Big Mouth Tutorial featuring Bertha Big Mouth

Hello AI Fans!!

Hope you're having an awesome start to your weekend! And to those in the States,  Happy Memorial Day Weekend! I would like to take this opportunity to say THANK YOU to all who have served or who has/have had family that has served!!

Today I've got a couple Bertha Big Mouth cards to show you, along with a bit of a tutorial to show you how I assemble them.  So my apologies...this is going to be a very picture heavy post. For those of you looking for a tutorial,  I hope this helps!  First...the finished cards.

Ok, here we go. Color your image and cut it out. Then cut your mouth out using the die. To do this accurately, make a template by cutting out the die on a small square of paper. Take the negative of the die cut, place it in the proper place on the face and hold in place with a couple pieces of washi tape. Slip the die into the negative and put through your die cutting machine.

Cut out a black pull tab measuring 5 1/4" x 1 1/8".  Cut white pull tab measuring 3 3/4" x 1 1/8". Stamp your teeth on the top of the white pull tab and trim them out.    If desired, cut a decorative piece of paper to cover the bottom of the pull tab 1 1/8" wide.

Glue the white tab to the black tab, then the decorative piece on top of the white. Then line up the mouth piece from your image so the mouth is showing just the right amount of teeth and glue in place.

Now take your image, your panel you're going to mount it on, and your pull tab, and center it on your panel the way you're going to want it to be. Don't glue anything down!!

With a pencil, mark on the bottom portion of your square so you know where you want to cut your panel to put the pull tab through. Cut it out (make sure it's a little wider than the 1 1/8" pull tab. Then measure up about 1/2" and cut out another piece for your pull tab.

Now you need to create a stop on your pull tab so it won't slip out of your card. Just cut a strip of paper that is wider than your slit for your pull tab, and glue it to the PULL TAB ONLY on the back. You want the pull tab to move freely.  The stop will keep it from going too far in either direction.  

Apply pop dots to back of image, but be sure not to put them anywhere around the center where the pull tab mechanism will be moving up and down. Remove the backing to the pop dots and carefully align the image with your pull tab. Trim the bottom of the pull tab to desired length after lining your image back up on the square with your pull tab inserted and mouth is closed. Do not trim with mouth open because you could trim it too short.  You have now created a very sturdy pull tab, but it will wobble from side to side. So I created an anchor that will hold the tab in place. To make the anchor, cut another piece of paper wide enough (about 1 1/2" long and a little more than 1/2" wide) to wrap all the way around the pull tab with a little bit of hangover. Fold it over the pull tab and crease it. Make sure it's not too tight around the pull tab so it will still slide through it.

 

This is just to show you how to fold it over the pull tab. It does not go on the bottom of the pull tab as this shows!!

 

Then take that piece and apply a strong adhesive such as Scor Tape to both the top and bottom. You want to then slip this onto the top portion of the pull tab and slide it down so it will be glued to the back of Bertha's head between the top of her head and the top of her mouth. You want to make sure it's thin enough so you can't see it sticking out from underneath her anywhere. Once you have it aligned, press it into place so it adheres to both the back of her image and to the panel you've mounted her on.  Trim the top of the pull tab to the very top of your guide, and you will be finished! No more wobbling from side to side, and a very sturdy pull tab that will hold up to being opened and closed many, many times.

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Copics used on top card: E11, E00, E000, R20, R22, R24, R27, B21, B24, B26, YR02, YR04, YR07, YR09, Y32, E31, YG13
Copics used on second card: E04, E11, E00, E000, R20, R22, R24, R27, C5, C1, C3, B06, B04, B02, W1, W3, W5, Y23, Y26, Y32, Y35, Y38, YG17

I hope this was able to help you a little. I know it can get a little confusing. So if you have any questions or need a little more explanation about one of the steps above, please don't hesitate to contact me. Thanks so much for stopping by today, and hope you have some time this weekend to get crafty!