Silhouette UK: Alternative texture on cards

Monday, 17 September 2018

Alternative texture on cards

Hi everyone. It's Verity here from Pretty Little Button bringing you another project. Today's project features the flock heat transfer vinyl. Flock HTV has a great texture, perfect for soft furnishings and clothing related projects. However, I thought it would also make a fun texture for cards! I used it to create an autumn inspired card and used a fabulous design from the Design store.

Alternative texture on card details:

To start, load the Fall Mandala design and load into your design space. When I am creating cards, I like to draw a template in my design space to represent the size of my card panel. This way I know how much I need to scale items too and I won't create something that won't fit onto my card.

I always change the line colour of my template to anything other than red. This means when I come to cut, I can use cut my line option. When in the send options, I untick the blue line colour and only the mandala design will cut out.

The flock HTV I was using measured 9 inches wide and I planned to cut this without a mat. In order to do this, I had to change the position of the white gripper on the bar (I am unsure of its proper name!). To do this, you need to push the white leaver on the right into the down position. This lifts the roll bar up and will allow you to move the white gripper. Before you move the white gripper, you need to get its 'feet' out of the groves; to do this, old the white grip and rotate until it pops out of the grove. Be careful you don't rotate it too much, as it will eventually pop back in!

When the feet are out of the groves, you can slide the white gripper down to another set of grooves. Select a set of grooves that is as wide, but not wider than the material width. Reinsert the feet into these groves and remember to push the white leave back up into the up position to lower the roll bar back down. If you don't do this, it won't grip your material properly and will slide around when you try to cut.

Alternative texture on card assembly:

Before adhering the flock HTV to the card, I decorated the card panel. I used a selection of distress oxides and stencil brushes to gently ink blend onto the panel create an ombre effect. Next, I added a few splatters of clear water, allowing this to sit for 10-15 seconds before sopping up with a dry paper towel. I also added a few red paint splatters for added texture.

To adhere the vinyl, I removed all the excess flock HTV from the backing sheet and positioned the design onto the card panel. This was covered with a sheet of baking parchment paper and I used my iron to press and apply heat. I found with the Flock HTV, it was better to heat gently as the higher the heat, the more the backing sheet warped affecting the design.

To finish the card I added some glossy accents into some of the design for added interest, along with adding a die cut and embossed sentiments. Lastly, I added a few colour corresponding gems for some shine!