Origami Shirt Fathers Day - Card Tutorial Instructions

I have been seeing a lot of these shirts sprouting up on projects.  My orders were all caught up, email inbox was empty, so I figured I had a little bit of time to treat myself.  I would learn a new technique and I thought I would share it with you!  I learned how to make these really cool shirts!  Depending on the Designer paper and embellishments you use, it could be a shirt for a man, woman, or a child.  In this case, I am going to use my shirt on a Fathers Day card.  Though I am sure there are a lot different variations and forms of making these, I grabbed the first tutorial I saw and figured I would go with it.  To see the Tutorial I used to make this Origami Shirt visit Karen's website by clicking here.  If you want to see other variations, all you would need to do is Google Origami Shirt.  That should bring up some options.  

Penney, one of my valued and appreciated regulars sent me a comment not too long ago thanking me for including step by step pictures for making a project, which made me think.  Not everyone has the same level of experience and if the card looks too complicated a newer stamper may feel intimidated from the beginning and not even give the card a chance.  So, I'm going to do my best to break my steps down and photograph them to assist.

It's like I used to explain to my employees before I got Medically Retired.  I put a huge marshmallow elephant in front of you and tell you that you have to eat it all!  The elephant is bigger than your car and your thinking "how in the world am i going to eat that whole elephant?!".  It's so frustrating your sure your not going to make it so you don't put everything you have into it.  Well, if you think of it in terms of pieces, a piece here, a piece there or a bite here, a bite there.  Next thing you know, your halfway finished with the elephant because you focused on just a small piece at a time, not the whole thing.  Make sense?

So, I have broken my card down into "pieces"  PLEASE MAKE SURE TO LET ME KNOW IF THIS HELPS! 

So, here we go: 

Here is the card in finished form:

I stamped the sentiment & then punched it out with the Word Window Punch.

I then took the punched out shape and inserted the end in the Tiny Tag Punch to make a longer tag.

I sponged the edges.

I punched a circle out in Early Espresso, folded it in half and adhered to a strip of Sahara Sand.  Then with my Paper Piercing tool and my mat pack, I used the guide to create faux stitches

I pierced  hole through the tag end and strung it with Linen Thread.

Wrapped ribbon around this piece and tied in a square knot. 

I tied the linen thread and a matching piece of ribbon and then adhered it to the strip with a safety pin.

Adhered that strip to the end of the card to still leave room for the focal piece.

With the Round Tab punch I made sure to punch out the center of this Taken with Teal (retired color) cardstock. Normally when I punch shapes out of cardstock, I do it on the very edges to conserve / save as much paper as possible, however, this time was an exception because I'm going to be multi-tasking.  You'll see in a second  ;)

I took the Chocolate Chip cardstock and laid it on top of the Taken with Teal mat.  Nobody will ever know that there is a piece missing under the Chocolate Chip cardstock, it makes the cardstock go further, and is cheaper to mail because the card won't be as heavy when shapes are punched out of the cardstock.  If you ever see layers on my cards, you can rest assured that there are misc shapes punched out of the center ;)  I save them for a later project. 

What the other side looks like (nobody will see this as it's covered)

This next step is crutial.  I am always a fanatic about cleaning my stamps, but when using light colors, pigment ink, or versa mark I am always extra careful and I pre-clean the stamps to make sure there is no left over residue if someone else used the stamp last. 

Scrub scrub... clean that stamp.

Using my Embossing Buddy I rub it on the Round Tab punched piece to make sure there was no static or oils from my fingers.

Using versa mark I stamp the punched piece.

While the stamped image is still wet I cover it with white embossing powder and then flick it to shake off the excess.

Use my heat gun & proceed to "setting" the embossing powder.  It's a powdery substance, once it get's hot it melts and resembles whatever he stamped image is and raises it.  (I have a versa mark pen that I occasionally use to hand write something and emboss it as well).  And since we're talking about versa mark, once you have stamped / written / drawn your image before the ink dries, you can also take chalk on a dauber, q-tip, or cotton ball and lightly rub it over the inked image and the chalk will stay on the ink & no-where else.  It's quite beautiful when done.  ")

I adhere the punched piece with staples on the mat for the focal point

Apply Dimensionals to the back of the shirt.

 To finish, adhere project to the card.  Make sure this is always the LAST thing you do.  The reason why is any hardware you use, brads, eyelets, etc... will not show through on the inside of the card, which can look rushed and unfinished.  (if it's absolutely necessary to add hardware on the face of the card that will show through on the inside -brad prongs or eyelet prongs, etc...-- make sure to apply cardstock to the entire card surface so the hardware is not visible from anywhere other than the outside front of the card, where it's supposed to be.)

To add additional value added to your projects, add a stamped sentiment or velum sentiment on the inside of your card and perhaps include a punched shape or stamped image or sticker that matches the theme on the outside. 

Feel free to leave a comment on this project. Remember if you are kind enough to add yourself as a follower on my blog, I will do the same for you as well. Please just let me know your website.

God Bless you and thanks for stopping by!!

Inky Hugs

~Shawnie Bartron

Remember, if you’re not covered in ink, you’re not stampin'!

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