Candice Aguilar has brought us something VERY special for her second stamp set with us. It is the type of set that many of you have been requesting for a long time. Something that can be easily adaptable for masculine cards, especially little boys. You will be seeing peeks of Candice’s set throughout the weekend. The images in this set are all so fresh and fun to use! Be sure and stop by Candice’s blog to see a few other sneak peeks she has prepared for you!
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While brainstorming for this month’s countdown, an old technique cam to mind that I hadn’t done for ages! I think they used to be referred to as gel cards! I have prepared a step-by-step tutorial that helps to reinvent this technique and make it new again!
First, you will need to prepare your card base according to the template I have prepared.
Download gel_card_template.pdf
I used Aqua Mist cardstock. After cutting & scoring in the appropriate places, I stamped one side with a series of open dots contained in our Polka Dot Basics set.
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Next, I folded the bottom flap upwards and punched through both layers with a 1.75-inch circle punch.
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After unfolding it, your project will look like this.
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Now you will want to flip your project over to the backside. Place small pieces of tacky tape around the opening in the middle section of your project. You also want to add a couple pieces to the side flaps.
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Put a small amount of clear hair gel (about 1 tablespoon) into a small ziploc bag. I purchased these in the beading section of my local craft store.
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Trim the top of the bag slightly, about 1/8-inch above the zipped closure. Adhere to your project with the tacky tape you already put in place.
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Fold the bottom tab up. The two circles will match up perfectly since you punched them together. You will be sandwiching the gel bag at this point as well.
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Fold the pocket up and fold the tabs around to the back.
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Here’s the finished pocket with it’s fun gel window!
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To finish my project, I created this tag using fish images from Pond Life. The tag measures 3.5 x 4.75. I folded a scalloped circle of Lemon Tart cardstock at the top of the tag as a little accent as well.
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When the tag is inserted in the pocket, it looks like the fish are really under water! Not only does this gel accent look cool, but it is super fun to play with too, especially for little boys!
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I’ll leave you wit a close-up for the gel window. Also notice the sentiment "birthday fishes". thsi sentiment along with a few others that coordinate with Pond Life will be available in a $5 mini set. They really help to broaden your options with the main set!
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SUPPLIES:
Stamps- Polka Dot Basics & Pond Life from Papertrey
Ink- Summer Sunrise & Lemon Tart Palette inks, White craft ink from SU!
Paper- Aqua Mist, Summer Sunrise & Lemon Tart
Other- Summer Sunrise Swiss Dot Ribbon, yellow brad from Chatterbox, Word Window Punch from SU!, 1.75 inch circle punch from EK Success
MORE MASCULINE INSPIRATION
You have just GOT TO see Heather Nichols awesome Father’s Day project using another one of our new sets. Be sure and stop by her blog today!!!
This is too cute! It has been such a long time since I have made one of these fun cards! Can’t wait to see the rest of this set!
This is such a fun project 🙂 You really are the best at coming up with brilliant ideas!
Penny
Aw cuute. The Orange is going to be FaB!
Very cute card!
Very cute card!
How cool! Love the orange!
I love the card Nichole. I’ve never seen a gel card before. Gotta make one when I get this month’s order!
So cute, I’ve never seen that techenique before, I can’t wait to try it, and I love the fish and saying. Linda
WOW! I have never seen this done before. How fun would that be for a child? I love the fish too. So cute!! Thanks for sharing.~Erica
i have never seen this type of card…and i so love it!! my youngest turns 10 this summer…what a perfect card for him!!! thanks for the inspiration!!! >”<
Love this! I am so excited about this set! I am one of those wanting manly sets and little boy sets!
What an adorable project! I cannot wait to see the rest!
So fun! I had forgotten about doing these. This is where that little frog leg must come into play…
I’m speechless.. I’ve never seen one of these before. cute stamps too!! what a great idea?? Is there going to be any stamps of people snorkling??
Hot Dang, this is cute!! My girls would love to make one of these gel cards. Adding gel to my Target list today!!
Great card Nichole … I have not thought about this technique in ages … I am am goin got have to make one for my nephews b-day on the 25th. Thanks for all your inspiration Nichole ~
Oh this is fabulous! Can’t Wait!
I love to make gel cards, this one is fintastic!
This is absolutely wonderful — will make great party favors or a larger size will make a great gift. Thanks for the tutorial.
That is awesome! What an adorable idea!
Great card! What a fun card to make….my grandkids would love this!
That is SOOO cute! What a wonderful idea. The fish images are spectacular.
Absolutely darling Nichole!! I can’t wait to give this one a try..Those little fish are just too much!! Can’t wait for the 15th!!!
Cool idea, using the gel window. Don’t tell me you ladies are coming up with a men of life set. Too funny, since I made a card recently with that in mind.
Love this new take on the Gel card Nicole! What wonderful colors and love those fish! I can see my stamp budget will be blown again this month! I’m afraid to look on the 15th??!! LOL!!
I’ll be trying this card for sure!
http://www.createwithjulia.blogspot.com
This fishy gel card is just too stinkin’ cute!!!
Nichole,
I can’t tell you just how excited I am about this set! It will be perfect for my husband since he owns a pet store! And the colors are just beautiful. Great job!
LOVE it! Too cute! I love the fishes also, they’re adorable, and I’ve heard about gel cards but never saw that!
I can’t wait to see this set! 🙂
OMG! I am totally WOWed by this tutorial! I never tought about HAIR GEL!!!! How cool is that! I am definatly lookin fwd to seeing this whole set! TFS,
~Monica~
Adorable. Thanks so much for the tutorial.
So cute! This is another type of card that I’ve been meaning to try. Love the new pond images so far!
Those fish are darling and I just love this take on the gel card!
Awesome….
Love the set…love the colors! I can’t wait until the 15th!
What a cool card, Nichole! I think I still have three bottles of gel from the last time the gel card idea circulated, but this one is way cooler in a pocket card format, IMO!
How about a pic of the yellow cardstock and yummy ribbons? : ) Pleeeeease! The orange looks lucious! YUMMMMM!
I totally love this technique! I’ve never seen it done before. I can’t wait to give it a try.
This is the cutest card. I can’t wait to try this. I love the new April colors.
Super cute! I love this as a tag card!!
just plain cute. i can’t find antother words for it. i absolutly love it.
how cute is this!! love it! TFS!
OMG! This is such a fun idea! I love it!
This is such a adorable purse. So clean and fresh looking… makes me almost want to pull out the old sewing machine and sew… If I don’t win I just may have to… I just found this blog and I am so gladg I found it!! I have already added it to my favorites!! I will be checking back on a regular basis…
Meg in MO
Wow! What a fabulous idea.
I LOVE this! The gel idea is fabulous. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much for a great step by step tutorial. Can’t wait to try this myself. Also love the way the polka dots look like bubbles.
This is such a cute project! A must-do for sure! Thanks for the inspiration and great tutorial!
Wonderful tutorial thank you!
Something that can be easily adaptable for masculine cards, especially little boys.I will be seeing peeks of Candice’s set throughout the weekend.Because We have arrange a birthday party to my little sister.
I am thinking of buying a couple of fish, and I need different names so I can look them up online and see if they are cool enough for me. I want a red fish, a blue fish with black stripes.The fish must be freshwater, not need alot of care (Like a goldfish) and not be expensive.They can’t be something that will die easily or something that is aggressive and eats other fish.
Love your gel card and made one of my own today.
Thank you for the tutorial and inspiration.
:)Peggy
This is so cool, I never would have thought of that in a million years. Thank you so much!!!