A crop party is a modern quilting bee. A group of friends gather to have girl friend time, sharing joys and sorrows while preserving memories and creating a special keepsake.

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Iris Folded Hearts




I can finally post my valentines!  You see, it has come to my attention that my darling husband reads my blog.  Of course I am flattered but this does make posting cards I have made for him somewhat problematic...

This week the ladies over at Heart 2 Heart want to see a Close to My Heart product that we love. Hmmmm.  What do I love most about CTMH?  The sparkles?  The ShinHan markers that allow me to have sparkles in many colors?  Thinking back to my introduction to CTMH, the thing that attracted me immediately was the paper.  I love all the layers of color and pattern.  I have been wanting to try iris folding, which is a cool technique where you place folded strips of paper across the back side of a cut out shape so that the design spirals into the center leaving an opening in the middle that is reminiscent of the iris of a camera lens.  Here is a link to a more detailed description and tutorial.  The heart pattern that I used can be found here.  First I made a practice card which my husband and I gave to our daughter:




I used a very old paper, Sweetheart, and this Sketch from Try Stamping on Tuesday:




I like how the plaid pattern swirled almost looks like marble.  To finish the card I used one of the zip strips from Heartstrings which is available through the end of March.  That is another cool thing about CTMH's paper:  Each background and texture paper has a ready to go border along the edge.  I rounded the corners and had a sweet CAS card that reminds me of a Picture My Life card.  Now that I had mastered an iris fold heart it was time for the main project, my husband's valentine:




For the background I selected one of my all time favorite papers, For Always.  I love the vintage look and all the texture.  Although it has been retired as a paper, it lives on in a Picture My Life card pack, so I know I have a fall back when I use up my stash.  For the iris folding I used a metallic paper that has been in my stash for so long that I don't remember where I got it.  The roses take advantage of something else I like about CTMH's paper, the white core.  After I cut the roses out of Champagne cardstock using the Artisite Cricut cartridge (F key, accent 2), I exposed the white core by using a file to remove the color from the edges of the petals.  Then I sponged some Blush ink along the inside edge of the spiral before rolling it up using one of my favorite tools, the quilling tool.  Before I got it I used to roll flowers using a knitting needle which did not roll nearly as smoothly.







If I had been making a flower using a dark color and wanted to edge the petals in another color I could have sanded the petals to expose the white core and colored the edge with ink like I did  here:




After stamping the sentiment I used a border punch from ek success to punch one scallop's worth of the pattern on each end and then added narrow strips of the metallic paper along the edge and tan bitty opaques in the center of each flourish.  I attached a bow, sparkle flourish (because y'all know I love sparkles), and more tan opaques in the center of each flower and was almost finished.  The completed iris folding on this card was bulkier than on the first card, so the layer would not lie flat. To solve that problem I used lots of foam tape to attach it to the card.  The layout is based on this Atlantic Hearts Sketch:



I had a lot of fun with iris folding which means you will be seeing more of it from me in the future.  In the mean time, thank you for stopping by!  Now how about visiting Heart to Heart, Atlantic Hearts and Try Stamping on Tuesday for some more inspiration?  Maybe you could even enter one or more of the challenges yourself.  I would love to see your work!  Until next time, Hansi


15 comments:

  1. Great cards. What a cool look with the hearts. Thanks for sharing with us at Heart 2 Heart.

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  2. Hi Hansi, I have never tried iris folding but I love what you have done here with the hearts. You're inspiring me to try it too! Thanks for joining us at Try Stampin on Tuesday this week!

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  3. Great cards, once again Hansi your cards are amazing! Thanks for playing along with AHSC!

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  4. Gorgeous card! And I love your flowers and the technique with the darker colored flower... all awesome!

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  5. Great cards Hansi! This technique worked perfectly with the sketch. Thanks for joining us this week at Try Stampin' On Tuesday :)

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  6. Iris folding is awesome but requires a lot of patience to make it look even and detailed - and your cards look absolutely perfect! Congratulations! For Always is my all time favourite paper pack as it is so versatile and can be used so many ways. Thanks for joining us at H2H!

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  7. Fabulous cards Hansi. I never tried the iris folding technique so maybe it's time to give it a try. Thanks for joining us again at AHSC.

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  8. I bet that iris-folding can be addictive! The older CTMH paper worked really well for that technique--not too thick/stiff. Both cards are lovely, but I especially like the one for your husband, with the deep dark red and the sweetheart roses. Beautiful! Thanks for your comments on today's post :)

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  9. Wow, these are amazingly striking- what a clever technique! Thanks for sharing your skills with AHSC and H2H!

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  10. Beautiful. I love iris folding. I wish I had the patience for it. Thankyou so much for sharing with us at AHSC

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  11. Beautiful. I love iris folding. I wish I had the patience for it. Thankyou so much for sharing with us at AHSC

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  12. Beautiful folding! I love it! Thanks for playing along with Atlantic Hearts Sketch Challenge!

    Linda N
    AHSC DT member
    www.scrappytherapy.com

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  13. What beautiful cards, Hansi! Love the look of iris folding. I'll have to check it out sometime. :) Thanks for playing with us at Try Stampin' on Tuesday.
    Sara H.

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  14. Both cards are gorgeous! I love the dimension and texture that the iris folding adds. Thanks for sharing a little H2H/CTMH love with us!

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  15. I love the iris fold technique AND what you did with the flowers! Thanks for showing us how at H2H!

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