My husband asked me what I am writing about this month...When he heard my reply, he must have been only half listening because he then gave me a quizzical look and asked, "Why would scrappers want you to write about sliced peaches?" I had to chuckle and explain the real topic....This article is NOT about peaches but rather how to add dimensional pizzazz to your punch art! Want to make your simple punch art POP off the page? No special tools required! It is as easy as taking two snips of a scissors!
Generally, punch art consists of layering one to several different punched pieces on a page to create a piece of artwork. Sometimes punches are cut apart to make new shapes out of the old. These are then re-combined to make something totally new. I love punch art because the layering gives the page additional depth. Well there is another way to add dimension and depth besides extensive layering--make the punches 3-d!
Here are a few examples with their step-by-step instructions. Please note that I always use page protectors on all my pages and especially on punch art pages. Even though a page protector may flatten out the 3-d effect about 25%, you will still get the nice natural shadowing and depth look of the sliced punches. So have fun! This is a great new technique! It looks particularly fabulous on any type of punch art flower. Adding pen detailing or chalking to 3-d punch art is also beautiful and adds even more dimension.
a simple balloon flower
Basic Slice and Slide Technique:
I have a simple flower here created out of two balloon punchies and a daisy punchie. I picked these wild colors for the reader's ease of seeing the various parts. I hope they will help you see the how-to's!! Slice the first balloon punchie half way up starting at the bottom with a sharp small scissors. Slice the second balloon half way down starting at the top of the balloon. Now slide them together and you have a 3-d balloon! You did it!
They do NOT have to match up perfectly--in fact it is better in the long run if they do not. You want a hint of both colors on each side to show up behind the other. Now just fold over a daisy for the base of the flower and adhesive only the BACKS of this flower down onto your background paper. If it seems too flat from handling, simply puff it up by folding the two innermost parts of the flower inward so they stand away from the page a bit. Simple as that!
Flowers:
Generally you will want the bases of your flowers to be earth tones or green. So, here I have shown how to combine three balloon flowers that have been pen-dot accented into a daisy base to create a larger flower. You can position the daisy base so that it's petals do not interfere with the 'pop' of the flower itself.
As you can see in figure 4, any kind of punched piece can be sliced and positioned to create a layered look. Some combinations look unorthodox and odd at first...but let your imagination go and see what you come up with. One may look wild but a bunch of them in a grouping in the right colors might look terrific! Try three sliced punchies instead of just two! (See figure 9)
The beauty of the slice and slide technique is that it so easy to do and so easy to undo! For practice, combine several types of flowers done in the same color ranges so that some flowers look more mature and full while others are still buds. Mix and match until you have something you love--then add the adhesive!
star flowers
Star flowers are easy to do. Just slice and slide two stars in varying tones of the same color. Add some pen or chalk detailing as you prefer. Then make a heart shaped flower base out of a rounded flower punch as shown in figure 6 below. The star flower then lays on top of the base so that the top two star sections can 'pop' out from the page. I doodled a few pollen dots above the flower just for fun.
leaves and bases
To make the heart shaped flower base, punch one rounded flower that has 6 petals. Fold two petals inward. Now fold two other petals inward. Adhesive the petals as folded inward. This should give you a elongated heart shape. You can either use this base with the folded petals showing as in figure 6 or petals not showing as in figure 5.
To create leaves, punch two separate colors for each leaf. Slice and slide to create the dimensional leaf. You can do this with any size leaf punch. You can even combine varying sizes for another effect as in the lower leaf in figure 7. Add pen stitching if you like.
A Butterfly:
a butterfly
The same slice and slide technique can be used with 8 large hearts to make butterfly wings. Three birch leaf punchies make up his body. Mine are bright and whimsical but pastels would be lovely too! Or use browns and tans to create a moth.
Berry Good!
strawberries!
Well they are not sliced peaches--but being raised on a strawberry farm, I do love strawberries! Here are a few I created in 3-d! Be sure to do the pen embellishment before slicing and sliding them together. Don't forget to make a few little white blossoms!
Border Stacking and Curving:
Another way sliced punchies can be used is as a border treatment. In figure 11, I have made an abstract straight border out of large hearts. All the hearts for this style border are cut from the top down about half way. They are them slid on top of one another in alternating colors in the same manner. Adhesive the back of the border after stacking.
Punchies stacked in this technique can also be made to curve slightly. This is shown in Figure 12. Arches and complete wreaths or curved circle frames can be made with this kind of slice and stack method. Again, adhesive the back of the arch and reposition until you have it where you want it. This abstract arching style reminds me of the 1920's-30's art deco era and would be great on a heritage page!
Sliced punchies? They will make your pages POP with dimension! Whether it be whimsy or heritage or anything in between...these are great! And they are not hard to do...just slice and slide! Try some today!
