Category: die cuts

Let’s Cozy Up

I’ve been focusing on making winter-themed cards with products I own, despite being lured by spring-themed stamps, dies and papers (not easy to do, but I’m enjoying embracing the current season)! Today, I’m sharing a friendship card featuring the My Favorite Things Cozy Sweater die.

Let's Cozy Up

I created an ombré pattern with the My Favorite Things Sweater Stitch Background stamp (bought last year and had never used) using several Hero Arts inks (their ombré pads are on my wish list). It’s hard to tell, but the color is lighter at the bottom. I tried putting on white cuffs and collar, but the blue needed a bit of punch, hence the red. Once I had red, I needed a balance, so chose the gray for the background. Finally, I needed something to fill out the background, so I added snowflakes cut with dies in the Avery Elle Snow Caps set.

Supplies: My Favorite Things Die-namics Comfy Sweater, CS Cozy Greetings

Valentine’s Day Cottage

Today, I’m sharing a card featuring the Poppystamps Cute Cottage dressed for Valentine’s Day.

Poppystamps Valentines Cottage

It took me a while to figure out the colors for the cottage body, window boxes, trim, etc. But once decided, the card came together quickly. Since Valentine’s Day takes place during the winter in the Northern Hemisphere, I created a winter landscape with snow banks and a falling-snow dry-embossed background.

I heat-embossed the sentiment, from Taylored Expressions Welcome Home stamp set.

Supplies:

Taylored Expressions Share Joy Challenge #18

Today, I’m playing along with the Share Joy Challenge #18 at Taylored Expressions.

SJC18Jan14

I used the sketch to create a Valentine’s Day card:

Jean Manis Taylored Expressions SJC #18

The focus of my card is a tic-tac-toe board created with the dies in the Love Always Wins Stamp & Die Combo. For my card, I used the Taylored Expressions Hello Happiness patterned papers, which helped immensely with my selection of solid cardstock colors and the overall color scheme. I finished off the place where the two patterned papers meet with a scallop edge, cut with the newly-released Stitched Scallop Edger die.

Jean Manis Taylored Expressions SJC #18

I heat-embossed a sentiment from Love Makes the World Go Round and cut it with one of the tag dies in the Mini Tags set.

Be sure to head over to the Share Joy Challenge Blog to see more inspiration and to link up your entry!

Supplies:

Taylored Expressions – Negative Die Cutting Technique

Today, I’m sharing a CAS card created with Taylored Expressions stamps and dies featuring the negative die-cutting technique.

Taylored Expressions Negative Die-Cutting Technique

To begin, I cut a frame with the Pockets & Pages – 3×4 Photo Frame die and stamped it with a sentiment from the Free Spirit set. I cut a panel of Cookie Monster cardstock three times with the Silhouette Stems 4 die, staggering the height for some design interest. I colored a piece of Sugar Cube cardstock with Distress Inks and adhered the die cut panel to the top, revealing the colors through the die cut. There were a few small pieces of that I had to glue on.

I added the frame to the top (which covered up the area where the stem bases were staggered) and adhered the scene to a card base which was dry-embossed (technically debossed) with the Paisley folder.

Taylored Expressions Negative Die-Cutting Technique

Tips for the negative die-cutting technique:

  • look for dies with solid images that have few small pieces and are easily recognizable;
  • die-cut frames or tags make assembly easy and provide a finished feel to the card.

Warmest Wishes

Today, I’m sharing a winter-themed friendship card in which I followed the Copic coloring by Debbie Olson using the Cool Day stamp set from My Favorite Things.

WarmestWishes-PolarBear

I colored the polar bear using most of the same Copic marker colors shown on Debbie’s card (I don’t own all of the ones she does, so made a few substitutions). I took the clues from the coloring of the scarf for the rest of the card. For the background, I dry-embossed a panel of cardstock cut with the largest stitched die in the Lawn Fawn Large Stitched Rectangle Stackables set. Keeping with the winter theme, I used the Taylored Expressions Cable Knit embossing folder. I heat-embossed a sentiment from the MFT Stamps Warmest Wishes and cut it with the smallest die in the Lawn Fawn Small Stitched Rectangle Stackables set. I used the rounded-rectangle die in the Stitched Journaling Card set to cut a background sky as well as cut two snowbanks, which I’d already cut with dies in the Lawn Fawn Stitched Hillside Border set. I finished off the background with a few snowflakes cut with the Lawn Fawn Mini Snowflakes set.

Supplies: MFT Stamps Warmest Wishes (sentiment)