Bamboo and Perforated Border Plates

Good Evening.

After having given up blogging after a few days of starting in January, I thought it may be time to retry again and, hopefully, this time keep it updated a bit more regularly. Well, that's the idea.

So toady I thought I would share a step by step of a parchment card I created using various Groovi plates from www.claritystamp.co.uk. I was going to use just 3 or 4 but as I started playing, the number of plates coming out of my collection increased, which was fine as I had such a great time playing with them all. This is the card ...

The list of Groovi plates I used for this card are:- Plate mate for A5 Square Plates and Border, Straight and Diagonal Border Grid Piercing Pattern plates 1, Straight and Diagonal Piercing Plate A5 Square Plates, Nested Square Plate, Waterhouse Plate and Bamboo Plate.

Let me first show you the photo of the perforated border plates straight and diagonal. There are border holes already on these plates for you to use for lacework minus all the counting that we needed to do using the regular grids (particularly helpful for me who loses concentration very quickly so counting gets forgotten very fast). These border patterns can be used for perforating and/or embossing. Lots to play with and create and you will find, each time you use a border, you will do the border again but a bit differently.

From here I will use the help of photos (lots of photos) to help me show you the step by steps as I am rubbish with words and explaining things.
P.S. Look out for the stunning new parchment paper colours (red, green, silver, black) that will be showcased, by Barbara Gray, as a One Day Special on Hochanda (Sky 663/ Freest 817 / Live stream online at https://www.hochanda.com) on Sun, 3rd Jun at 8.00pm. On this card I have used the silver and black parchment paper.

The tools I used are:-

I also used the Clarity Lightwave and A4 translucent Piercing Mat and a Groovi Guard. Photos of these being used to follow within the step by steps. Can I just say that the Groovi Guard has become my new best friend and my most priced possession and strongly believe (personal opinion, of course) it should be a must have item for all parchment crafters. Ok, Lets start ...

1.) Stick (I used masking tape but any low tack tape will do) the silver parchment paper, glossy side up, on the nested square plate and emboss the outermost 2 squares. Look at the difference in the what the silver parchment paper on the plate looks like without a light panel in the first photo and with it on in the second photo. With a Clarity Lightwave it is so much clearer and visible especially on dark parchment paper.

2.) Position the parchment at an angle in the embossed squares on the straight perforating border grid with the matt side of the parchment facing up. I have started perforating 2 of the borders on the border plate in the oval hole of the guard using a 1-needle tool. I will slide the guard as I work along the card.

Above is a Groovi Guard ... My most priced possession! Why do we need it? A few reasons:-

a.) It is going to protect your parchment paper from getting marks and smudges.

b.) How many of us have found when perforating as we pull the needle out, the parchment paper rises too? Well by working inside one of the windows it is going to stop that for you especially when working too close to the edge of the paper.

c.) It is made of plastic so all that moisture that may be getting transferred from the kitchen towels that we use under our palm to the parchment will no longer be transferred therefore keeping your parchment moisture, sweat free ... especially on those hot summer days.

d.) No smudging when using colour pencils because you can rest the side of your palm on the guard instead of on the parchment therefore stopping you from transferring the colour on other areas of the parchment.

e.) A lot of the time I do my grid work before I do my embossing. Has anyone done embossing when there are a lot of perforations to create those beautiful lace designs. It is like the side of your palm is rubbing on very course sand paper as the embossing is done on the back and the perforations are sticking upwards on the back. No more with this guard for protection and we can keep our skin on our hand. A huge plus in eyes.

f.) It keeps me focused on the area I am working on (but then, I need a lot of focussing as I get distracted easily).

g.) There are 3 different window sizes on this guard so you can use maybe the big window for the embossing and colouring work and the smaller ones for perforating. By the way, the smaller ones would make great label tags too if traced out and cut.

Have I convinced you yet why everyone needs one of these? 

3.) Once you perforate from one end to the other, remove the parchment, turn it over and match the perforations on the border plate and perforate another row of the slot pattern so they are on either side of the larger border ... What I typed may make better sense on the photo below.

4.) We can use these border plates to emboss the patterns too. To emboss, I stuck it down, gloss side up and embossed circles using the no.2 Clarity embossing tool. 

5.) Line up the embossed dots and stick the parchment, matt side up, on the square diagonal perforating grid to pierce a hole in the middle of each flower and in between.

6.) To emboss between the wide diagonal lace border, use pins to line up the holes on the square straight perforating grid, glossy side up, and stick down. Emboss the dots between the perforations. The parchment paper will need to be shuffled along the square grid to finish off the embossing so use the pins again to line up the perforations.

7.) This is what it looked like once all the perforating and embossing was done using the perforated border plates and perforated grids. There is a reason there is peel off stickers between the lace work going. I tried to emboss straight lines between the patterns using a ruler and embossing tool and the tool slipped!!! Oooooops and the thought 'Should have used the nesting square for the straight lines' did cross my mind. But most things can be hidden (thank goodness) and I think the glittery peel off looks pretty and sparkly so I wasn't unhappy for too long.

8.) For my art work I used the bamboo and waterhouse plates ... oh and the sun/moon from the starter kit plate. I got a bit carried away at this point considering I only wanted a little bamboo on the left side of my card. But you can add as much or as little as you like.

9.) I embossed the bamboo leaves, on the back, with a small shader tool and the stems with a hockey stick. I embossed the sun/moon using a hockey stick. The second photo shows what the embossing on the front looked like once I was done. I also used the gelly roll glitter pen on the bamboo leaves, knots on the stems and the dragonfly bodies.

10.) Perforate with the 2-needle tool inside the dragonfly wings and outside the square. Cut between the 2-needle perforations using parchment craft scissors or snips. Also cut between the perforations on the lace work going diagonally as seen in the second photo.

11.) I finished off my card by mounting this piece on the glossy side of the black parchment paper and white card using brads.

Hope it all made sense and for someone who said doesn't do words, I sure used a lot of words. All the Groovi plates, tools, parchment paper is available from http://www.claritystamp.co.uk and don't forget to tune in to Hochanda on Sunday and Monday for the Clarity shows.

Take Care, Happy Crafting and Enjoy. (((Hugs)))

Love and laughter

Tina