Copper is one of my favorite ways to express autumn, and I love its look as leaves. Unfortunately, when I use real copper -- even a small bit -- for an embellishment, the greeting card often feels heavy, floppy or lopsided. I've decided to fake it by substituting mirrored paper. Here's how I did it.
Fake Copper Leaves Embellish a Fall Card (click to enlarge)
Materials & Tools
· White Ink Jet Textured Note Cards with Envelopes, 4.25 by 5.5-inch, Heavyweight, by Avery
· Copper or burnt orange metallic or mirror-finish paper
· Scrap piece of card stock for mounting the stamped leaves
· Muted green handmade textured paper
· Deep purple or maroon colored card stock
· Woodblock Stripe Decorative Paper - Copper on Sienna, as found at Paper Mojo
· Gray cardstock
· Small leaf skeleton rubber stamp, like 1.5-inch size by Susan's Delusions
· Black solvent inkpad, like Jet Black by StazOn
· Glue stick
· Good pair of comfortable, teflon-like coated scissors, like Velvet Touch Scissors by Armada
· Paper trimmer, like 12" Portable Paper Trimmer by Fiskars
· Craft knife
· Metal ruler or straight edge
· 1/2-inch black foam adhesive squares, Peel and Stick, by Therm O Web
The Steps
(Click to enlarge images. Click back button to return to article.)
1. Using a template program to line up your text and an inkjet printer, add a Thanksgiving or other seasonal greeting to the inside of a note card.
2. Cut a small piece of copper-colored mirror paper, no bigger than 4 by 4 inches. Using permanent black ink, rubber stamp three small skeleton leaves on the paper...yes, you're looking at unmounted stamps. Notice that I stamped a bigger leaf on the paper, too. I wanted to compare the looks to see which leaf size and shape I preferred.
3. Mount the copper paper on card stock for stability then carefully cut out the leaves. There's something about the stark black ink on the coppery paper that fools the eye into seeing real metal.
4. Cut a 5 by 6 inch piece of muted green handmade textured paper. Glue to the front of the note card, using a straight edge and craft knife to trim the excess. For more texture, try decorative paper with bamboo or falling leaves designs.
5. Cut a 3 by 4.5 inch piece of deep purple or maroon colored card stock, depending on your color preference. Glue to the front of the green paper.
6. Cut a piece of 1.75 by 4.5 inch piece of copper striped sienna colored decorative paper. Glue to the front of the purple card stock.
7. Cut a piece of 3 by 3 inch gray cardstock. Glue to the front of the copper striped paper.
8. Gently tear the edges of the layered papers. You can also tear before gluing, but I liked the odd edges that came from peeling and tearing the glued layers.
9. Using foam squares, mount each of the leaves in place on top of the gray cardstock. I positioned the cut-outs in a circle to give the feeling of wind blowing fallen leaves.
10. Now slip your finished card into the envelope and send it on its way.
Product Resource Guide
· Most project photos taken with a 5.0 MP resolution KODAK EASYSHARE DX4530 Zoom Digital Camera
· Note Cards with Envelopes
· Mirror-finish paper
· Stripe Decorative Paper
· Black solvent inkpad
· Foam adhesive squares
· Bamboo leaf paper
· Falling leaves paper
· Browse for Paper Crafts Books at Amazon.com
Article Description: Like the look of copper but not the weight? Adorn the front of a Thanksgiving card with lightweight leaves made of your favorite metallic paper.
