Yet another flower die

I really enjoyed making the  last card I posted and so as I had some more of the woodgrain background I thought I would make a similar card using a different flower die and sentiment. This flower from a Pink Fresh set just arrived  and so I was eager to try it out. I layered it several times and added the infils to just the bottom layer. I like the way the deep grey card base makes the flower a little more impactful! To make the panel I had to use a die much shorter than I needed, so I had to cut it part way from both ends, turning the card around and moving the die in between cuts. As it was quite a stretch there was one little bit which wasn't a perfect cut over the join, so that is hidden behind the large leaf! Here's a quick video of how I do it!

It's for the challenge at Seize the Birthday where the topping is Flowers!

Floating Die Cuts

I really enjoy watching videos from Jennifer McGuire, she always has fresh ideas and ways to extend my range of techniques. Here is a pair of cards which I made after watching her video about making cards with 'Floating Dies'. Thanks to amazon Prime i only had to wait a day to get my roll of Press 'n' Seal, the product needed to do this technique.

I used a coordinating stamp and die from Clearly Besotted. I cut a foliage spray from a piece of card and then placed the die cut, still in  position in the piece of card, in my MISTI. I placed the stamp over the diecut and inked it up with Lucky Limeade ink from Stampin' Up. I then proceeded to cut many more die cuts and each time placing the cut piece in the gap of the original piece of card in my MISTI and stamping, using that card as a jig.

I arranged the stamped die cuts over a piece of card the same size as the card front. When I was happy with the arrangement I covered it with a piece of Press 'n' Seal and die cut the aperture and the edge at the same time. It cut the Press 'n' Seal, the card and the diecuts all at once.

I carefully removed the card from the  the back of the diecuts leaving them temporarily adhered to the plastic. I then added dimensional pads to each of the leaves, before laying them back over the cut card front. Once stuck down I peeled off the Press 'n' Seal and Hey Presto apparently 'floating' leaves. I stamped the sentiment from Penny Black and embossed in gold before sticking the panel onto the front of the card.

This technique always gives you a Twofer, so the centre section which was cut, forms the basis of another card. I simply cut a larger frame from Framelits to surround the leaves. As there were tiny fragments of diecuts on this piece I decided to merely stick them straight onto the card instead of letting them float. So after removing them from the card on which they were cut, I glued the them, placed them in position and stuck them to the card front and then removed the Press 'n' Seal.  The bits were too small for dimensional pads... even cut down pieces! I popped the frame on to pads instead.

The sentiment was cut twice once in white and once on gold and layered to stretch across the frame.

Jennifer explains it all beautifully on her YouTube post so if all this is gobbledegook, do check out her video.

After all this, it's my contribution for Darnell's  Twofer Garden Challenge!

Well leaves grow in gardens don't they!

We're off to see our granddaughter in Bath Theatre School's  production of Aladdin this afternoon, should be fun!

Less is More has a sketch!

Here is a simple interpretation of the sketch. The vertical panel was cut with a SSS stitched die, reduced in size to much skinnier proportions. The heart is also from Simon Says Stamp and the butterfly is from Memory Box.

This is another card using the same die as an earlier card.

Here is a little video showing how I made it, with apologies for forgetting to turn the image the right way up!

I hope you like it!

This one is straying a little from the sketch but I couldn't bear to cut dowm the vertical panel any more... I just love the colours in the background.

It was made with Weathered Wood, Peeled Paint and Forest Moss Distress ink refills dabbed onto my glass mat, spritzed with water and then dabbed with absorbent card and left a while for the colours to be absorbed by the card. When dry, it was overprinted  with black ink and then other images embossed in gold. The butterfly is from Memory Box and the sentiment from Wplus9.

Elongating die-cuts

I have been asked the question today about the stitched dies I used to cut the panels for my snowman card in the previous post.

I used the Lil Inkers dies and I have both the large and small sets.

As these are American dies and the sizes used across the pond are a little different from those used in the UK, I do a little bit of jiggery pokery in order to make them fit UK measurements.

For this card I used the largest die from the Lil' Inkers Small set.

Here you can see it against my image.

You may notice that the die-cut is longer than the die!

This is how I achieve this.

• Begin by arranging the die around one end of the image
• Add the top plate and wind the die through the machine, STOPPING before you get right to the end of the die

• Winding in the reverse direction, run the card back out of the machine

• Now remove the die and arrange it around the other end of the image, ensuring that the stitches match with the previously cut ones. (I move the die and card together  from side to side so I can feel if the notches on the die are aligned in with the previous cuts) .
• When I'm happy that I have the stitches engaged with the previous cut and that the length is what I need, I run the card through the machine once more...again STOPPING before I reach the end of the die.

So that's how you make a die-cut, longer than the die that cuts it!

If you have any questions, DO email me, if you leave a comment requiring a response, answers don't always get back to you!

Sketch Time at "Less is More"

We have a really simple sketch this time at Less is More and here are a few cards using it!
I love this Canada goose from the SU Wetlands set. I've had it for a while but this is the first time it has felt any ink on it and I really am pleased with how it stamps. 

The edges of the edging layer of card has been coloured with the same Copic which I used to colour the grass. 

Here is how I managed to cut out a die-cut circle without cutting off the goose's head!

The protruding part is cut out with either scissors or a craft knife before the die is placed around the image, so  that it can be lifted above the die and therefore will not get cut!

This one is a simple stamp from Cart-Us.com. I think it's really sweet!

Computer generated sentiment again.

More Stampin' Up stamps here, for a really CAS Wedding card.

It's embossed in silver which sadly doesn't show up to well on this pic. Photography is not one of my strong suits!

I hope that lots of you will join in with this challenge again this week and thanks so much for all the lovely comments I received last time!