Iris Shutter: Journal Page

Hello! Today I am sharing a journal page using the fabulous Elizabeth Craft Designs: Planner Essentials - Iris Shutter die. It is designed to fit on a page of the ECD SideKick planner, which is 7 1/4" x 5 1/4". Their other planner is 9" x 6 1/4" (I think it's also called A5 Slim). There are a whole host of dies for these planners, helping not just to create fun pages, but also to actually cut out the pages with different edges. 

I have neither planner - so have created one that will fit the larger pages - with a back and front from greyboard (which I will decorate at some point), and "bound" with book binding rings. My base page was cut using the die that came with the Retro Number Trio set. I cut it with two sheets of single sided paper (put them back to back through the cutter) and stuck them together. Click on either photo below to see the video demo.

  

The idea of an iris shutter is a bit like a camera shutter. It has a "lever" that you can move to open and close the shutter, revealing a hidden message or image. I have gone with a beach/nautical theme for my journal page. 

Making the mechanism

The shutter mechanism dies are labelled A, B and C. There are also some banana shaped pieces, and some arrow extenders. You need one of A, two of B, one of C, and 6 bananas (you need to cut the die twice). You need to have a strong card (I would say minimum 240gsm) for part B and the bananas. These are also the parts that will be visible at the end, so choose your coloured cardstock, or ink them before assembling.

I will attempt to do step by step with photos - but do check out the video to see how it comes together. 

Start by hooking the ends of the bananas through the slits in piece A. Keep the little "sun"s on the bananas facing up. Hold in place with paper clips.

  

Stick the two B pieces together back to back. If you are using the overlay that comes with the die set, then you will need to extend the "lever" using the extra arrows. Use two from the set. You can infill the little chevrons with bits cut from other iris shutter projects.

 

Place glue dots (I used 0.5mm) directly on top of the "sun"s on each of the bananas, before placing part B on top. You do not want glue anywhere else - so glue dots are perfect. They also have a quicker grab than wet glue! Make sure that you stick part B in the large space between the spokes of A. This is where the arrow will go up and down, and it needs to be just fractionally past the bottom spoke, as in the first photo. Put more glue dots onto the spokes, place part C on top of B and then fold over the spokes. Do not squash the mechanism down - just fold over and stick - you want to be able to move the lever easily. Check the mechanism opens and closes. You can tuck in the little bits at the back - but don't secure them as they need to move.

  

  

It is important to make sure that your image is the right size - use one of the circles left from cutting out the mechanism to check. It is also a good idea to work out where this needs to go, and place it on your project before securing the mechanism down, as it is very tricky to put in afterwards.

There are two other parts to this die set. One you will need, the other you may not. There is another, unlabelled, circle. This is the cover - this you need. And the other is the overlay -  sometimes, if you are making a card, then this is not needed.

To attach the mechanism to the overlay, firstly you need to close the iris. Attach glue dots in between the spokes and line up the aperture in the overlay, over the closed iris. You also need to check that the lever is positioned in the little cut out.

 

Attach 3D foam to the back of the overlay. It needs to be deep enough to allow the mechanism to work. Open the iris, and position over your image. Check the mechanism still opens and closes.

   

For my journal page

I added mats and layers underneath the overlay, and made my cover into a life ring to go with the beach theme. I used elements from Amy Design: Underwater World - Sea Life for the shells and bubble.

Another fab set of dies from the ECD Planner Essential Range, is the Reinforcements 2 set. I used the fold back ticket and fish to reinforce the page holes, and also used the fish as the image in my iris shutter.  

The sentiment was created on the computer and cut using the cover die. I used the "waste" circles from cutting out the cover pieces, to add some layers. 

And I didn't forget the other side of the page. The camera reinforcers were used for the photo mats as well as on the page holes. I just need to decide which pics to put in there.

Hopefully, that all makes sense. I have a couple of other projects made with this Iris Shutter - so watch this space.

Thanks for popping by, and I hope I have given you a little inspiration. Feel free to follow me here on my blog, or on FaceBook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest. For all the videos, pop over to the Hixxy Studio YouTube channel to subscribe. And FB lives are streamed on both the YouTube channel and the Hixxy Crafts FB page. The main items I use can be found on the Hixxy Crafts website - have a look under the Hixxy Studio tab.

Happy crafting!!

Cxxxx