One of the elements you can add to your pages is called a shaker box. This is a three-dimensional element that has small items - the filler - inside it (usually beads, glitter, mini-buttons, or small punches) that move around and are visible through some sort of window. They are much easier to make then most people realize, and more fun, too! You can make them in a variety of shapes, and in any color of the rainbow. Once you get hooked on shakers, you will notice all kinds of things that are "shaker box material."
For this lesson, we'll make a basic square shaker box. At the end of the lesson, I'll give you some hints on making shaker boxes of your own.
1. Use the large punch to make the "window" of your shaker from your square of patterned paper. If you don't have a large punch, use a template to draw a shape on the wrong side (back)
of the patterned paper, then use the craft knife and self-healing mat to cut the shape out. Tip: You might want to use the punch as an embellishment on your page, so save it!
2. Glue the plastic film to the wrong side of the patterned paper with the glue pen. Be sure not to get too much glue near the "window", so it
doesn't seep out onto the visible portion of the piece. Let the glue dry completely.
3. Cut strips approximately 1/8" in width, about 4-5" long from your foam tape. Use these to make a border around the right side (front)
of your cardstock. When you butt two pieces up against one another (as at a corner, or when you run out of one of the strips and start a new one), be sure there is no gap whatsoever between the
pieces. This is VERY important, as the filler may "leak out" of the shaker if you are not diligent.
4. Peel off the paper backing from the foam tape. If your filler items are thicker than 1/32", you should do a second layer of foam tape directly on top of the first layer. The buttons I used
were almost 1/8" thick, so I used three layers of foam tape.
5. Place the filler inside the foam tape "corral." If you accidentally get some of the filler on the foam tape, use tweezers to carefully
take it off. The top layer of foam tape needs to be completely clean.
6. Stick the patterned paper window to the top of the shaker box, being very careful to match up the edges so that the piece is square and the foam tape doesn't show through. Press firmly all
the way around the edge of the square, to make sure that the layers are adhering snugly to one another.
Voila! All done! Now give your creation a shake!
Of course, shakers don't have to be square. You can just as easily make triangular, circular, or heart-shaped shakers, among other shapes. Just avoid shapes with sharp points or narrow crevices. You can make shaker tags, shaker borders, even shaker titles. Following are somes tips to shaker-making success.
Using the directions above, make a shaker of your own, and use it as an embellishment on a layout.
Please respect the ScrapMentor copyright in using this courseware. You are welcome to print a single edition of courseware for your own personal use, but you are not permitted to copy, distribute, or reproduce - in whole or in part - any of the courseware for others, without the express written permission of the owners of Scrap-Poodle. You may not charge for ScrapMentor courseware, nor present it as your own.
** This content was previously published at www.Scrap-Poodle.com . It is presented here for the convenience of former members of that site, and scrapbookers and stampers at large. Please do not reproduce this information in any format (except for printing a copy for personal use) without permission of Dana Jones, original publisher of this information. **