Today I am going to share a quick paper doll card tutorial to make a cute little greetings card that can easily be adapted for lots of situations.

I wanted to enter this card into the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge for April. The theme this month is to use a complimentary or Split Compliment Color Scheme. I have gone for the latter, my colours being Blue-violet with Yellow and Orange.

The Paper Doll1950s Dress Up Paper Dolls - Betsy McCall Set 1 - Tin Teddy at Etsy

I printed out one sheet from the Tin Teddy 1950s Dress Up Paper Dolls set on to photographic paper.  She is the default size (ie. printed at 100%).

I cut out the doll and a cute little  dress.  Well, actually I cut out quite a few dresses and tried them on, I am not too old to play dress up!  The dress I chose is blue-violet in colour, so this set the colour scheme for the card.

I removed the stand from the doll and the tags from the dress and glued the dress to the doll with Cosmic Shimmer glue.

Tin Teddy 1950s Dress Up Paper Doll

I used an oval die from the excellent valueEcstasy Crafts Nellie’s Choice Multi Frame Dies, Straight Oval set and cut out some orange, grungy scrapbook paper.  The paper is from a pad called Heritage from The Works.  I added a little Spiced Marmalade Distress Ink around the edge of the oval.

Then I used the next biggest size of oval and die cut it from some blue-violet card.  I glued the two together with Cosmic Shimmer glue.

And then I fixed the paper doll to the ovals with sticky foam pads.

Tin Teddy Paper Doll on die cut ovals

 

The Funky Background

I cut a piece of cold-pressed watercolour card to 5″ by 4″.  I am using watercolour card so I can use lots of water-based techniques on it in a minute. The card is Bockingford Watercolour Block 140lb/300gms.  My block is vintage (1970s!) but it is still available and the new blocks are just as good quality as always. This is my favourite watercolour substrate.

I added some Fossilized Amber Distress Oxide Ink to the card.  Distress Oxide inks blend really well and I was able to get a lovely smooth covering.

Adding Distress Oxide Ink to the Background

Next I sprinkled some Brusho powder on to the card.  I used Lemon, Yellow and Orange.

First Sprinkling of BrushPowders

Once I had a good coverage I sprayed the card with Spray & Sparkle Iridescent varnish.  This didn’t have quite the effect I had hoped, so I quickly added water and more Brusho.  Ah, that’s better, the Brusho began to bleed nicely.  The Distress Oxide also began to react with the water, despite the Spray & Sparkle!  I left this to dry naturally.  You can not see the sparkle in the photos, but it looks rather interesting in real life.

Brusho Powder with Spray & Sparkle and Water on top

 

 

 

I made sure the card was dry. Then I took the Holiday Knit stencil from Tim Holtz and stuck it over the card with low-tack tape.  I took an orange Faber-Castell Gelato and scribbled a bit on my craft mat.  I added a wee bit of water and then stippled the Gelato through the stencil with a very course stencil brush.

Pouncing Gelato Through A Stencil

When I removed the stencil the Gelato had bled quite a bit at the bottom. But that is ok, this is crafting, not brain surgery!  I blotted up the most obvious puddles and again I left the card to dry.

Argh, my stencilling bled a bit, oh well

I used Peacock Feathers Distress Ink and roughly stamped a honeycomb stamp around the edges of the card.

Adding Honeycomb stamping around edge of watercolour card

The Card Base

Next I took an A6 card blank.  I used one of the 300gsm Pearlescent White cards by Payper Box.  It has a nice shimmer to it.  I inked about an inch around the edges with Faded Jeans Distress Ink.  I really wanted “Blue-violet” and not just blue. But I could not find a Blue-Violet ink in my collection. So I then went over the edges again with Peacock Feather Distressed Ink.  The end result, coupled with the irridescence of the card, doesn’t look to bad.  Not a lot of it will show anyway – I am an optimistic crafter 🙂

Adding Distress Ink to the Edge of the Card

When I was sure the watercolour card had dried, I mounted it to the card base with double sided sticky tape. I usually use tape for this type of task as it is very clean and easy.  Because the watercolour card is a little smaller than the A6 card a bit of the “Blue-violet-ish” inking shows around the edge.

Finishing the Paper Doll Card

I die cut the word “Hello” from blue-violet card stock using a die from a multi-pack (link below). I added this to the card front. I also added the paper doll on her ovals.

Then I added a generous blob of Midnight Sky Tonic Nuvo Glitter Drops to each corner.

Finally I added a wooden yellow flower, with another blog of Glitter Drops in the centre.

Paper Doll Card Tutorial - Tin Teddy 1950s Dress Up Paper Doll

I will be giving my paper doll card as a thank you to a friend. I will make a few more for birthday cards.

I have another tutorial, for another paper doll card. This one features the paper dolls from Set 2 of the Tin Teddy 1950s Dress Up series.  The dolls from each set are the same size and can share clothes. Tutorial for 1950s Style Paper Doll Folding Card

Tin Teddy Paper Dolls used on folding greetings card - tutorial on Tin Teddy Blog

The Supplies I Used

Here are links to some of the products I used in the creation of this paper doll card – from Amazon.co.uk and Amazon.com.  If you buy after using these links, I will get a small commission from the shops.  This will not cost you any extra!  Thank you.

Supplies on Amazon.co.uk

Supplies on Amazon.com

I am entering this card into the April round of the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge Blog.

 

 

Paper Doll Card Tutorial featuring Brusho Powder Background
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4 thoughts on “Paper Doll Card Tutorial featuring Brusho Powder Background

  • 16 April, 2018 at 6:31 am
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    I love the background, the stencilled area with Gelatos looks great, the bleed actually adds something!

    Reply
    • 16 April, 2018 at 11:42 am
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      Thank you. I have to admit I rather love that you never quite know what will happen with crafting. Especially when one is as messy as I am, hehe.

      Reply
  • Pingback:1950s Style Paper Doll Folding Card – Tutorial - Tin Teddy

  • 4 May, 2018 at 3:25 pm
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    FAB background, and great color scheme. Thanks for playing along at Mixed Media Monthly

    Reply

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