die cutting

Miss You

Hello once again. I am still exploring CAS cards:

This colour scheme was inspired by the current challenge at Cupcake Inspirations – to use maroon and gold.

This is another die set from Concord & 9th, another cabin gift set from one of their summer camps.

I first started by using a Neenah 110lb card base, and onto the front of that card base I dry embossed a rectangle stitched die – this creates detail without adding dimension – I think so, anyway….. :)

The die was cut twice to obtain the dark red and the gold, and the two hearts – from the same die set.

The red outline of the letters was glued directly to the card base, the gold letters inserted – and yes – I did lose the two itty bitty pieces from the inner of the letter ‘o’ in you – so I grabbed a little scrap and die cut just that part again to obtain them.

The two hearts were added as you see.

Sweater Weather

Hello. I received this sweater die as part of a Simon Says Stamp kit, and thought it was adorable, so I had a play with it yesterday:

I chose to follow the colours at the current Color Throwdown Challenge, by die cutting the sweater in the colours you see, and I also ran the die cut back through with the embossing mat to make the details stand out a little more.

I also ink blended each sweater in a slightly darker matching colour, to again enhance the details.

Keeping it fairly CAS – for me anyway – I used a Spellbinders embossing folder to create the background panel, then added the three sweaters with 3D foam.

The sentiment is from a Gina K Designs stamp set – stamped then cut out with a banner die from one of her Master Layouts die sets, glued directly down to the background.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Sparkles Forum Christmas – Christmas and festive wear

Simply CAS – CAS – holidays/winter

Color Throwdown – yellow, orange, green

Christmas Bingo – column I – winter/free/snowflakes

Rainbow Happy

Hello again. I have been exploring my CAS style with this card – something I really struggle with.

I was inspired by the current challenge at CAS on Friday – produce a CAS card with the theme of rainbow.

I searched through the Color My Life app, and found this die set received as a Concord & 9th cabin gift for one of their summer camps a few years ago.

The card base is Neenah 110lbs – I finally managed to get a restock here in the UK so I ordered plenty.

I die cut the elements out of 80lbs Neenah, and attached the outline of the image direct to the card base.

The other elements I coloured with Copics to create the rainbow colours, insetting them.

That’s it – no gems, no embossing folder background, just a colourful CAS card. It always amazes me though, how CAS can take longer to plan out than my general style of cards – there really is nowhere to hide with CAS is there?

Apple Of My Eye

Hello. I was intrigued by the challenge at As You See It – this time, they wanted the theme of apples, and it was also a timed challenge – had to be created within 10 minutes…

I did a search through the Color My Life app, and found this stamp and die set from Clearly Besotted – an old one from 2017, but I thought it would fit the bill.

I’m not particularly proud of the colouring on this – but I was conscious of the time so went with it.

I got all my supplies together, started the timer – off we go.

The first thing was to stamp the image, quickly heat set, then I used my Zigs to colour them in – very basic colouring. I chose Zigs as I thought they would spread the colour around quite quickly.

Once coloured, I used the matching dies, grabbed a card base, stamped the sentiment directly onto the card base, then attached the die cut image with glue. I had a few seconds left over, so I took a white gel pen and made some ‘shine’ on the apples. This didn’t turn out as white as I’d hoped, as the colouring was still a little damp, but you can certainly see the marks.

As you can see – very close to the wire – but success none-the-less.

Making Spirits Bright

I had chance to paly with a new product yesterday, and created this card – and two more……

I used the colours for the current Color Hues Challenge – Teal and Silver – and the die from Pocket Full Of Happiness – now stocked in one of our UK stores – the Folk Snowflake Background.

This is such a versatile die – you can certainly use any colours to create this, and you can paper-piece – which I did here – or use additional dies to create a more dimensional look.

The first step was to die cut the plate three times – teal, matt silver, and then some silver glitter card stock.

I then created a 5 inch square card base by cutting down a 5×7 inch card base, then added a piece of double sided sticky sheet to the card base, then attached the teal background.

The glitter and matt silver pieces were then inlaid back into their spaces – thank goodness each of the pieces are able to be pieced anywhere. I couldn’t begin to think how long this would have taken me if the shapes were all of a different size…

The sentiment is a silver foiled strip, and I thought the jaunty angle on each end was a whimsical touch.

As I had die cut three whole background panels – I was able to create a couple more cards, just by changing the background panel and the inset pieces around:

Is there such a thing as a three-fer? Well, there is now…

I shall be entering the following challenges:

A Perfect Time To Craft – anything goes

A Cut Above – anything goes with a die cut

Color Hues – teal and silver

Craft Rocket – Christmas/Winter

Autumn Wishes

Hello. I want to share a card created using a Simon Hurley stamp and stencil set, obtained for a virtual event recently, and to enter the current challenge at The Four Seasons Challenge. The current theme is ‘fall’:

The first job was to stamp the bare trees, which I inked with brown, then stamped in different positions. The leaves are added with a matching stencil, so I actually used Nuvo drops for the so-called leaves.

I squeezed some of the purple out, scraped through the stencil with my palette knife – then had to wait for that to dry before moving on to the blue, and then the red – something I generally don’t like to do – wait for things to dry. I am very impatient when creating….

Once the three colours were dry, I cut the panel down slightly, then layered it with a patterned paper onto a white card base.

The sentiment was stamped, then the banner die cut and attached.

As mentioned, I shall be entering the Four Season Challenge – them of ‘fall’

Happy Winter Birthday

Hello again. A cold snap here in the UK means more crafty time – though I don’t really need an excuse at the moment – I seem to have recovered my mojo after my short break away in Tenerife. I wanted to create a birthday card for a change, but I still used some Christmas products:

The background panel was created using a light grey piece of card, and then using the Pinkfresh Studio cover plate ‘Stitched Pinwheels‘. I also used a Pinkfresh Studio frame die to cut the small white shape, used the Pinwheel plate again – thinking about the continuity of the pattern, and where I wanted to place it on the card front – thank goodness that worked….

I then die cut items from several Spellbinders die sets – the bird (Love Note Bird), then the branch and foliage from other die sets. I wanted the bird to stand out, so I chose bright colours for him/her, then the rest of the card elements are quite muted and neutral.

Once die cut, I attached the grey panel flat to the card base, used 3D foam to raise the white die cut, glued the bird to the white shape – though I did add a couple more die cut feet as they seems quite fragile – then attached the silver foiled sentiment with 3D foam.

I then played with the foliage, gluing them down one-by-one until I was happy with the placement and with the fullness.

As per usual, I added some extra embellishment, this time with silver sequins. I haven’t used sequins in a while, but I like how you can tuck them underneath layers so they are just peeping out.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Seize The Birthday – birthday – option to use Christmas supplies taken

2 Crafty Critter Crazies – anything goes with a critter

Die Cut Divas – die cuts and critters

Crafty Animals – anything goes with an animal

Poinsettia Season’s Greetings

Hello again. It is time for the new challenge at The Holly & Ivy Christmas Challenge. The theme is always ‘anything goes Christmas‘. Here is my card:

I wanted a dramatic and different look for this die card, with a lot of dimension.

The background panel is a piece of black shimmery card stock, and dry embossed using a Spellbinders embossing folder.

The main image is a Pinkfresh Studio die and layering stencil set, and as the background was black and dramatic, I also went with a different colour scheme.

The layering stencils were ink blended using Pinkfresh Studio inks, then die cut with the macthing die set. I added a couple more layers to the flower image, then attached to the black embossed panel.

I also added gold gems to the centre of the flowers as they are my favourite embellishments to use, and there is rarely a card I make without some sort of gem or jewel around it somewhere. I feel they add a certain interest and detail which doesn’t take over the card.

The sentiment is gold foiled.

I hope you can come and join us with your creations following our Christmas theme.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

As You Like It – favourite embellishment – gems/jewels/enamel dots

Stencil Fun – stencils – option to use some gold taken

Craft Rocket – Christmas/Winter

Triple B – birds and/or butterflies and/or blooms

Beautiful Blossoms – florals – optional mood board

So Very Merry

Hello again. Having just returned from a few days away with hubby to Tenerife, I was itching to get into my craft rom and play with some new products which were part of a recent Online Card Classes class. I watched the first day of class whilst away, but still have to catch up on the rest.

I started by gold heat embossing the ‘Easy Repeat Holly‘ background stamp from Concord & 9th and Kristina Werner using the Taylored Expressions ‘Gold Sparkle’ embossing powder, then used the matching layering stencils to colour the image. On the holly leaves, I used two tones of green, the darker towards the base of the leaves to create some dimension.

This panel was then cut down slightly and attached to a white card base.

The snowman was die cut, glued together, and set to one side, whilst I gold heat embossed the sentiment, then used the matching die to cut it out.

When I placed the snowman and the sentiment on the background, they seemed to get a little lost, so I die cut a circle of vellum, attached the snowman and sentiment to the front of it, then glued it down – applying glue only behind the two die cut pieces.

I shall certainly be watching the rest of the lessons for the class, and I’m sure I shall be utilising some of the techniques demonstrated with these products.

I shall be entering the following challenges:

Tic Tac Toe – top right diagonal to bottom left – snowman/snow – gold – Christmas sentiment

Creative Knockouts – time to be merry

A Cut Above – anything goes with a die cut

Stencil Fun – use stencils – option to use some gold taken

Craft Rocket – Christmas/Winter

Build Me A Snowman

Hello again. Caz is hosting the new challenge at Cardz 4 Galz, and she has chosen the theme of:

Build Me A Snowman

Here is my card:

I wanted to try out the die set from The Greetery I had for a while, and finally managed to obtain a few of the honeycomb additions.

The snowman was die cut and assembled, then the honeycomb added. I used small black gems for the eyes. These honeycomb elements are fun, but I definitely have to hand this to the recipient…….

The background blue was embossed using a Spellbinders embossing folder, the silver foiled panel was created by using a background toner panel – I think from Picket Fence Studio, but I may be wrong there. It’s the first time I’ve used the toner panels with my Gina K Fuse machine – how quick and easy is that? I did have to watch one of her YouTube videos just to make sure I had the correct heat setting, but I did play with several panels on this machine and therefore have a few on hand for future projects.

I cut the snowflake foiled panel with a Pinkfresh Studio die, and cut the centre out – the snowman kinda got lost without die cutting that centre out.