Geisha by a Willow Diorama Card Created by Lis Whiting

Diorama Cards are fun to make. Using transparencies for the diorama is one way of creating a three-dimensional scene.

Create Your Base Card:
Create your base card by folding a piece of dark blue cardstock (8 ½ x 11) in half short ways. Cut a rectangular hole in the front leaving a 1 inch border of card all the way around. Cover the front in Yuzen Washi paper. Glue with glue stick. (I use glue stick a lot because it is low in water content and won’t buckle the paper.) Cut the front off from the back. Cut another piece of dark blue cardstock 1 ½ x 8 ½ inches. Score and fold ¼ inch on each long side. Attach the front and back of card to the folds with glue stick. This will create a box to hold the diorama.
See Photo 1
 and Photo 2

Create Your Diorama:
Since this will be a three-dimensional card, choose stamps that go together to make a scene. For my project today, I chose a Geisha stamp [Stampland], Willow Branches [Inkadinkadoo], Weeping Willow [Judikins] & a Mountain Scene [PSX]. Keep in mind that the stamped image in the front should be larger than the others. We want to create depth so the background stamp should be smaller. All stamps should generally be proportionally larger or smaller in relation to each other (the further back the stamp, the smaller it should be in relation to the front stamped image).
See Photo 3


The opening on the front of our card is 6 ½ x 3 5/8 therefore the transparency needs to be cut slightly larger than that. Cut three sheets of transparency to 8 ¼ x 5. (You can pick up “write on” transparency sheets at Office Max or your local Rubber Stamp store. Choose the write on because it doesn’t have a coating on it.) Use StazOn black when stamping your images. Be careful when stamping as the transparency surface is slippery.
Keep the card front opening in mind when stamping your images so that your positioning will be correct. Also, offset the stamped images, one from the other so that no two images are exactly behind one another. To color your images, you can use Range Acrylic paint or other thicker paint. Use a circular motion while painting to avoid brushstroke marks. For the Geisha’s robe, I chose to stamp the image on a contrasting piece of Yuzen Washi paper. I cut that out and attached it to the back of the stamped image using Xyron.
(The PSX stamp I used has a line border on it. I used StazOn Ink Cleaner and a Kleenex to rub off the line.)

I used white Gesso [Golden] to paint the face and feet of the Geisha from the back side of the stamped image. I used it directly on the Yuzen to paint the hands white. I used a wooden skewer for my paintbrush. I used Adirondack Acrylics in Terra Cotta for the hat, Pesto for the trees, Raisin for branches, Wild Plum for blossoms, lettuce for trees in the distance and Butterscotch for the close up willow branches. Let dry for a couple of hours.


The Background:
Tear some light blue for the sky and some light brown (ground) and light grey (rocks). The brown should be on the bottom. Glue onto the inside of your card.
See Photo 4

Putting your Card together:
Cut some dark blue cardstock to 5 ½ x 1 ½ (two pieces). Score each of the long sides ¼ inch and fold. Cut three 5 inch slits in each piece, ¼ inch apart from one another and the folds. (These will be used to hold the transparencies.) Attach each piece using the fold to each side of the card (inside) Have the fold facing out (to the edge of the card). These should also be mounted so they cannot be seen through the front card window.
See Photo 5
, Photo 6
 and Photo 7


Add your colored transparencies from the back to the front by placing them in the slits on both sides. Start by sliding one transparency through one slit and sliding it through the card to the other end. Since this is a fairly large diorama, you might need to place foam dots between each transparency to keep them from touching each other or bowing.
See Photo 5
 and Photo 9

More  Out of the Box Cards ~ Diorama Cards>

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