A Way With Words Els van de Burgt Studio

Fast & Easy Shimmer Sheetz Notepads

March 6, 2016

Fast & Easy Shimmer Sheetz Notepads
By Judi Kauffman

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I love it when life hands me a win-win. I needed to come up with a small handmade gift on short notice – I’d forgotten a friend’s birthday and had only half an hour before we were scheduled to meet for lunch. And I was also on deadline for my Elizabeth Craft Designs blog project. I took photos of the notepad before wrapping it and headed out the door!

I already had some paper-covered sticky notepad covers made. Add 10 minutes to the project if you are starting from square one (pun intended!).

Here’s how it came together:

  1. Following manufacturer’s instructions, make a mulberry paper-covered sticky notepad cover and place a 3” sticky note pad inside. (3.25” x 3.25” cover is made with a pre-cut chipboard kit – see supply list.)
  1. Lightly sand a piece of Shimmer Sheetz in a color of choice (shown: Orange Iridescent). Back it with Clear Double Sided Adhesive Sheet. Die cut a 2.75” Stitched Square. Reminder – A Metal Adaptor Plate or Precision Base Plate for the Big Shot machine is required for die cutting Shimmer Sheetz. Review Els van de Burgt’s YouTube video HERE if you are new to this technique.
  1. Center the square on the top of the notepad cover.
  1. Back two more pieces of Shimmer Sheetz in colors of choice with Clear Double Sided Adhesive Sheet. See Design Strategies and Tips after the instructions if you need ideas for coming up with color combinations. Lightly sand the Shimmer Sheetz color you’ve selected for the corners, but not the piece you’ve selected for the word ‘Live’. (shown: Amethyst, un-sanded; Fire Opal Gemstone, sanded).
  1. Die cut ‘Live’ and a pair of corners from the un-sanded Shimmer Sheetz. Die cut a pair of corners from the sanded Shimmer Sheetz. When removing the pieces from the dies, make sure not to lose any of the circles from the corner pieces! All 20 circles are needed, 10 in each color. (Set aside the un-sanded Shimmer Sheetz corner pieces for another project.)
  1. Add ‘Live’ to the pad cover, angled uphill as shown. Add corner pieces at the upper left and lower right. Fill the round openings in the corners with contrasting (un-sanded) circles. Use the circles from the sanded corner pieces as accents at the upper right, lower left, below and around the word.

 

 

Design Strategies and Tips
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To help you envision other color combinations, refer to the two images above – full color and gray scale. The key is to keep in mind that each color has a ‘value’ – light, medium, or dark.

As shown, the word ‘Live’ and the small circles in the corners are dark (Amethyst), the corners and accent circles are medium (Fire Opal), and the background is light (Orange). This shows best in the gray scale image. It’s like watching an old movie. If the starlet has on a light color dress you can envision pink, pale yellow, ivory and other colors. If it is dark you can imagine wine red, black, green, or navy.

Keep the palette as shown or reverse the colors so that the word is light and the background is dark. This provides a very different look no matter which three colors you’ve picked.

Shimmer Sheetz Sampler Packs offer endless options! Suggested combinations:

  • Turquoise Gemstone, Blue Iridescent, White Iridescent
  • Fire Opal Gemstone, Black Iridescent, Australian Opal Gemstone
  • Pink Iridescent, Red Iridescent, Imperial Garnet Gemstone

 

Another way to approach the project:

Allow the shapes themselves to provide contrast and visual texture. Use Shimmer Sheetz in only ONE color. The fact that some of the Shimmer Sheetz has been sanded and some of it has not been sanded will provide a lot of contrast, as will the lines created by die cut edges. In other words, you can make a tone-on-tone version – bright and sassy; rich, deep and elegant; pristine and all white.

Several A Way With Words collection dies fit within a 3.25” square or can be easily cropped to fit and will work for this project. Alternatively, if you want to spell out something different or incorporate a date, reach for Els van de Burgt Studio upper or lower case alphabets and numbers! And who says that it has to be a Stitched Square on top of the notepad? It could be a circle instead. And instead of words, what about seashells or flowers? And…And…So many ideas, so many fun possibilities.

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Supplies:

Elizabeth Craft Designs –
Stitched Squares
Corners 1
Live
Clear Double Sided Adhesive Sheet
Shimmer Sheetz in 3 colors of choice (or sheets from Sampler Packs)
Metal Adaptor Plate

 

Other –
Arnold Grummer’s 3.25” x 3.25” Sticky Notepad Cover Kit (pre-cut chipboard)
Mulberry paper in color to coordinate with Shimmer Sheetz
Sanding block
Sticky note pad (3” x 3”)

 

 

 

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  • Mary Prasad March 7, 2016 at 2:27 pm

    Cool idea! I do love those word dies!

  • Bibi, Rubber Dance Stamps March 6, 2016 at 10:48 pm

    Needing a last-minute gift sounds much too familiar … Your notepad turned out lovely and these notepads make for unique gifts anyone would find useful – in addition to being an decorative element on a work desk.

  • judi kauffman March 6, 2016 at 8:47 pm

    whooops..slip of the fingers – I meant upscale (not upscdale…)

  • judi kauffman March 6, 2016 at 8:47 pm

    Thank you, Debbie and Kimberly – The ‘Stitched’ die series (squares and the other three shapes) really does work great with Shimmer Sheetz and even though I like it shiny and reflective, sometimes just that little bit of sanding to tone it down makes it look very upscdale.

  • Kimberly O. March 6, 2016 at 7:41 pm

    Very nice! I love the mulberry paper combined with the shimmer sheetz. AND… I really like how good the stitched die worked on the shimmer sheetz.

  • debbiecarollittlejohn March 6, 2016 at 10:06 am

    What a great gift idea. One can always use a sticky note pad and these are special! Thanks for sharing Judi.

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