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A {Unique} Fish Tank

Tools:
Purple Cows 2 in 1 Combo Trimmer #1040
Purple Cows Click Blade Colonial #2810
Purple Cows Freestyle Mouse #6040
Purple Cows Click Blade Score #2811
Purple Cows Hot & Cold Laminator #3015/3025
Purple Cows Click Blade Straight #2801
Purple Cows Click Blade Wave #2803
Purple Cows Click Blade Victorian #2809
A Purple Cows Designer Project
scissors by Michelle Jackson-Mogford
http://mjm-thearttart.blogspot.com/
Supplies:
Purple Cows Hot Pockets 8.5"x11" #4040 http://mjm-thearttart.com
Purple Cows Hot Pockets 12"x12" #4050
Purple Cows Hot Pockets 11"x17" #4090
Cosmo Cricket Snorkel crafting kit
Clear snaps cats eyes ink stacker - chocolate and
blueberries
Clear snaps Smooch Spritz ink in blue
Clear snaps glitter
Clear snaps smooch inks
Helmar scrap dots and 450 quick dry adhesive
Alcohol inks, white card, colored pencils
A {Unique} Fish Tank
Step by Step Instructions:
1. Using the Guillotine on the Purple Cows 2 in 1 combo trim-
mer trim the sides and back for your fish tank from Cosmo Cricket
beach towel paper. The front and back will be 10'' x 12'' and the sides
10'' x 7''.

2. From some scrap paper trim 2 more rectangles 1 @ 8'' x 10''


and 1 @ 8'' x 5''. Centre these rectangles on to the side and front and
back pieces you have just trimmed (the one at 5'' wide for the side
pieces the one at 10'' wide for the front and back) and mark around
them with a pencil. These pencil rectangles will act as a guide for
you to cut out the apertures.

3. Using decorative click blade


#2803 in the rotary side of the Purple
Cows 2 in 1 combo trimmer, cut out the
apertures from each piece. As the blade
doesn't make contact until you press
down on it, you can position it to cut an
accurate and perfect aperture every time.
Ink the apertures when you're done to
bring out the lovely scallop edge using
r
Yeaink.
the clearsnaps blueberry
n te e

4. Put the sides and front and back of your fish tank into
some #4050 Purple Cows Hot pockets. Centre the pieces lining
them right up to the top to leave laminate available for the
folds later. Once all the paper is in place give the apertures a
good spritz with the smooch ink spritz and leave the pockets
open to dry.

5. While the fish tank pieces are drying fill a # 4040 Purple
Cows hot pocket with a mix of blue and green alcohol ink to
create a random pattern. Leave the pocket open to dry (don't
close the pocket while it is wet as it will ooze ink when it goes
through the laminator!)

Purple Cows Inc.


3210 North Canyon Rd. Suite 307 Provo, UT 84604 USA
www.purplecows.net • information@purplecows.net
A {Unique} Fish Tank
6. While all the Hot pockets fillings are drying, using the guillotine again trim 2 rectangles for the top and bottom of
the tank. I used Cosmo Cricket carbonation for this. Both rectangles need to be 12'' x 7''. Put one rectangle into a # 4050
Purple Cows hot pocket and the other one in a # 4090 Hot Pocket, centering it so we can fold edges over later to create the
lid.

7. Switch on the Purple Cows #3025 hot/cold laminator and while it is heating up sprinkle some clear snaps glitter
into the now dry hot pockets (the ones with the apertures and the alcohol ink one) and then close them up. Get a spare
piece of 12'' x 12'' card ready at this point to use as a feed guide for your hot pockets to support them as they go through
the laminator (you don't need to use this method for the base and lid pieces as they are solid paper pieces)

8. Laminate all your pieces and when you're done don't forget to switch off the machine (unless you've been collect-
ing things to laminate, don't forget you can have a laminator session for up to 2 hours before you need to give the machine
a rest!)
9. Now you need to cut all the pieces to size
with the guillotine and score folds using click
blade # 2811 in the rotary trimmer of the 2 in 1
combo. Trim the 12'' x 10'' front and back pieces to
the 12'' width (remember to allow a small margin
at the sides of the 12'' to contain the lamination)
and trim it at 10 1/4''. Score along the bottom at
10'' and fold the extra 1/4'' to allow this to adhere
to the base. Trim the 10'' x 7'' side pieces to 10 1/4''
x 7 1/2'' then scoring the height at 10'' and 1/4'' on
either side folding them over to create the fixing
tabs for the box. Trim the base up to the sides of
the paper remembering to leave that lamination
margin and then trim the lid piece with a 3/4'' lip
all the way round (making it 13 1/2'' x 8 1/2'') score
Year
these 3/4'' lips and fold over. Cut into the corners
n te e
as you would when making a box so the flaps sit
inside each other.

10. Now you have all the box pieces ready


the next job is to cut the 'sandbanks' for the
inside of the tank. Choosing different patterned
papers from the Cosmo Cricket snorkel kit cut
some sand banks using decorative click blades
#'s 2809 and 2810 in the Purple Cows freestyle
mouse # 6040. Make 2 12'' wide and up to 4'' in
height and 2 6'' wide up to about 5'' high. Using
the freestyle nature of the mouse you can create
some lovely curved pieces for your tank. Using
the rotary trimmer and the score blade, score at
1/4'' up from the bottom of each piece, make
the fold and make a small cut upwards along
this tab about halfway along.

Purple Cows Inc.


3210 North Canyon Rd. Suite 307 Provo, UT 84604 USA
www.purplecows.net • information@purplecows.net
A {Unique} Fish Tank

11. Next using the straight edge click blade # 2801 in the
rotary trimmer cut some slits in the base piece, evenly spacing
them along the width and cutting 2 slits at 11'' and 2 at 5 1/2''.

12. Thread the sandbank tabs through the slits in


the base, fold one bit of the tab one way and the
other half the other and glue in place under the base
using Helmar 450 quick drying glue. Folding the tab 2
ways like this will make the sandbank stand up.

13. Using the Helmar 450 glue again, glue the


tabs on the bottom of the front, back and side pieces
to the under side of the base (so the sides will stand
up around the base.

14. With the sides pushed upright use the tabs


on either side to glue to the front and back pieces on
the inside to create the box for the tank.
15. Glue the corners of the lips on the lid together using the Helmar glue.
r
Yea shapes to the
16. Cut some seaweed shapes from the alcohol ink filled pocket and some fish shapes. Glue the seaweed
e
n tescrap
front of some of the sandbanks using the Helmar glue which dries clear and add in some shells using Helmar dots.
Glue the fish to some strips of waste laminate and fold over a tab at the end to glue into the inside of the lid.

Purple Cows Inc.


3210 North Canyon Rd. Suite 307 Provo, UT 84604 USA
www.purplecows.net • information@purplecows.net
A {Unique} Fish Tank

17. Cut out a mermaid body from some white card and color
with clearsnaps smooch ink and colored pencils and then cut the
head from a photograph of the person you'd like to capture in this
fishy setting and glue in place. Glue scrap strips of laminate to the
mermaids and in the same way as the fish glue these into the inside
of the lid.

18. All that remains is to put the lid on the box, place somewhere
to display and enjoy your fish and mermaids bobbing about in their
glittery, fishy world. What fun pieces of home decor will you create
with your Purple Cows tools? Thanks for playing along with me on
this project, happy crafting loveM x

Year
n te e

Purple Cows Inc.


3210 North Canyon Rd. Suite 307 Provo, UT 84604 USA
www.purplecows.net • information@purplecows.net

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