Clarity Matters Blog Tutorial: How to make another Snowflake Card! 

Hello hello! Grace here.

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

We are joined again this week by the super 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 an Elegant Snowflake Card 

For today’s tutorial we will be using Linda’s Snowflake Kisses plate to make a lovely seasonal whitework card on blue parchment paper with an optional three dimensional (3D) snowflake.

This optional snowflake can be used in two different ways to enhance the look of your card. Here is the first look.

Ingredients

Plate Mate for A5 Sq Grids (GRO-CO-41706-08)
Linda’s Snowflake Kisses – Christmas Treasures A5 Sq Plate (GRO-CH-42047-03)
Nested Squares Picot Cut A4 Sq Plate (GRO-PA-41035-15)
Josie’s Diagonal Embossed Frames & Corners Plate (GRO-GG-42058-24) (optional)
Groovi A4 Clear Parchment Paper (GRO-AC-40024-A4)
Periwinkle Blue & Very Violet x 10 Groovi Duo Parchment Paper A4 (GRO-AC-40778-A4)
1-Needle Bold Perforating Tool (PER-TO-70028-XX)
2-Needle Bold Perforating Tool (PER-TO-70279-XX)
Shader 0.8mm Embossing Tool (PER-TO-70456-XX)
Pergamano Excellent – Embossing Mat (PER-AC-70075-XX)
Groovi Embossing Tool 1 and 2 (0.8mm to 1.3mm) (GRO-AC-40026-XX)
Pergamano 1mm Ball Tool – Extra Small – Stainless Steel (PER-TO-70012-XX)
Black Dual-Purpose Groovi Mat A4 (GRO-AC-40194-A4)
A4 Black Super Foam Mat (GRO-AC-41957-A4)
Groovi Sticker Tabs x 16 (GRO-AC-40437-XX)
Groovi Guard (GRO-AC-40345-XX)
Ringlock Scissors (PER-TO-70041-XX)
7” X 7” White Card Blanks & Envelopes x 10 (ACC-CA-31672-77)
Pergamano Brads – White (PER-AC-70269-XX)
Dry Tumble Dryer Sheet

Method

Step 1. Attach Periwinkle Blue parchment (with the darker, shiny side face up) onto Linda’s Snowflake Kisses plate. Use the Groovi 1 tool to emboss all the words, then switch to Pergamano 1 (or Groovi 2) to emboss the swirly designs around the words (some of which contain small diamond shapes as well as dots).

Switch back to Groovi 1 to emboss all of the large snowflake design, except for any tiny dots, and for these use Pergamano 1. This is what you are aiming for…

Step 2. Carefully centralise your embossing over the Nested Squares Picot Cut plate and use Groovi 1 to emboss the 2^nd and 6^th largest outlines, being mindful not to emboss through any of the swirly designs that may be in the way of the outlines. This is how it should look…

Step 3. Place the parchment face down over an embossing mat and use the 0.8mm size Shader tool (the smallest of the set of three) to emboss the petal shapes in the centre of the snowflake.

TOP TIP: Hold the shader like a spoon but don’t hold it too high. Press the rounded part of the hoop near the top of the petal outline and pull it towards you with a slight stroking action and a flick upwards towards the end of the stroke. Do a few more strokes next to each other in the same way, slightly overlapping the stroke before. This will give you a white, shaded effect from light to dark. You may need to go over your strokes a couple of times to get the desired effect, so keep checking the front to see how you are doing. If you haven’t used a Shader tool before it’s best to practice first on a spare piece of parchment.

Step 4. Use Pergamano 1 to emboss inside the eight diamond shape designs, then use Groovi 2 to emboss a second time to whiten. Switch back to Pergamano 1 to emboss inside the five small drop shapes around the diamond shapes, then emboss a second time with Groovi 2 to whiten.

This is what it should look like from the front.
Note: My parchment doesn’t show blue on the picture as it has a black mat behind it.

Step 5. As an optional extra I added another frame around my work using Josie’s Diagonal Embossing Frames plate (but you can miss it out altogether if you prefer, or add a different design). I chose the 3^rd largest frame on the plate, the one with a row of dots inside it, but I had to reduce it in size to fit around my existing frame. I haven’t given any instructions for this with it being optional, but you can see from the picture how it turned out.

Step 6. Place your parchment face up on a thick perforating mat and use your 2-Needle Bold tool to perforate all the way around the outside edges of the new frame. This is a corner section showing a close-up of the perforating.

Step 7. 3D Snowflake: We will now be making a three dimensional snowflake to add to the card later on, but if this option isn’t for you at this time then move on to Step 11.

Attach a spare piece of Periwinkle Blue parchment (with the darker, shiny side face up) over the large snowflake design on Linda’s Snowflake Kisses plate and use Groovi 1 to emboss all of the large snowflake design except for any tiny dots, and for these use Pergamano 1 as in Step 1.
To emboss inside the snowflake repeat Steps 3 and 4.

Now to do some perforating. Place your snowflake face up onto a thick perforating mat and use a 2-Needle Bold tool to perforate all the way around the outside edges, starting with all the angles as shown on the picture.
TOP TIP: I haven’t perforated into the more detailed areas of the snowflake as I wanted to avoid the whole thing being too flimsy when cut out.

Step 8. When all the angles are perforated, simply go back in with the 2-Needle Bold and join up all the perforations.
TOP TIP: When joining up with the 2-Needle Bold, if you find a space in the perforations that just won’t take the 2 needles, then just go into that space with a 1-Needle Bold instead.

Step 9. On the back of the snowflake you can add a little more embossed detail, which is optional, using Pergamano 1 to make small circles at the ends of the eight stems at the bottom of each swirl design as shown on the picture, then embossing them into a small dot.

Step 10. On the front, use parchment scissors or snips to cut between all the 2-Needle Bold perforations.

This is the finished 3D snowflake which now needs to be placed under a heavy object or in between the pages of a big book for a while to flatten out.

Step 11. Use parchment scissors or snips to cut between all the 2-Needle Bold perforations around your main parchment.
Use Very Violet parchment (with the darker, shiny side facing up) to cut a piece of background paper to size measuring 6.5” x 6.5” square. Also cut a spare piece of clear parchment to size measuring 9.1cm x 9.1cm square to fit behind the central square panel on your main parchment.

Step 12. Open up a 7” x 7” folded card and place the front right side onto a thick perforating mat. Centralise the Very Violet parchment square (with darker, shiny side face up) over the front then attach it temporarily using low tack tape at the right and left edges. Centralise your main parchment over the top and while holding it in position, place your square of clear parchment underneath and slide it into position behind the central square panel.
If not using the 3D snowflake, use your 1-Needle Bold tool to perforate a hole through the very centre of the snowflake through all layers, then attach them together with a brad through the hole. Carefully remove the low tack tape.
If using the 3D snowflake, at the point where you position the clear parchment underneath the central square panel, place your 3D snowflake on top of the one on your parchment then perforate a hole through the centre and attach all the layers together with a brad. The 3D snowflake can now be positioned so it matches up exactly with the one underneath.

Or you can slightly offset it left or right for an entirely different look. Either way, Your project is complete!

Thank you, Maggie, for generously putting together this very informative 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 really love to see your work! And sometimes they make the Saturday Share blog too! 🙂

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

Right, let’s look at the week ahead, starting with TODAY!

Sunday 3rd November:
Clarity TV – Crafting with Clarity with Barbara & Paul – 3pm-5pm Live on Facebook & YouTube
Monday 4th November:
In the SHAC with Barbara – 10am Live on Facebook & YouTube
Tuesday 5th November:
Groovi Tuesday with Paul – 10am live on Facebook and YouTube
Thursday 7th November:
The Pergamano Show – 11am & 3pm
Friday – Saturday 8th & 9th November:
Ditton Open Days – JOIN US!
Sunday 10th November:
Ditton Workshops with Barbara Gray & Linda Williams – JOIN US!

I hope you can join us this afternoon on Clarity YouTube LIVE and Clarity Facebook LIVE for 2 hours of creativity. You can have a gander at the blog put together for the show, which includes a sneak peek of the Clarity Design team’s artwork and the products being showcased!

Don’t forget, our Clarity Christmas Open Days (and workshops) are next weekend! We hope you’ll be able to join us. Tickets are linked in the calendar above.
I understand that it’s a little far for some of you, but hey… I’m coming from Brooklyn! 😉 Maybe you can find a way to treat yourself ahead of the holiday season. It’s certainly a fun place to be, with likeminded individuals and in-person creativity! It’s good for the soul. If you’re anxious and need a hand with planning, please feel free to email me. I’ll help where I can. Grace@claritystamp.com

See you this afternoon at 3pm, on Clarity YouTube and Clarity Facebook!

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

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