Teeny Dies

Hi! How are you?
Whether you're at work or enjoying a vague lie-in, I thought we'd look at making the most of the small things.
The smaller bits of kit that are the add-ons.
The under dogs, Cinderellas...you get the picture!
I've brought back a favourite die today as it's back in stock.

But we're going to look at the little eyelet designs that come in addition to the main die. You could obviously place them over the holes created by the die or make a whole card just using them!

I've left them connected together. Unless I really want an individual placed shape, these smaller dies have a habit of disappearing in my craft space, so the bigger the shape, the more chance I have of keeping tabs on it!

 I've simply laid out the dies onto my card, turning them to create a more interesting pattern and die cutting them in a swirly form.

 I then cut out lots of colours from odd bits of card and paper that hadn't quite reached the bin! I overlapped shapes and added centres into the holes by adhering a layer of acetate behind the front of the card, so I'd got something to anchor them all onto.

 Simple really- and perfect for a guy or girls card. One of the shapes looks like a bolt and the other a cog, so you could really make some interesting shapes. One of the ideas I had was to create a fluid DNA type pattern that would be great for a man-card, but that's for another day. The stamp set is Really Rosemaling and I love the font they've used for the sentiments

Hope you've been inspired to dig out your little shapes and make something completely new with them!

See you next week!

Keren xx

1 Die..2 Ways!

Hey! It's sure whizzing around quick- these Tuesdays get closer and closer! Maybe it's just that mad end of term dash. I wanted to show you a really amazing die, that does more than just one thing.

Here's the Lil'Inker die

So first I made it how it's designed...as a treat holder. Perfect for pencils, lollipops, mini pinwheels or decorated straws. I'm sure you could think of other things. It does struggle with a wide straw, so you can see I've squished the straw slightly.

There's another way of flattening it- to add little snips to each circle aperture- at '12', '3', '6' & '9'. I also created a solid back which would make the best pocket to slot a gift card in.

Instead of cutting it out as usual, slot the paper in, so you bypass the holes and create a new pocket shape

                                                

I glued this to the reverse of the card- it could be just a backing, or something to slot a voucher or gift card in, or use as a base/layer for a card

 I've used my favourite Teacher stamp set 'A Good Apple'

The second idea? A mini book.

 Simply score a line just after the two holes on as many pages as you want & thread ribbon, twine or D rings through.

 Isn't it the simplest way to make a book- even better for those 'large cards' that you sometimes need when giving a card to one person from a large group of people.
I've given a prettier vibe to the Really Rosemaling set I used the other week

So, two ways with one fantastic die- and I've not even begun to use the little eyelet type dies yet!..that's for another week!

See you next week,
Keren xx

Rosemaling and Blue!

Hey! Hope you're all ok.

Truth be told, I had no understanding of what this Rosemaling was- I just saw a beautiful stamp set.

Turns out its origins are in Norway and the word means 'decorative painting' painting in Norwegian.

Enough of the history lesson..but the style is pretty distinctive and whilst I was researching I came across a painting that just stopped me in my tracks 

Credit

Isn't it incredible?! This was painted on a church pew in a traditional style in the US somewhere. I thought I'd give it a go in a different medium- using just dye inks, alcohol markers and a white gel pen.

The stamp set is called 'Really Rosemaling' by 'Lil Inkers'

Easy to make, altho a little effort required 😉

 I wanted to do no-line colouring but after looking at the complexity of the shape and the amount needed, I thought I'd just stamp in dye ink first & then add detail and shading with alcohol markers

Now the fun bit..not!

Cut each and every one out.

Sigh.

Arrange them however you fancy!

and you end up with a really different looking card. The sentiments are great too- I just chose one I'd get the most mileage from! I added some extra details using the small foliage stamps stamped in chalk ink

then...gather up all your leftovers. I've got a fair few left, but thought I'd continue in the blue vein as I'm enjoying the dark blues. Gathered together like this, you could see a rolling sea couldn't you!

 I've just given it a distress inked background using different blues. You could get a similar effect with dye inks too.
Hope you liked my nod to decorative painting. They have some skills !

See you next week

Keren xx