Kaleidoscope Card How-to and Supplies List

As promised, I'm back! *wink* Let me start out by saying that I did *not* come up with this idea on my own. I distinctly remember seeing it in a magazine (possibly Paper Crafts?), but I can't find a tutorial or mention of it on the internet. I did find one from an episode of the Carol Duvall Show, but the instructions seemed a bit vague and confusing. Hopefully, I can do a better job...though I must say, without 500 images, it's hard to explain clearly. If you have questions *PLEASE* put them in the comments and I'll answer as best I can (and maybe with more photos!).

I started with a sheet of 'Phlordilee' DP from Basic Grey's Aged & Confused Phresh & Phunky line. You can use most DPs for this process, but I find it's easiest if you choose one that has a repeated, mirrored image (i.e. a repeated pattern that is symmetrical), though you can get neat effects using a 'one-sided' image. (FYI: With this piece of DP, you could cut out 7 full pieces of the portion I chose). Here's a picture of the full sheet, with the pattern portion I used outlined:
And here's a close-up...you can see the outlined portion on the left, part of the cut-out portion below it, and a full repeat of the pattern to the right:
I cut out six (6) of the outlined portions, and then cut out the smaller heart-shaped part at the top for the image medallion. To piece together the medallions, I drew 6 evenly spaced intersecting lines on my work paper.
(Because this is a fairly large image, I only needed six...if you were working with a narrower pattern, you might need 8, 9, 12, etc. I drew my lines like the spokes of a snowflake, with 60 degrees between each one, using a 30-60-90 triangle. And you thought that high school Geometry would never be used! *wink*)
I put together the bottom medallion first. I used repositionable adhesive to attach the first piece to my work surface, with the center lined up on a line, and the point touching the intersection:For the next 5 pieces, I worked clock-wise, lining them up the same way (centered on the next line), and adhering the left side of each image to the right side of the one before. Once the 6th piece was attached on its left side, I tucked the right side under the 1st piece and adhered it there. So, in the end, the six pieces are sort of fanned out in a circle. Then I used my Coluzzle circle cutter to cut it out (since the finished medallion was too large for a card).

I followed the same procedure for the image medallion, but I didn't tuck the last piece under the first when I went around, because I would have had to cut it and didn't want to risk having a hole in the middle of my medallion! I put an adhesive flat-back pearl over the center to finish it off.
For the card, I began with a 10 1/2" x 5 1/4" piece of Kiwi Kiss CS, folded in half to make a 5 1/4" square card base. Then I cut the medallion using the second largest circle on my Coluzzle template, and a circle of textured Bayou Blue CS using the largest circle, and then adhered them to the card base and tied on some vanilla satin ribbon. For the center, I cut a circle from the Bayou Blue (I think the 4th from the center), and a ring of Kiwi Kiss, using foam tape to attach it to the Bayou Blue circle. I adhered my flower medallion to the center with foam tape, and then attached the whole panel to the base medallion using...foam tape. (I know, you're surprised. I'm really thinking about buying stock in 3M, I buy so much of their foam mounting tape! lol). I stamped 'Life' in the bottom corner using Not Quite Navy ink and my Stamp-a-ma-jig.

Like I said, if you have any questions, please let me know! This really is a great technique, and really not that difficult. As a note...if the design you choose doesn't come to a point like mine did, just cut it into one. (Since I'm a bit OCD and rather technical, I'd probably do it with a triangle to make a perfect 60 degree angle for each one so that they'd meet cleanly with no overlap, but that's just me. *grins*)

Thanks for stopping by! Enjoy the rest of your holiday weekend!
~Michelle

Supplies used:
Paper: Kiwi Kiss CS, Bayou Blue textured CS (SU!); Phlordilee DP (Basic Grey Aged & Confused)
Ink: Not Quite Navy (SU!)
Stamps: 'Life' from October KOTM (Unity Stamp Co.)
Other: Coluzzle circle cutting system; foam mounting tape (3M); Stamp-a-ma-jig (SU!); ribbon, adhesive pearl (Michael's)