ThePowerOfACard: Tearing it up!

Tuesday, May 30, 2023

Tearing it up!

Today's card features a new stand-alone set of dies called Wanted to Say and a technique that is as old as the hills - paper tearing. You might have overlooked these new dies from the new annual catalog because they don't pair with a stamp set. You can find them on page 167, as well as in some card samples on page 35. I love that they have the sayings (Happy Birthday, Feel Better Soon, Celebrate and you're too kind) and the outline piece to fit behind them. There are some extra dies (flower, stars, hearts, present and bow) too which makes this a very useful set of dies to own!

I really like the technique of tearing - there are just so many ways you can do this and it doesn't require any special tools. Some notes about the Stampin' Up! papers - our cardstock is colored throughout, which means the core of the cardstock will be the same color as the surface. Not all cardstocks are this way. This is not the case for Designer Series Paper (DSP) which has the pattern inked onto the surface. This means that when you tear DSP, you will see the white core. This is a different look from cardstock and makes the tear more obvious because you will have both a texture and color change.

When you tear your paper, pull it toward you in small segments, as I demonstrate in my video. You can tear in as straight a line as you want, or add as many bumps and valleys as you want. As you experiment with tearing, you will see just how much interest it will add to your cards.

Gather your supplies:

Cardstock: Thick Basic White 5-1/2" x 8-1/2"; Glorious Gingham 6" x 6" DSP 4" x 5-1/4", 4" x 3/4", 5/8" x 6"; White 4" x 3", 2" x 3-1/2"; Berry Burst 2" x 3-1/2"
Ink: Berry Burst
Dies: Wanted to Say
Stamp Set: Share a Milkshake
Glossy Dots Assortment
Tools and Adhesive

Prepare your card by folding the base in half and creasing with a bone folder. Add the large piece of Gingham DSP on the top with adhesive. Technically, you could've used a smaller piece of DSP here since the top and bottom portions are covered with our torn white layer, but I find it better to have the full layer there as it makes placing other pieces on top easier.

With the 4" x 3" piece of Basic White, tear it in half, tearing toward yourself. In the video, I tore it in the middle so that both pieces were about the same size. For my sample (in Blueberry Bushel), I made the top segment smaller - the choice is up to you. Add these two pieces to the top and bottom of the card front with Dimensionals (make sure you place them on the "wrong" side and avoid the mistake I made in my video which hid the beautiful torn edge!).

From the small pieces of White and Berry Burst, die cut the words Happy Birthday and the shadow on the Stampin' Cut & Emboss machine. Adhere the words to the shadow (I love that the dot of the i is attached!!). Add this to the center of the DSP section with Mini Dimensionals and decorate with a few gems using your Take Your Pick tool. For the Blueberry Bushel card, the embellishments are Tinsel Gems.

I finished my card by adding the 3/4" strip of DSP to the bottom and adding a sentiment from the Share a Milkshake stamp set. My tip for getting my inside sentiments centered is by using an H rectangular block and positioning the sentiment in the middle. Because it's just about the width of the card, this makes centering the saying quite easy. The final touch is to add a 5/8" strip of DSP to the side of the envelope - just make sure it's adhered well so it doesn't get caught in the postal machines.

My next example features the Earthen Textures Bundle and Earthen Elegance DSP. My base is Pecan Pie (what a great addition to our lineup!). I tore the DSP on both sides and like I explained above, here you do see the white core of the paper. I think it really shows off the technique, don't you?

For this lovely card, I used the Taylor Made Tags, Petal Park stamp set, Sentimental Park Bundle and the Bright & Beautiful 6" x 6" DSP. The DSP was torn to make a diagonal strip and then cut with the same tag die. The dots allow you to line it up perfectly on the tag. I added an embossed piece of black (using my favorite cross hatch from the 3D Textures Embossing Folders) and some Lemon Lime ribbon from the Ribbon Duo Combo pack. I really liked how the combination of Bubble Bath and Berry Burst look for the flowers!

Father's Day is coming up soon, so I used the He's the Man bundle to make this card. I embossed the piece of Misty Moonlight (welcome back!) with the Timeworn Type embossing folder, then tore the bottom edge at a diagonal. After mounting it to the piece of Crumb Cake, I wrapped some linen thread around the panel before adding it to my card base. I popped up the sentiment and finished with a spritz of Misty Moonlight. I'm all set for next month!

Lastly, I layered three 2" x 6" pieces of Hello, Irresistible 6" x 6" DSP. Trim the top piece, which is not torn, to 5-1/4". Tear the bottom two pieces before cutting them to 5-1/4" and save the scraps to use on the inside of the card as I show in the video. Adhere the lightest piece to the Lost Lagoon card base at the top, then add the middle and bottom torn layers. The sentiment and leaves are from Botanical Layers and were stamped with Lost Lagoon and Pretty Peacock and cut with the Something Fancy dies.