Sizzix Triple Play Blog Hop - Twist Cube, 3-D

Today I Created | Karen Burniston's 3-D Twist Cube using mostly Tim Holtz product.

Welcome to Week 2 of the Sizzix Triple Play Blog Hop. The featured die is the Sizzix Cube, Twist 3-D pop-up Bigz XL die by Karen Burniston. I had a lot of fun with this project so I included a lot of details regarding products used and various techniques.

My design concept was to try and use as many Tim Holtz products from my stash as possible. I started off by doing a lot of sketches and some test cuts to see how everything went together. When I was ready I cut all of my pieces from tan cardstock (the only product I had to purchase) and made little piles of embellishments that I planned to use on each side. Next came the fun part of decorating the sides.

The image above is the top with the cube folded flat. I used the Sizzix Retro Circles Texture Fades to create the pattern in the paper and Distress inks in Spiced Marmalade, Tea Dyed and Barn Door. I applied the inks using the technique in Tim's Compendium of Curiosities (CC) book, page 33. I attached the Button (my stash) by inserting the stem of the button through the cardstock and attaching it with wire hidden inside and then looping a Ball Chain around the button. Other products used: Journaling Ticket and ABC Skid alphabet stickers by Creative Imaginations. The other items you see along the edges are actually parts of the various sides of the cube and will be described later.

On the front of the cube I used the Cracked Texture Fades and applied the same colors of Distress inks plus Dusty Concord using the CC technique on page 40. The die cut shape is the Styled Label stamped with the Crown from the Regal Flourish stamp set using the technique on CC page 37. I also added a Game Spinner.

The left side has two paper images from the Graphics Fairy. The crown paper just worked so perfectly in this design. The stamp in the corner is part of the Regal Flourish set using Black Soot Distress Ink. I also used some Traveler Tissue Tape, Ball Chain and Type Charm. I punched a small hole on the front and side of the cube and hung the Type Charm from the corner.

The back was a little more free-formed. I used the same inking technique on CC page 33 but without the Texture Fade so the ink blended on the paper surface. The Clock is from the Journey stamp set. The Wings (top right corner) are die cut from plastic packaging using the Sizzix Heart Wings die and then embossed with the Patchwork Texture Fade. I inked them with Alcohol inks in Purple Twilight and Sunset Orange.

On the right side I inked all of the edges before assembling so I was able to get crisp edges. The wing is created with the Regal Flourish stamp and Perfect Pearls using the CC technique on page 38. The Crown is die cut from Grunge Paper using the Sizzix Heart Wings die then I applied Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint and Dusty Concord ink using the technique on CC page 42. It is attached using a Memo Pin. Other product used: Filmstrip Ribbon with a bit of Alcohol ink for color.

The bottom side worked well because I used only three main colors of Distress inks in this project so, although the panels are all very different, they visually work together. I used a French postcard image and a French map image from the Graphics Fairy on two panels. The other panel is a continuation of the side. I added more Traveler Tissue Tape and a stamp from the Journey set.

I didn't want to ruin the surprise of the completed cube so I left these last two photos for the end. As I said at the beginning, I did sketches and made samples to see how everything would work together. Before assembing the final cube I laid everything out to see how it would work. Here are the photos prior to assembly. You can see in these photos that I had additional embellishments (Swirls and Key) that I did not use in the final piece.

I hope you enjoy this example of the Twist Cube as much as I enjoyed making it. And thanks to Karen Burniston for designing such a clever die.

Please continue on through the Blog Hop using the Forward or Back links in the Triple Play Blog Hop blinkie. And please be sure to visit again next Thursday when the featured die will be the Flower, Beauty Bloom.