TMR 143 | Autumn Clock | Inspired By A Quote

It’s the first Wednesday of the month which means time for a new challenge over at The Male Room. This month we’re being inspired by a lovely quote. We’re also into day 6 of my month of daily videos to celebrate both reaching 2000 subscribers on my YouTube channel, and it being my birthday month. All month long I’m going to be creating videos, and the more you comment on the more chances you’ll have to win a prize! Check out the original video to hear all about it, then leave a comment on the video, and head over to the Rafflecopter to confirm your entry. Commenting on today’s video is just one way to get an extra entry towards the prize draw.

The clock part of the quote reminded me that I have a clock, or pocket watch, die that I got in a kit several months ago and never used. I thought that would be ideal for this project. I then decided I wanted to use the Lawn Fawn Magic Iris Die set that I had just got my hands on. I watched a video on how to assemble it, figured it would be fine, and got started.

First up was die cutting the pieces. I cut the ring/doughnut piece three times from a snippet of grey card, and used the same snippet to cut the stabiliser piece three times as well. I chose a snippet of pearlised brown card for the sausage/balloon shaped pieces which make the iris. I later cut the pull tab handle from the same card.

Whilst I was die cutting I cut out my clock pieces as well, with the Build A Fob Watch dies. I used pearlised gold for the main body of the clock, and the pearlised brown again for the inner portion. I cut a black piece to back it onto and then used a glue pen to assemble the clock pieces together. I placed acetate onto the back of the clock to give the face a glassy shine. My original plan was that the iris would open to reveal a shaker, but I ended up ditching that plan.

Then I moved onto assembling my iris. Per the instructions from the video I’d watched, I cut into one of the three rings with the die that I think looks like a three legged octopus. It makes slots for the sausage pieces to slip into, as well as guides for where to put the stabilisers. (I really recommend watching as I make it in the video to see what I mean!)

I slotted the tabs of the sausage pieces into the openings, positioning them so they curved nicely along the ring. The video suggests using glue dots to put on the x marks on each sausage piece. I do not have glue dots. After some trial and error (which involved getting the thing fully assembled, it not working, trying to fix it, and eventually tearing it apart…) I found that a small piece of double sided tape did the job well enough. With the adhesive in place I was able to line up my next ring and press it into place, using my bone folder to burnish the are where the adhesive was to get a good hold.

With the second ring in place the next step was to flip over and attach the stabilise pieces onto the bottom. The octopus die (discussed earlier) makes stitched marking as guides for where to put the stabilisers. I used double tape for them.

Flipping over again so the stabilisers were at the bottom laying flat on the table, I rotated the piece so that one stabiliser was pointing directly towards me. I then used double sided tape to adhere the pull tab. The inner curve of the pull tab should line up with the inner curve of the ring, and it should be positioned to the right of the stabiliser, so that the area between it’s long edge and the length of the stabiliser creates a small v shape. (Again, see the video if it’s unclear!)

Then it was time to add the third ring. Without adding any adhesive I laid it on top of the already assembled pieces, then put double sided tape onto the stabilisers again before folding them over onto the top ring. They should not be folded tightly, and will not reach all the way to the inner circle of the ring. I think maybe mine could have been a bit tighter though because they are slightly visible poking out on the finished card.

That completed the iris portion. Phew! Quite a task but I think it will be easier now that I have made one. I definitely learned from the process.

I wanted my clock to appear to be on a table, and the Love From Lizi kit that the watch die came from had a wood patterned paper that was perfect for that. I’ll try find out what the paper pack is and edit this post with a link if I can find it.

I trimmed the patterned paper to make a panel just smaller than my A2 card base, worked out where I wanted my clock and then used the ring to cut into the paper in the correct position (if I had the add on die set that creates a panel for the iris I could have skipped this – it’s on my wishlist!) I adhered the wood grain ring onto my iris, hiding the workings of it, then adhered the clock over the top.

Before attaching my panel and iris into place I needed to make an autumn panel to be revealed when the iris opens. I was a bit tired if making this card at this point (all the ‘trial and error’ was getting to me!) and was hoping I had some leafy patterned paper that would do the job, but unfortunately I couldn’t find any.

In the end I made my own leafy pattern by stamping several leaves from Simon Says Stamp’s Thanks and Leaves stamp set onto one of the grey circles that had been left from cutting all the rings. I used my MISTI so I could stamp multiple times. First unused Squeezed Lemonade Distress Oxide over the whole leaves. Then I partially inked with Wild Honey, softening the edges with a blending sponge. I partially inked again with Festive Berries, and finally just along the veins of the leaves with Tea Dye Disgress Ink. This resulted in nicely Autumnal leaves.

I chose to go with simplicity for my sentiment, and went with a small hello from STAMPlorations’ Rise and Grind stamp set. I stamped it with Versafine Onyx Black Ink.

Using the Iris as a guide I adhered my autumn circle onto a cream card base. I then attached the iris into place, only putting adhesive on the stabiliser pieces and adhering whilst the iris was closed. I then adhered the panel into place around the iris, which took a bit of finagling but I felt would be easier than doing it the other way around.

As a final touch I embellished the card with some wooden dots, which were from a different Love From Lizi kit, arranging them to make a visual triangle.

I learned a lot making this card. It took perseverance and patience to get it done. From start to finish (at least based on the amount of footage I ended up with) it took me two hours. And when I was done I kind of didn’t want to look at it ever again. But… Even within a few hours of finishing I started to feel proud for having managed to make the card. I am pleased that I stuck through and finished it without giving up, and that I took the time to properly fix the mistakes rather than just trying to be done with it. Overall I would say actually I really like this card. I think it’s striking, unusual, perfect for a masculine card. I do somewhat wish I’d used a different sentiment, perhaps a happy birthday, but aside from that I’m pleased. And I’m looking forward to making another iris card sometime! Though I might have to get hold of some glue dots first!

Hopefully you were inspired by this card to create something for our challenge with the lovely quote in mind. You can head over to the challenge page to link up with us, and you can also find more inspiration there from the rest of the design team, or alternatively directly on their blogs via the links below. Don’t forget you can enter my ongoing giveaway by heading over to comment on today’s video on YouTube, and then hopping to Rafflecopter to let it know you did so. And I hope to see you back for the future videos too!

Love,

Charlotte E (Lady Joyful) Email thejoyfulsoulcreates@gmail.com

*Affiliate links may have been used in this post. For more details on affiliate links as well as other ways to support me, visit this page.*

Challenges:

Crafty Catz – Anything Goes

Craftyhazelnut’s Patterned Paper Challenge – Anything Goes

Creatalicious Challenges – Anything Goes

Die Cut Divas – Die Cutting & Autumn

NBUS Challenge – Never Before Used Stuff (the magic iris dies, clock dies, leaf stamp set, and wooden dots!)

Papercraft Challenge – Interactive

Pixie’s Snippets Playground – Use Snippets (everything except the wood paper and the card base!)

Polkadoodles Craft Challenge – Anything Goes

The Male Room – Quote

Uniko Challenge – Anything Goes

---

Check out what the rest of the DT made:

Andreja

Clarissa

Faith

Goga

Granne

Helen

Lady Joyful (that’s me!)

Lise Mariann

Ma-Mi