Make It Focals

One of the things that I realized as I worked on the accordion cards I showed yesterday, was that it would REALLY make life easier if I had ready made focals to use.  So, I decided to start working on that.  Today I have 4 different ones that could either be used as card focals or as scrapbook embellishments, and I hope to make more soon. 

Focal #1:

 

First up is a focal & sentiment made from a stamp and die set from Divinity Designs called He Watches Me / Sparrow.  I colored it using my Inktense pencils & a water brush.

Focal #2:

Next we have a focal & sentiment using a stamp & cut set from Hero Arts called Kit-Tea.  This one was again colored with Inktense pencils & a water brush.  You may notice that I added a couple of flowers (also from the stamp set) to add interest to the tea cup.

Focal #3:

I decided it would be nice to do some that were just die cuts so I didn't have to color them.  This one was pretty straight forward, and I didn't even add any shading.  It was made using a die from Spellbinders called Scruffy Panda. I find it works best when using this die, to cut it once from white and once from black - then take the main black piece and cover it with scotch tape facing up - then insert the white pieces through the holes in the main black piece and press them to stick to the tape.  The elements of the face - eyes/nose - need to be glued in place after that.  The bamboo die comes with the panda die & I die cut it from green as you see here.

Focal #4:

 

This final one was NOT straight forward and I DID do some shading as the assembly video I watched suggested.  It was made using a die set from Elizabeth Crafts called Cat. I don't really care for the way this one turned out, but their examples are cute, so I figure I just need to keep playing with them.  I added two more whiskers - which I like.  And I added a bit of white to the center of the cat's eyes.  They really don't look much like cat's eyes, and I like to figure out how to change that.  I also feel it's body is pretty short for it's head and I might be able to get a better look by using the small body piece to extend the head a bit.  What I DO like about these dies is that you're not stuck with the same configuration every time.  The tail can be put anywhere, the cat can be standing like this, or sitting with legs splayed.  The bow can go anywhere or be left off.  There are lots of options which makes this a fun die to play with once I get used to using it.

Storage:

The trick to having these make aheads be useful is proper storage so you can find them when needed.  I decided to store mine in a 3-ring binder using plastic protective sheets made for trading cards or for photos.  Here you can see one with these 4 focals and room for more.  As I get more of these made, I can organize them in these sheets so they're easy to find.