Clarity Matters Blog Tutorial: How To Make a Snowflake Card

Hello hello! Grace here.

I hope you are having a lovely weekend so far. Feeling creative?

We are joined this week by the incredibly talented Maggie Byford, our good friend and Clarity Crafts Design Team Member. I will hand you over to our teacher for today…

How To Make a Snowflake Card

For today’s tutorial we’ll be making a snowflake card using Linda’s Hydrangea & Lace A5 Groovi plate, and a Large Snowflakes A5 Groovi Piercing Grid. I’ve also used a Pergamano Metallic Gel Pen to add some colour to my card. These pens are quite popular and come in a set of 7 colours – Gold, Silver, Bronze, Pink, Purple, Blue and Green – but you can also get them separately. Believe me, all the colours are amazing, but I’ve chosen Blue for my card as it fits in well with my Winter based theme.

This is the finished card you are aiming for…

Ingredients

Plate Mate for A5 Sq Grids (GRO-CO-41706-08)
Linda’s Hydrangea & Lace A5 Sq Plate (GRO-FL-41648-03)
Groovi A4 Clear Parchment Paper (GRO-AC-40024-A4)
Large Snowflakes A5 Sq Piercing Grid (GRO-GG-40728-12)
1-Needle Bold Perforating Tool (PER-TO-70028-XX)
2-Needle Bold Perforating Tool (PER-TO-70279-XX)
Pergamano Excellent – Embossing Mat (PER-AC-70075-XX)
Groovi Embossing Tool 1 and 2 (0.8mm to 1.3mm) (GRO-AC-40026-XX)
Diagonal Basic Bold A4 Piercing Grid (GRO-GG-40529-17) (optional)
(or a Pergamano Metal Diagonal Grid if you still have one)
Pergamano Metallic Gel Pens Set of 7 (PER-CO-70449-XX)
or Pergamano Gel Pen Blue (PER-CO-70434-XX)
Waimea Falls Companion Paper 8×8” (ACC-CA-31668-88)
Black Dual-Purpose Groovi Mat A4 (GRO-AC-40194-A4)
A4 Black Super Foam Mat (thick mat) (GRO-AC-41957-A4)
Groovi Sticker Tabs x16 (GRO-AC-40437-XX)
Groovi Guard (GRO-AC-40345-XX)
Ringlock Scissors (PER-TO-70041-XX)
Pastel Mix Pergamano Brads (PER-AC-70270-XX)
Dry Tumble Dryer Sheet

Method

Step 1. Secure your parchment to the front of the Hydrangea plate using Groovi Stickers or Low Tack Tape. Wipe a dry tumble dryer sheet across the surface to make embossing easier, then use the Groovi 1 tool to emboss all the outlines on the plate except for the floral design at the bottom right corner.
TOP TIP: Use the Groovi Guard to keep your parchment flat whilst embossing.

Step 2. Leave the plate where it is and turn your parchment so the unembossed corner sits at the top left of the plate. The arrows on the left and top right on the picture are a guide as to where you should be lining up your embossing on the plate underneath. When you are happy with the placement, re-attach and emboss the missing design elements to make it complete. This is what you are aiming for.

Step 3. Remove your parchment from the plate and on the front use a Blue Metallic Gel Pen to add colour to all the areas shown on the picture, then put to one side to dry off.

TOP TIPS: For colouring the diamond shapes with the gel pen, I drew an outline inside the shape first, then filled-in the colour by barely allowing the pen to touch the parchment. This allows the ink that comes out to fill inside the area, gently pushing it where I want it to go with the pen nib. A Groovi Guard helps keep the parchment flat whilst I’m colouring, and I’m mindful too that I don’t want to get any of the ink onto the white embossed outlines if I can help it.
If you should get the gel pen colour where you don’t want it (as you’ll see happened to me on the corner design near the bottom right of the previous picture) then simply let the ink dry thoroughly and use a Faber Castell white tipped eraser to very carefully rub out the colour.

Step 4. We are now going to make a small frame for our snowflake centre piece using the Hydrangea plate on a separate piece of parchment. Start to create the first corner of the frame by embossing the first top left corner section on the plate.
Note: I slightly over-shot the embossing of the parallel lines deliberately, and I’ve embossed 24 rungs.

Step 5. For the second corner of the frame carefully re-align your parchment over the same corner on the plate so it looks like the picture.
TOP TIP: In between the two arrows is where I have lined up my embossing ready for the second corner. When re-aligning your parchment over the plate ensure your embossed parallel lines down the left side match up with the grooves on the plate underneath (but you can ignore the rungs as they tend not to match which isn’t a problem).

Step 6. When you are happy with the placement, start embossing the second corner in the area between the arrows which indicate where to start and finish.

Step 7 Emboss your third and fourth corners in the same way by turning and re-aligning your parchment each time and working in between the arrows shown, as before.

This is the completed small frame.

Step 8. Still using the Hydrangea plate we are going to add a decorative edge to the small frame, all the way around it. Begin by aligning a top left corner of your frame face down over the top left corner of the plate as shown, then re-attach. Emboss the little decorations around the outer edge – starting and finishing where indicated by the two arrows.

Step 9. Continue to add this decorative edge to each of the three remaining corners in the same way as above, and this is what you are aiming for when finished.
Note: Where you see gaps in the decoration you can either fill them in or leave them as they are.

Step 10. Switching to the snowflake plate, turn your small frame so it forms a diamond shape and centralise it face down over the snowflake we are using so it’s in the same position as shown in the picture, then re-attach and use the Groovi 2 tool to emboss all of the dots that make up the snowflake.

Step 11. Remove your parchment from the plate and once again use the Blue Gel pen on the front to colour those areas inside the diamond shapes of the snowflake and within each rung of the outer frame, then put to one side to thoroughly dry.

Step 12. In the meantime switch back to the Hydrangea plate and your main parchment. You are now going to emboss the same decorative edge along the outside edges of the embossed frame, similar to what you did in Step 8. Carefully re-align a top left corner of your main parchment face down over the top left corner of the plate, then re-attach. Use the Groovi 1 tool to emboss the little decorations around the outside edges of the top left corner but this time working a little bit further in each direction – starting and finishing where indicated by the two arrows.

Step 13. Repeat the above for the remaining three corners, turning and re-aligning your parchment each time and only embossing within the two arrows, then put to one side. This is the completed decorative edge you are aiming for.

Step 14. Return to the small frame and place it face up onto a thick perforating mat. Use a 2-Needle Bold tool to perforate all the way around the outside edges of the outer decoration, then use parchment scissors or snips to cut between the perforations.

Step 15. Switching to the main parchment, perforate and cut all the way around the outside edges of the decorative frame in the same way as above, then cut a piece of blue Waimea Falls background paper measuring 6 x 6” to fit behind it. Also cut a piece of the same paper to fit behind the small frame (mine measured 8 x 8cm which is slightly smaller than the finished frame as I didn’t want the blue to show up behind the decorative edge).

Step 16. To finish. Layer your main parchment onto its corresponding background paper and attach with brads at the inner corners. Layer your small snowflake frame onto its corresponding background paper, then centralise both layers onto the top of the main parchment and attach with a brad in the centre of the snowflake. Mount everything onto the front of folded white card using foam pads or a glue runner. This is the finished card.

Step 17. However, if you would like to add a little bit of depth and dimension to the snowflake, now would be a good time to make a 3D version to attach to the front of it. Begin by attaching a spare piece of parchment over the snowflake design on the plate and embossing all of the dots with Groovi 2. Add colour to the diamonds in the snowflake using a Blue Gel Pen on the front, then leave to dry. Place a Bold Diagonal Grid onto a thick perforating mat then carefully align your embossed snowflake face up over the grid ensuring your embossed dots correspond with all the holes on the grid underneath. Re-attach and use a 1-Needle Bold tool to only perforate around the six arms of the snowflake and not inside any of the diamond shapes.

Step 18. Use your parchment scissors or snips to cut between all the 1-Needle Bold perforations and this is what the 3D snowflake will look like when cut out.

Step 19. You can attach your cut out snowflake to the top of the embossed snowflake before the layering up process at Step 17. This cut-out snowflake is optional, but this is how it enhances the look of the centrepiece.

What a stunning project. Gorgeous attention to detail. And so very well broken down into simple to follow steps!

Thank you so much, Maggie, for kindly putting together this very helpful blog tutorial for us. For those of you crafting at home, please don’t forget to share your versions with us on Groovi Worldwide. We truly love to see your work!

Everything that Maggie has used in this particular project is available in a shopping list, HERE.

Right, let’s look at the week ahead…

Monday 28th October:
In the SHAC with Barbara – 10am Live on Facebook & YouTube
Tuesday 29th October:
***No Groovi Tuesday***
Thursday 31st October:
Craft Along with Barbara – Leafy Overlay & Woo Wah Stencils – 7pm Live on Facebook & YouTube
Friday 3rd November:
Clarity TV – Crafting with Clarity with Barbara & Paul – 3pm-5pm Live on Facebook & YouTube

Things are ever changing at the moment, but we’ll do our best to keep you informed! 🙂 I hope you’ll join us this week.

Travel gently, friends.
Lotsa love, Grace & Maggie xoxo

Clarity – The Home of Art, Craft, and Well-Being.