to move around the cutting plates and magnetic base.
For this card I then die cut the letters from Basic Black cardstock and adhered this to the back of the DSP for extra strength.
Adhere your main piece of DSP to your mat. There are a couple of ways to attach your letters to the base – I added Mini Black Dimensionals to my letters then slotted them back into the hole where they’d been cut. You will now be left with gaps where there are cut outs eg: in the middle of the ‘A’, ‘P’, ‘B’ etc. Now comes the fun part of adhering these little pieces in. Put a small ‘dot’ of Multipurpose Liquid Glue on the back and carefully place it into the hole. I used the end of my scissors to move it into the correct place.
The final touch to my card was adding some of the wooden accents from the In Good Taste Elements. These are best adhered with some of the Multipurpose Liquid Glue.
I hope you give this style of card a go. I’m going to try doing it again soon with one of our punches.
Until next time …
