Elizabeth Craft Designs General Els van de Burgt Studio

Silver Spoons

February 7, 2016

Silver Spoons
By Judi Kauffman

SilverSpoonsCOne of my favorite yard sale finds is a tarnished silver spoon, once loved but now neglected and ready to be rescued. I rarely pay more than a dollar or two because these days nobody likes to polish silver, but I find it relaxing and the end result is well worth the work.

When I spied Karen Burniston’s Cup Pop Stand die set in the new release I was drawn first and foremost to the spoon (though the cup and saucer, steam, embossing pattern and coffee bean were incredibly appealing, too!). I’ve had a chance to play with all of the dies in the set, but it is still the spoon that has captivated me most.

I made three cards with silver spoons. The first, shown above, pays homage to those tarnished spoons I rescue. The different patterns on the handles were created with embossing folders and brought to life with a mix of black and silver alcohol inks. The other two, shown below, incorporate Karen’s new Coffee Stencil and Coffee Bean Embossing Folder, as well as die cut beans. The card bases for the coffee bean cards were cut from rescued manila folders, giving them the nice trio of scored lines down the left edge!

How about tucking a coffee shop gift card or an invitation to stop over for a cup of joe inside one of these cards? I’m going to frame the one with the tarnished spoons. I think it would be fun to display in the kitchen.

Reminder:

A Metal Adaptor Plate is required for die cutting Shimmer Sheetz, or a Precision Base Plate if using the Big Shot machine. Review Els van de Burgt’s YouTube video tutorial HERE if you are new to this technique.

For all cards:

Use Clear Double Sided Adhesive to attach all layers except when foam tape is specified.

Instructions for Tarnished Spoon Card:

1. Die cut 3 spoons from Silver Metallic Shimmer Sheetz. Emboss only the handle, not the bowl, of each spoon using a different section of an allover pattern embossing folder. Shown, Damask and Butterflies. Using an ink applicator tool and black alcohol ink, followed by a bit of silver metallic ink, ‘tarnish’ the spoon just a bit. If it gets too black, add more silver to return more of the shine.

SilverSpoonsCC

2. Die cut a 3” x 4.25” Stitched Rectangle from dusty blue textured cardstock; distress with brown ink.

3. Die cut a 3.25” x 2” Stitched Oval from Blue Iridescent Shimmer Sheetz; distress with black and silver alcohol inks (the same inks that were used to tarnish the spoons).

4. Assemble the card front on a gray metallic A2 size side-fold card base as shown, adding foam tape beneath the spoons for dimension, and antique brass brads at top and bottom of the rectangle for an extra pop of texture.

Instructions for Coffee Bean and Spoon Cards:

1. For each card, cut a 5” x 7” side-fold card base from a manila folder. (The lines at the left of the cards are the score lines that run along the edge of manila folders.) Distress each card base. Use espresso brown and denim blue ink for the card with cup and stream (teal) ink for the card with three spoons.

2. For the card with cup and spoon – die cut a coffee cup from alcohol ink-altered Shimmer Sheetz*, two swirls of steam from White Iris Shimmer Sheetz, and a spoon from Silver Metallic Shimmer Sheetz. Add a strip of any decorative border peel-off to the top of the cup. Emboss a 2,25” x 3” rectangle cut from blue cardstock with Coffee Bean folder, distress with brown ink. Mat to rusty brown cardstock, leaving a scant eighth-inch border. Stencil coffee beans down the left side of the card base using espresso brown ink. (Mask so the stenciled border does not extend past the score lines on the card base.) Assemble the card as shown in the project photo, using foam tape to add dimension under the cup and spoon. (*Shown, Turquoise Gemstone altered with stream and gold metallic inks, same inks used to alter border peel-off.)

3. For the card with spoons and beans – die cut three spoons from Silver Shimmer Sheetz and seven coffee beans from light brown cardstock. Stencil coffee beans onto the card base using espresso brown ink. Use the same ink to distress the die cut beans and glue them in place at the left edge, top right, and bottom right (areas where there are no stenciled beans). Refer to project photo. Emboss two rectangular pieces of blue cardstock with Coffee Bean folder (2” x 5.75” and 1” x 5”) and distress with espresso brown ink. Cut the narrower strip in two and glue all embossed pieces to the card front at angles, overlapping as needed and trimming the strip at the upper left so it stops short of the fold at the left side of the card base as shown in the project photo. (Line up with the first score line.) Add the three spoons, angled as shown, using foam tape for extra dimension.

Supplies:

Elizabeth Craft Designs –

Shimmer Sheetz in Silver Metallic
Shimmer Sheetz in Blue Iridescent
Shimmer Sheetz in White Iridescent
Els van de Burgt Studio – 1120 Stitched Rectangles
Els van de Burgt Studio – 1113 Stitched Ovals 
Karen Burniston Pop it Ups – 1103 Cup Pop Stand
Karen Burniston Pop it Ups – KB107 Coffee Bean Embossing Folder
Karen Burniston Pop it Ups – S001 Coffee Stencil
Karen Burniston Pop it Ups – KB104 Damask Embossing Folder
Karen Burniston Pop it Ups – KB101 Butterflies Embossing Folder
803 Metal Adaptor Plate
Clear Double Sided Adhesive Tape
Any decorative border peel-off in black (3” piece for cup)

Other –
Alcohol inks in black and silver metallic (plus others of choice for the cup)
Foam tape
Manila folders
Cardstock in dusty blue and rusty brown
Gray metallic pre-folded A2 size card
Antique brads (Graphic 45)

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  • Judi Kauffman February 14, 2016 at 7:13 am

    Thank you all for the kind words. Sarmablingrosierose, I promise you that it did not take forever to create! Die cutting a spoon is a matter of seconds. Embossing just the handle for the tarnished spoons is equally fast, and adding the ink to give the tarnished effect is less than a minute – only a few minutes more for drying time.

  • Eip February 9, 2016 at 3:22 am

    The spoon design is a stroke of genius, it works so well!

  • scramblinrosieRose February 8, 2016 at 6:52 pm

    A lovely card that looks like it took forever to create!

  • Mary Prasad February 8, 2016 at 10:57 am

    Those are so awesome!

  • D.Ann C February 8, 2016 at 10:15 am

    Cool spoons, gorgeous cup!!

  • Frances Byrne February 7, 2016 at 4:31 pm

    Love the antique spoons you created. Reminds me of a spoon I had that I got from my father many years ago.

  • Bonita February 7, 2016 at 4:06 pm

    Unique and artistic. Very nice.

  • robsgirl1961 February 7, 2016 at 2:29 pm

    Love the tarnished spoons! They looked so real! ?

  • JUDI KAUFFMAN February 7, 2016 at 11:10 am

    Thanks, Raquel. Embossing only the handle of the spoons gives it the look of brand new flatware, but adding the inks to make them look tarnished was what I was going for.

  • Raquel Mason February 7, 2016 at 10:55 am

    Great tarnished spoons! Love how antique they look & the embossing adds so much texture!!!

  • JUDI KAUFFMAN February 7, 2016 at 10:44 am

    Thanks, Karen. A mysterious computer gremlin sneaked in and rotated some of the photos, so I hope that you and others will come back again to see the other two cards as they are meant to be viewed: Vertical rectangles. Should be fixed later today or tomorrow at the latest.

  • Karen Aicken February 7, 2016 at 9:24 am

    Wow – those antique spoons look AMAZING!!!!!

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