Magnolia Archery Contest using Right Through My Heart Tilda

Back in March the Magnolia-licious blog had a contest where you had to make a card or project using the Right Through My Heart Tilda. Well, the results are finally in and I came in as 1st Runner Up, so I get to select 4 Magnolia stamps of my choice...WOO HOO!! You can view all the wonderful creations here. Congratulations to all the winners, especially to Candy, the Grand Prize winner!

I have to tell you this card was definitely a Labor of Love (lots of labor...maybe not always with love, LOL)! I haven't made very many cards using my Magnolia stamps yet. I've just been in the "collecting" phase lately. However, once I read about the challenge, I knew right away I wanted to create a pop-up scene using several of my Magnolias. Sometimes I find it difficult to just sit down and create a card, but when a challenge arises, my creative juices kick in.

I love so many of the talented artists that are part of this wonderful group and must say that many of the elements of this card were inspired by the information I've found on their blogs.

For example, this card uses tons of paper and I needed some very strong adhesive to hold it all together. I read on this post on Jacque's Blog that one of her most important elements in making her cards is Scor-tape. She said "I use Scor-Tape (usually 1/2 inch) profusely in my cards and that is truly the secret to making my cards so substantial with layers that NEVER fall apart!!" On my last order from Diana's store, I ordered a few rolls of Scor-Tape and let me tell you...it was definitely a life saver!!

Also, I was having a hard time choosing the "right" paper for the front cover of my card. Nothing I pulled out from my paper stash seemed to work. Then on the recent blog hop showcasing the RTMH Tilda, several of the Design Team used paper from the DCWV "Once Upon A Time" paper pack. I knew when I saw it that it was perfect for my theme. I went to my local Hobby Lobby with my mission in hand, and found that paper pack for 50% off...it was meant to be!!

Here are the details of my card:

FRONT COVER DETAILS:

The paper on the front cover is from the DCWV pack "Once Upon A Time."

The ribbon is from Michaels (item #MX-202).

The tag with the word "dream" was actually a silver vellum tag. I colored the outside silver part with Copics E37 and E49. I cut the vellum out and backed it with brown paper and hand-wrote the word "Dream" in E37, then outlined part of the letters with E49.

The heart "charm" was originally a silver button. I clipped off the loop in the back and colored the heart with copic E37....the silver just wasn't working. Then I looped the brown cording through the center of the bow and glued the end pieces to the back of the heart to make it a charm. The center of the bow is a ribbon flower that came from the "goodie bag" Diana sent with my last order.

I traced around the Spellbinders Scalloped Edge Frame and cut it out with scissors to make the "picture frame". I outlined the outside and inside of the frame with gold glitter glue. For the Tilda inside the frame, I colored the original size Tilda with copics (used on the inside of the card) and then scanned her into my computer so I could enlarge the image to fit inside my picture frame. I added glitter glue to her dress and bow. The soft background scene was part of the paper in the DCWV Once Upon A Time paper pack. I used pop-dots behind Tilda to raise her up and then attached the frame to the top (with pop-dots around the edges).

The Magnolia images at the top of the card were stamped, colored with copics, and then traced on the back side of the card. I used a craft knife to cut out the silhouette (leaving the bottom of the image that was part of the fold intact) so when the card is closed they stand up, but when the card opens they fold to the back and lay flat.


INSIDE CARD DETAILS:
When I was creating the pop-up part for the RTMH Tilda, I didn't want to cut into the background scene for the pop-up piece. Instead, I cut a long strip of clear acrylic from a card box cover and folded the acrylic to create the pop-up piece for my Tilda to stand against. I cut a slit into the background tree and the "grass floor" and slipped the clear acrylic pieces through the slits.

The Target is actually a button that I glued to some of the left-over acrylic box top pieces. I layered two acrylic strips together to give it some stability and folded the bottom tab under the card before I taped the back layer to the card. I needed a way for the target to fold down since it wasn't facing forward. It took me a while to figure out a way to pop-up the target and this was my only idea. Also, to hide the Scor-tape, between the acrylic pieces, I taped brown ribbon down the front and back.

When I was making the background scene, I needed the images to be smaller so they would fit on the bleachers and look as though they were further back. So I stamped the images on a sheet of paper and then reduced the image size by 25% when I ran it through the copy machine. Some of the images were colored ahead of time and some were colored after they were copied. I suggest if your trying to save time by coloring your full-size images ahead of time, the copy machine method distorts your skin coloring. It's best to color the skin areas after the images are copied.

ADDITIONAL CARD INFO:
* I drew the bleachers myself (couldn't find a stamp image of one) onto Basic Grey "Infuse" paper, which already has a distressed look.
* The cloud paper is from ATD Welcome Baby Boy paper pack.
* The trees are actually stickers.
* I made the background grass by tearing white paper and then distressing with Inkssentials blending tool and Peeled Paint Distress Ink.
* The foreground grass is a Martha Stewart grass/bunny border punch and colored the same way. I cut some bunnies out of the border and rearranged them to fit where I needed them to.
* The green paper Tilda is standing on is from Close To My Heart.
* The brown scalloped glitter paper at the bottom is from My Mind's Eye Penny Lane.
* The sentiment is printed from the computer onto brown paper and says:

"Far, far away, there is a beautiful Country which no human eye has ever seen in waking hours. Under the Sunset it lies, where the distant horizon bounds the day, and where the clouds, splendid with light and color, give a promise of glory and beauty which encompass it. Sometimes it is given to us to see it in dreams."
--Bram Stoker, "Under the Sunset"

I felt this was the perfect quote for my Magnolia card...because when I dream of Magnolia-land, it's a beautiful country, where the clouds give a promise of glory, and a place where Tilda and Edwin live happily ever after.

Much Love,
Rosemary