Use at Least Two Dies

This is the challenge offered to us on the Allsorts Challenge blog where there are some great inspiration ideas from the Design Team.  I do love die cutting and most of my cards feature the technique one way and another - there were twelve different used dies on this one which I can show now as my friend will have seen her card by now.  I cut the apricot layer (1 die); outer pierced frame (2); the plaque for the greeting (3); the leafy spray (1); the flowers (3) and the numbers (2).  The area behind the frame was a piece of card coloured using Pixie Powders and then put through an embossing folder. The flowers were stamped onto some of the Pixie Powder card before being die cut.

 The sentiment and the apricot flowers were actually punched so they don't count!  Details are given below of the items used

Oops!! senior moment - just realised the picture was taken before I added the age numbers in bottom RH corner within the frame.

Frame - Noble Pierced squares dies Sue Wilson
Plaque - Sue Wilson Caribbean series dies
Leafy Spray - Sue Wilson Daisy corner die
Flowers - free stamp and die set given with magazine
Numbers - Crafter's Companion dies

Vintage Locomotive

For this card I've used another of my 'transformed' background papers - garish colours painted with a thin coat of gesso to tone them down and over stamped with various textures.  looking through my stamp collection I came across this image and as it reminded me of a blueprint drawing I stamped  with blue ink and clear embossed.  Two more stamps from the set were used in the same way before cutting out with scissors to add to the layout along with a label birthday greeting.

Stamps - from vintage sets by Creative Expressions
Sentiment - Tim Holtz stamps
Stamps used on  background - also from Creative Expressions

Partial Die Cutting

In the current issue of Quick Cards Made Easy there is an article on double partial die cutting by Jules of Always With a Heart.  I've seen partial die cutting but the double bit seems to be a step up from what we are used to and the article gives very clear instructions, well illustrated with examples.  I thought I'd like to try this and have been thinking over what dies I have which might work and I've come up with something and I will attempt to describe the steps which I must say took quite a bit of thought to get it all to 'happen' in the right order. WARNING - this is turning into a long post!!

Started with a piece of cream card 5 1/2" square and drew a light pencil line where I wanted the picket fence to be, ran it through the die cutting machine with the part I didn't want to cut 'hanging over the edge of the cutting plates (Jules describes this so well in her tutorial).

The next stage was to do the same thing with a circle die to make a frame around the fence, cutting carefully along the pencil line between the edges of the circle and the bottom of the fence.  So far so good but I'd not really decided what was coming next except that I thought a 'scene' behind the aperture would be good so I brushed some blue and green ink for sky and ground, then stamped some grass onto a piece of white card.

This all looked a bit bare so a tree and foliage were stamped onto the background and a line of stamped flowers which actually don't show much now the card is complete - heigh ho!!

Having popped the scene behind the window I set about making a bit of foreground by partial die cutting a smaller picket fence on the top of a strip of kraft card; also die cut a strip of foliage with flowers and a tree which I've turned into a shrub.  Two die cut black cats more or less dealt with the scene and foreground.  I then cut a fancy border in cream card, adding a printed sentiment. Some tiny pink flowers were added - these are the 'waste' from a border punch (always have to save these so it is good to use a few).

I hope you are still with me - details of items used are at the bottom

Circle Die - Spellbinders
Cream picket Fence - freebie die given away with recent magazine
Tree and Foliage in background - Sheltering Tree stamps from Stampin' Up
Row of Die Cut Flowers - die from Sizzix
'Shrub' - Tree die from Sizzix
Kraft picket Fence - die from Sizzix
Cats - Impression Obsession dies
Lacy Border - die from a set bought in The Works (they have an interesting range at good prices)
Sentiment - computer generated on Stampin' Up punched shapes
Tiny Pink Flowers - waste from a border punch

Gift Box

I'm not at all sure when this post will actually appear although I have scheduled it for a specific time just to see if this function is working properly after recently having to replace the battery in my 'tower'.  It never seemed to work previously which is why I rarely do it.

I promised a friend that I would take a photo of a little gift box made using a Tonic die which I've had a while and it has been waiting patiently to be used.  I got the impression when I saw the die used on TV that it would make a larger box than it does in reality and I've had a little 'glitch' in trying to find suitable small items to pop in as a gift.  In fact I was going around the supermarket and Boots the Chemist this week with a 6" ruler measuring things like tablets of toilet soap (too large)
and I guess next week I might be measuring up confectionery to see if anything will fit nicely.  I finished up by folding some socks up quite tightly to fit inside this one!

The die cuts the basic box and also has decorative panels to cut in two different designs

EDIT - I see the schedule worked which is great news.  Also forgot to say the box measures 3" x 2" so quite small really in terms of finding suitable contents

Tonic Graceful Marquee gift box die

Hey, Chick

I'm sure 'free' must be a favourite price with most people and that includes me.  This is how I came to have this chicken stamp as part of a set on offer from Stampin' Up - I thought it deserved an inking so here is the card I've made with just one of the chicks.  There are others in the set too and I've seen some quirky ideas for using them when I get around to it.  The chick was stamped, coloured brightly using alcohol pens and then cut out carefully with scissors.  I took a snippet of white card, lightly stamped some grasses and then die cut a scalloped circle and glued the chick into place.  More snippets were used to cut another circle and a strip in orange; a wire netting stamp was used to stamp onto a strip of white; turquoise card was used to cut a banner; sentiment stamped and cut out with another small banner die.  All the layered pieces were chosen from my scraps box to match up with the bright colours in the background paper which was from my stash.  A random frame was drawn around the edge using a fine liner pen.

Main image - from Hey, chick stamp set by Stampin' Up
Background grasses - from Wetlands stamp set by Stampin' Up
Netting Stamp - clear stamp from unknown source which I've had forever
Sentiment - Bitty Banners stamps and dies set by Stampin' Up
Turquoise Banner - Sue Wilson die
Scalloped Circles - Tattered Lace dies

Cuttlebug Mania Challenge - Frame It

The challenge on the Cuttlebug Mania blog this time is to incorporate a frame or frames into a design, obviously using a die cutting machine and die/s.  For my background I've used Pixie Powders onto white card and run it through with a 3D embossing folder, following up with some copper gilding.  A small white frame was die cut with a matching backing of some of the coloured card with a simple sentiment and a few stamped and punched flowers and a leaf to use up the scraps.

Embossing Folder - Crafter's Companion
Leaf - from Botanical Blooms Stampin' Up
Flowers - Petite Petals also SU with matching punch
Copper Gilding Polish - Cosmic Shimmer
Frame - Sue Wilson Die with computer sentiment

Paper Transformed!

Each time I go through my designer paper pads looking for something suitable for a project I keep coming across some designs/colours I just don't seem to be able to use - either the colours or the designs (sometimes both) are too garish and 'in your face'.  Now the sensible amongst us would suggest either binning them or maybe taking to a charity shop in the hopes that someone else would love them.  Did I do that ...  NO!  I took a few of them out and gave them a thin coat of white gesso to take away the harshness of the colours and once dry I searched for a selection of texture stamps to overstamp and hopefully transform the papers into something usable.  You don't have to be mad but it helps!!  The original paper in this case was a bright pink, brown and garish green combination - ugh!!

Here is a card on which I've used one of these 'transformations'.  I stamped the quirky bird onto some kraft card and embossed with white detail powder; painted the image using Pixie Powders mixed with water; stamped the words onto cream card and cut them out into little strips; rooted out a set of ticket stamps with lots of options and made a little sentiment ticket - this is where the Misti has come in so handy - much more successful than early efforts with these stamps some years ago when it was very much hit or miss - lots of miss in my case even though they are clear stamps.  While I was tinkering around with gesso I transformed several pieces of designer paper so I'm sure you will see more cards in due course.

Stamp - from Steampunk Birds set Chocolate Baroque
Stamp Colouring - Pixie Powders mixed with a little water and painted
Small Words - from same set of stamps
Background Stamping - various texture stamps by Creative Expressions
Ticket - from Just the Ticket stamp set Imagination Crafts