Tuesday, 10 July 2018

Making a striped backgound


A few years ago I created a card very similar to the one above. Yesterday I decided I wanted to re create it. There was just one problem, I had run out of the broad  pink striped paper I used on the original card and I didn't have anything else that was  suitable.
 That's when I decided to get adventurous and make my own.  I had several options, one being to trying to create stripes on  my pc and print them off.  Then I realized I would probably use up an entire ink cartridge just trying to get a pink that matched the card stock I was using.  
So I dismissed that idea rather quickly. 
Second option was to mask up the paper and sponge the stripes on. That option didn't appeal either, way to  time consuming and  hit and miss for me.  
My third option was to cut the stripes and stick the on. I have tried this once before and the results were not perfect. I found it difficult to get the stripes straight and parallel without using lots of pencil marks and measuring.  I am a lazy crafter and I hate measuring, marking and erasing pencil marks afterwards. That's when I had my lightbulb moment. 
 I could  do all the measuring  and marking on my scoreboard and no rubbing out afterwards.
Here is how I achieved my straight and parallel stripes in just a few minutes.
I score  my white base every half  inch. 
 (Yes, in my hurry, I went wonky  but that doesn't matter, I'll just stick the the first stripe over that and nobody will ever know. ha ha)



Using the score lines on the white base card, I stuck down the stripes using my score lines  as the guide to ensure my stripes are straight. Once all the stripes were stuck down I trimmed off all the overhanging pieces and mounted the  piece onto another base layer of pink to form a frame around my striped card stock.
My paper trimmer is a  guillotine, so if I want to cut thin strips, I usually  measure  and mark  the top and bottom of each one with a pencil before cutting as there are no measurements on my trimmer for cutting anything smaller than  3/4 of an inch wide.  Then I rub out markings after. 

This time I  used my scoreboard to measure and mark.



 All of this took  just a few minutes to make.
 My stripes are straight and parallel and no  pencil marks to rub out.

2 comments:

Doris said...

Well, now...that is just TOO clever. Thanks for sharing that valuable tip! Lovely card; the striped panel is the perfect background.

tonilea said...

Oh, gosh, I love this idea. So smart of you to figure it out. I know what you mean about measuring etc. I HATE that. This is just super! Thanks